When used together, these two materials can transform buildings into energy-efficient, acoustically superior, ultra-strong and modern structures.
Whether you’re building a single-storey residence or a multi-storey condominium, combining ICF with cold-formed steel is simply unbeatable. Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) are polystyrene blocks that can interlock into the shape of a wall. They are reinforced with steel and filled with concrete. Cold-formed steel joists are designed and manufactured offsite, then erected into place. These joists can be used with ICF as well as a wide range of other construction materials, including structural steel, lumber and precast concrete.
“Cold-formed steel gives benefits to all of our ICF customers,” says Nick Stam, General Manager at Fastform ICF. “Designers like the greater spans and loads. Installers love less shoring, easy layouts and clear instructions. Owners appreciate the larger rooms, sound ratings and low vibrations.”
This growing popularity of using ICF with cold-formed steel has led TotalJoist by Bailey Metal Products to compile this list of many benefits that will change the way you build.
ICF and Cold-Formed Steel Support Energy Efficiency
When you build with insulated concrete forms, your walls will have two layers of insulation, plus a concrete wall, resulting in reduced air infiltration and few thermal bridges. The concrete will also use its thermal mass properties to reduce the temperature fluctuation in the building.
Lightweight steel (also known as cold-formed steel) can be manufactured into floor joists that can span most rooms in residential and mid-rise construction applications. With a cold-formed steel flooring system like Composite TotalJoist – including the joists, stay-in-place formwork and a three-inch layer of concrete – each floor’s temperature is less likely to fluctuate due to concrete’s thermal mass.
These benefits result in lower operational costs and higher energy efficiency.
Soundproof Living and Working Environments
Acoustic ratings are huge selling features for homes and businesses, ensuring that occupants are much more comfortable and experience fewer noise disturbances.
Composite TotalJoist‘s lightweight-steel flooring solution has 60% higher acoustic ratings than precast concrete and 34% higher ratings than wood and gypcrete with reduced sound flanking. That means that noise between floors is rarely an issue even years after construction. Combine these steel-floor ratings with the thick insulation and concrete of ICF and you have rooms that can have significant sound sources, but few noise issues in neighbouring environments.
Structural Durability = Longevity and Cost Savings
A solid wall of reinforced concrete in an ICF structure is up to 10 times stronger than wood. When that exterior strength is combined with a robust Composite TotalJoist floor system with a 3″ concrete topping, a structure can stand for generations, greatly reducing water penetration, temperature-fluctuation damage, and even resisting hurricane-strength winds.
Modern Spaces for Tomorrow’s Occupants
If you’re thinking of wide-open spaces with all of the benefits outlined above, finding a solution can be challenging if you were to use any other materials. Fortunately, steel joists are available at many different heights and lengths up to 34′ 5″ to allow architects to design with more open floor plans than ever before possible. These long joists easily connect to ICF using top chord-bearing joist shoes, allowing large rooms to be designed and finished more easily than ever.
As the world’s population continues to modernize, constructing multi-storey buildings will have increasing value. Developers will realize significant cost savings in design alone when it comes to repeating floor layouts using ICF and cold-formed steel.
Lastly, as the construction industry continues to modernize, developers are more often choosing materials with higher fire resistance. ICF can give more than four hours of fire protection and a flooring system made of steel and concrete (using proper firestopping techniques) can deliver a two-hour fire rating using only one 5/8″ layer of drywall.
Combining the Forces of Insulated Concrete Forms and Cold-Formed Steel in Your Next Project
TotalJoist has steel systems that are designed to work with ICF, making the design and installation processes for architects, developers and contractors the best they can be. To learn more about how your next project can benefit from the construction industry’s superstars – ICF and CFS – connect with our sales team today.
