I have a residential build which is new to me. There is a basement and main floor with roof trusses. The house is in zone 5/6 going to be constructed close to, but not certified to Passive House Standards. My problem is with a therm bridge on the main floor.
The build will include ICF walls from footing to rafter. ICF walls have 7" of concrete with 2 1/8" EPS on each side. The challenge in this case is the owner wants a 4" concrete floor on the main level with in floor heating. I'm considering an ICF floor solution which creates "concrete beams" Two vendors, Lite Deck and Quad Lock have such a system. This system requires the basement wall to be completed first. The floor panels are then placed to the inside edge (with lots of shoring) of the ICF wall which will connect the main floor concrete to the concrete walls. Great supporting structure, but now we have a thermal bridge.
My understanding is that the ICF wall draws heat from the footings/ground all the way to the rafters in the winter and cooling in the summer. What happens to this process when the wall is draining heat from the floor? Does the in floor heat get drained all winter long?
I just do not see any way of preventing a thermal bridge without compromising the structure of the floor attaching to the wall.
Has anyone installed a suspended concrete floor in an ICF house without having a thermal bridge?
Any help here is greatly appreciated!