Interesting, they must have ICC-ES certification or they have found a way around that. They show several government projects on their website that they have successfully accomplished (police headquarters, hospital, schools, etc). There is a photo of a fire station project they successfully accomplished on the home section of their website. They also apparently have a couple of Leed Gold projects under their belt now too. Here's what they list for their project types:

◾Foundations and basements
◾Homes - from basic to extraordinary
◾Multi-Family Housing including apartments, condominiums and townhouses
◾Commercial Buildings – Retail, manufacturing, conditioned storage, cinemas, hotels, office buildings
◾Agricultural Buildings – Dairy barns, stables, mixed use
◾Institutional Buildings – Prisons, schools, shelters, hospitals, nursing/assisted living, childcare, religious
◾Government Buildings – Military, Police, Fire, IRS, Social Security, Postal, barracks, embassies
◾Blast Mitigation
◾Storm Resistant Shelters
◾LEED Projects
◾Sound Control Walls
◾Fire Rated Walls

What say you about my previous metal tie heat transfer concern and specific questions?

Given the lack of response, I contend that my concerns about metal tie ICF systems are valid.  So PolySteel is already defunct and PolyCrete is also a poor choice for green energy efficient buildings and will therefore likely be defunct in the future too.

Actually, they are not valid, but we have been too busy to reply right away. A close reading of the information you have posted will reveal that ICF in general are approved for those types of projects, not that specific system. Some local governments do not require ICC-ES certification... it depends on how the architect writes the spec... but I know of one in the northeast that won't make that mistake again!

sailawayrb

What say you about my previous metal tie heat transfer concern and specific questions?

ok, i'll take a stab at it....
i think the whole plastic vs metal tie discussion is overrated.
both materials have their advantages and disadvantages.
perhaps it would matter, if we were talking about building without windows and doors.
then i could see the heat gain or loss/transfer discussion of metal vs plastic being an issue.
but, since both materials are going through a 6" plus concrete mass, with well documented thermal lag, we should not be too concerned.

waiting for the experts to comment here now.
insuldeckflorida at aol dot com

Yes, I would love to hear the experts comment on this too. However, it seems to me that concrete doesn't provide much R-value to get so free about allowing so many fastener and metal tie zero R-value paths between the external/internal building assembly surfaces.

I agree with insuldeckfloridia, we have installed lots of PolySteel and plastic ties. The tie material does not make the ICF. Although the steel is more difficult to work with, and I have the scars to prove it.

Hey Brad I hear you on the scars :-)
Polycrete is a totally different animal to Polysteel as there is 1 3/4 EPS between the metal attachment and the exterior of the building. A few screws every few sq feet is nothing, also by the time you stucco well whatever. And they are huge so very fast for commercial or large residential.
Sounds like a couple people have bees in their bonnet about it but it's nothing. I use Polycrete for a lot of my homes now (it's the Hamptons so they are large) but they go up fast and are nearly twice as strong as ANY other form, we do huge lifts without problems and you can vibrate them big time.
:laugh::laugh:

It sounds like the increased cost of Polycrete might be worthwhile for big and fast. For the green building designs we do, I am not seeing any advantage to use an ICF system having metal ties. We have not had any blowout or fastening issues with quality ICF systems having plastic ties. I would also prefer to avoid scaring too.

Then keep on with what your doing buddy just knock off the whole metal transfer thing when it is a non issue and there is no data to back you up. Maybe you should take a look at one of their forms before you say anything? just saying

Please feel free to say whatever you like...as will I...which is the point of this forum. Actually, there is data to back up the reduced whole wall R-value of a metal tie versus a plastic tie ICF system. If you are capable of analyzing building assemblies, it is a simple calculation to make. A metal tie system is about 3-4% less in R-value than a plastic tie system, everything else being the same. That isn't terrible, but why give it up if there isn't some advantage to justify it...this is a green building forum after all. So YES, we will keep doing what we are doing until better products become available.

Don't worry, Polycrete's metal cross ties won't cut up your arms. Polysteel (ARXX Steel) used thin 11 gauge wire with a hot dip galvanized finish on their cross ties -- very sharp and unpleasant to work with. Polycrete cross ties are .16" or 4mm, and that works out to approximately 6 gauge - nice fat wire. The electro-galvanized finish is smooth and pretty, so no worries about cutting up the arms.