Sorry about that Dwetter. Not bragging, but have actually been busy with real live clients who are at various stages of "the process" (That's the "process" of designing and actually building, a "green" home.)

I don't think that any of the "clear thinking" regular contributors to this forum would argue with the opening statement of your "challenge", eg.........."Strengths and weaknesses of different systems" (It certainly does help if the project is in the chosen manufacturer's backyard, especially when utilizing "bulky", and somewhat complex, building products.

So on to my immediate response to "the challenge"

A. What's the question? If you're asking whether or not TF offers a product with the materials that you've listed, the answer
is "NO (NOT YET)" However, it sounds like a really neat product but it WILL have its drawbacks (Like almost every other
building product, right?)
B. Again, what's the question? Are you saying that you consistently run into projects where wall heights, and window sizes and
locations, are changed 24 hours before the delivery of the materials? For my part, I see the latter rarely happen, but, if it
did, NO Problem with TF. And, I've never seen a wall height be changed from what is shown on the permitted plans within
a time frame like that. Obviously, reducing the height of a wall to be constructed with the TF system could easily
be accomplished right up to the pour. However, you've probably "GOT ME" if a wall height were to be increased within 24
hours of the scheduled pour, that "challenge" could only be met if there are enough spare parts close at hand. Boy, I
REALLY hope that never happens, but you do have me thinking.
C. Zero Waste on all walls? EASY? next......................
D. Oops! I'll have to get back to you on this one, I'll see if my Title 24 guy wants to play with this, probably not, he's pretty
busy. So I wonder what the heating and cooling bill would be for this house if it was built with 4" EPS forms on both sides
of the concrete wall, with a 9" to 11" EPS core SIP roof? (I'm not saying that this would perform as well, or better than
your system, just posing the question, maybe someone else will calc this out before I before I can get my "energy guy" to
do it.)

Sq Ft cost of LESS than $ 150 psf turnkey? Now, you've really got me! Not in my area, California, at least not with any type of ICF system that I'm aware of, hard to do that even with an all SIP house unless its an owner/builder. Phoenix? Don't know, but we might try to run some numbers when we have some time.

Lastly, good luck to all concerned with this project, as well as all the others where commitments have been made. I'm sure that we'll all be hearing more about this one as things progress.

Sipper:

I thank-you for your honest and professional responses. Where in California are you? I am out in LA quite frequently; especially when in AZ. Maybe we could put a face to the name on my next trip. Need to see my good friend Bob Keenan (aka ICF Bob) up in Three Rivers anyway.

PM me!

This thread is one of the most informative I have found. I'm in the (very, very) early stages of researching energy efficient building, and from what I gather, the "lopsided" ICFs seem to make the most sense from a passive solar standpoint, which is what we're aiming for. The tables above seem to confirm this, although the benefits seem negligible in certain climates. We're in Southwest Missouri, so I can't really determine -- from that data -- which high-mass wall would be best for us. Climate-wise, we're somewhere in between Atlanta and MPLS!

Here is what I received from a friend in Santa Fe - he is in a Durisol home:

1. Square feet in main house and guest house--6400
2. Garage floors (heated to 50 degrees)--1700 SF
3. Heating costs (natural gas supplying heated water for hydronic in-floor) for October 2008 through March 2009 about $900.00. I'm doing this from memory; I'll check on Monday for exact #s.
4. Cooling costs mid-June through September--$00.00--that is, nothing. Really, never turned the AC on.

My insulation guru tells me that even well insulated 2X8 with good windows will run at least twice as much for heating (just the house, forget the garages) and need some AC, though not a lot...Santa Fe's typical summer days will be mid-80's daytime (though we can have numerous days in the 90's), but mid-50's to low 60's night-time--remember I'm at 6,551 feet elevation.