Hi!  We are trying to build green by incorporating environmentally friendly & energy efficient materials like ICF walls, white metal roof, and bamboo floorind.  I have a home blog that I update weekly with pictures, if anyone is interested:

http://hmp2z.wordpress.com

Cheers!
Heather W

Heather, I've followed your blog a little and haven't found a way to contact you via email.

What kind of bamboo flooring have you selected? 

Why is the whole house tankless water heater so much more than a regular water heater?
What are the extra connections required? 

Also, as an aside, I noticed a comment about your icf being termite proof.
While it is, technically, termites and ants will tunnel through the foam, so you'll want to
pre treat the soil or use some other pest barrier.

You may also consider patching/plugging the concrete where it shrunk away from the pipes in the slab.
These also could provide a point of entry for termites.

Hi!  You can always post Comments on the blog, and I will respond that way, as well.  I tend to check in at the blog more frequently than I come here, though I have posted a few comments/questions on the ICF Talk page.

To answer your question, for us, the additional cost of a tankless gas hot water heater would be $1331.  The propane supplier is doing our drops, and he charges $150 extra for tankless water heater drops.  The additional $$ is the cost of the heater itself.  Our supplier charges $1550 for the tankless, as opposed to $369 for the gas tank water heater.  We are in the position of having to purchase the water heater from the propane supplier, because if we do so, we can rent the propane tank from him, and he will give us a lower per gallon rate on the propane.  Otherwise, we have to outlay a few thousand more to buy our own propane tank, which isn't worth it to us at this point.  We're out in the country, so don't have a natural gas hookup.

We actually did have the ground pre-treated for termites - I posted the pics of our receipts for that in some way, way back blogs :)  Good point, about patching that up - I will ask our builder.

About the bamboo flooring, we don't know what brand we're going with yet.  We do know that we want horizontal grain, natural (non-carbonized).

Cheers!
Heather W

Hi Heather:

Congratulations on being the proud owner of a 'would be ... soon!' ICF House -- see I want to play it safe and not get in the middle of an argument as to when your husband would start calling it a house.

Great job on following the construction process and beautiful progress pictures.

On my website http://www.energyefficientbuild.com in the section on recent-projects, I have posted the progress on Pam and Gary Stehr's ICF house in Highland Township Michigan as closely as you have on your beautiful house. Pam and Gary Stehr house is also in the country on a nominally 4 acre lot -- no city water, no natural gas, so water well, septic field, and ... The STEHRs did not want to go with propane, so all appliances are electric. And hopefully Geothermal for the heat source for heating, cooling and most of the hot water supply. By the way, did you consider the Geothermal option at all?

We got the Building Permit on Aug-11-2006. The construction started on Sep-01-2006. We had planned to have the shell completed by end of November with a cushion of a month -- giving us a target of Dec-31-2006. We did pretty well -- by the end of December 2006, not only we had the shell completed, we had the water-well in, we had the septic-field in, we had all the interior framing in, we had the spray-insulation completed, we had most all doors and windows installed, .... So I would say, we met our target fairly well -- in fact we did better than meeting our target.

So come on over visit with me on my web site and let us exchange notes on ICF construction.

Again, Congratulations on a great job in following up with the construction process and posting beautiful progress pictures of the house.

Wow!  It sounds like you are moving much faster than we are!  The house looks beautiful, too.  It's so interesting to me to see the process that our house will be going through in the next few months.

We actually hadn't considered Geothermal heating/cooling; I had never heard of it before.  I contacted our builder to ask about it - I don't know whether, at this point, it would be an option for us, but we will find out!  It sounds very energy efficient; do you find that it is as effective in very warm climates like Florida's as it is in cooler climates?

Thank you for the link - I really enjoyed watching the project come to life!

Cheers!
Heather W

Heather: every project is unique -- the main thing is you get it done to your schedule and in keeping with your own requirements.

In our network -- Energy Efficient Building Network -- we  work with specialists -- we make sure that all the planning is done upfront, we bring the needed trade on the job when it is needed -- we make sure that the trades people get paid in time, without the trades people having to do the running around chasing the owner to get paid, and we make sure that all the work is done right the first time -- and if something does go wrong, we like to get it fixed right away. And we have great people in our network -- all the trades people in our network take great pride in their work -- and Engineering Efficient Building Network backs them up the needed engineering, design support, field support, and whatever the situation requires. So all this leads to a project being done in time and being done right -- Time is Money -- so it is critical that we get the job done promptly and make it cost-effective for the building owner as well as for our network trades.

Thanks Heather -- and I am sure yours will be beautiful too -- in looks, functionality, and economics!

Posted By hmp2z on 02/03/2007 3:36 PM
....
It's so interesting to me to see the process that our house will be going through in the next few months.

I am sure you will enjoy the process -- and watching the project mature is like watching a baby grow. Yes, it does require effort, and a great deal of tender loving care, but it is all worth it.

We actually hadn't considered Geothermal heating/cooling; I had never heard of it before.  I contacted our builder to ask about it - I don't know whether, at this point, it would be an option for us, but we will find out!  It sounds very energy efficient; do you find that it is as effective in very warm climates like Florida's as it is in cooler climates?

Heather -- you have the right idea to have contacted your builder about whether Geothermal is a good option for you -- your builder however may have to consult the right people with expertise in this area and your particular situation. The Geothermal option draws the heat from the ground for heating, and dumps the heat into the ground for cooling, so this way we can minimize contributing to burning fossil fuel and we can feel good about having been green to what ever extent we can.

Thank you for the link - I really enjoyed watching the project come to life!

You Are Very Welcome Heather -- I am also glad that you could also relate it to what to expect next for your own beautiful house project.

Please stay tuned --  after completion of the shell, STEHRs are doing some of the work on the house themselves -- I will however post some periodic updates to document the progress on the house.