hello! new gal here. my husband is a general contractor and has used icf's for the basement only. we are now going to build our own (on nights and weekends) and need a bit of advice. my husband is a distributor for greenblock so we are using greenblock 6in core clear to the trusses. my question is, we are in rural northern missouri/ southern iowa and have cold winters and hot humid summers. we are building a 1700 sq ft main floor and 1700 sq ft (unfinished for now) basement. we are limited on our hvac professional choices with very little to no experience in the hvac requirements for an icf home. i'm a researching and i've read up on this and realize this is crucial to how your icf's perform. my concern is getting the right tonnage and such for our home so we can actually benefit from all icf's have to offer. i will be horribly devastated if we get this wrong and as a new distributor would like to get this right and be able to guide our customers through this part of the icf process as well. what advice do you have for us? how do we know our hvac guy isn't screwing us over with too big of a system just to make another buck? what should the tonnage be for this size of home? thank you so much for letting me pick your brains!

You need to find a contractor that does a manual J calculation.  This will take into account the construction, orientation, windows, and your local climate.  You can get a program that you can run yourself to get the sizing yourself.  Look at www.hvac-talk.com.  They have a program you can buy for like $49 for a couple of months.  Also, the site can provide you good advice to find a competent HVAC contractor.  However, read the rules and don't ask any do-it-yourself questions.  They get kind of touchy about that.  Since you're a women, they may cut you some slack.

 Good luck,

Bruce

 

bruce, i found this program you mentioned last week. i wondered if it was necessary - sounds like it is. *unless this hvac guy will give me more info on how he calculated it*
thanks for your help! i appreciate it.

Here in central Iowa we have used a company out of the Des Moines area called Cenergy for proper sizing of HVAC equipment. They offer more services than just that. All of our clients have been quite pleased with the results achieved when they used them. They can provide all of the documentation to your energy provider to get the maximum rebate available. Go to http://www.energyguarantee.com/about.html to learn more about their other services. Silas Hoeppner is their sales guy. They cover anywhere in Iowa. They might be able to help you.

ericbrea;

I know this is off the subject but, do you know if there are any special provisions fortermites when using iCFs below grade

RE : HVAC get an certified energyrater to do calcs, they have no $$ vested in your HVAC sales

The Portland Cement Association has a heating/cooling load program available for $60 that is written specifically for concrete homes. I would use that program, or the HVAC-Calc program, mostly for a comparison with a heavy duty program output or to get an idea of what your heat load will be before you have a real load calculation done.

Find an HVAC contractor who uses Wrightsoft Right Suite Residential. It will give you room by room heating and cooling load calculations as well as the total load, plus everything else needed to design your heating system. It has the info in it for ICF walls, foam insulated roofs and ceilings, etc. From what I've been told by HVAC contractors is that it is the very best program out there for doing Manual J calculations. It's a multi thousand dollar program so you won't find hack HVAC contractors using it! Latest version is 8. Any HVAC contractor who has an open mind, is reasonably smart, and has that program, can design a good system for you whether or not they have ever done an ICF house before.

HELLO, MY NAME IS MARK,  I HAVE BUILT TWO ICF HOMES INCLUDING MY OWN 25OO SQFT. RANCH HOME, THE FIRST HVAC SYSTEM I HAD INSTALLED I HAD A AIR/AIR HEAT PUMP WITH A 60,000 BTU PROPANE FURNACE.  THIS SYSTEM WORKED WELL BUT THE ENERGY CONSUMPTION I WAS USING DID NOT FIT MY BUDGET AS I FELT THE ICF HOME SHOULD USE LESS ENERGY.  TWO YRS INTO THE HOME I PURCHASED A GROUND SOURCE -GEOTHERMAL SYSTEM FROM A SPONSORED HVAC SPECIALIST.  COST ABOUT 15,000 TO CONVERT THE SYSTEM OVER AND I HAVE NOTHING BUT GOOD THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE SYSTEM, NO MORE PROPANE AND THE HEAT AND COOL ARE VANTASTIC.  CALL YOUR LOCAL COOPERATIVE IN THIS AREA OF KANSAS CITY IT'S PLATTE/CLAY COOP. FREE EXPERTS AT HEAT LOAD INDEXING ETC. THE GEOTHERMAL CONTRACTORS AREA USUALLY VERY KNOWLEDGABLE ABOUT THE RIGHT SYSTEM. LOOK FOR 100% COOL AND HEAT GAURANTEE..  WATER FURNACE IS HAVING TROUBLE WITH WARRANTY PROBLEMS, THE COMPANY I USED IS NEXT TO THEM ON THE INTRENET, SOMEWHERE UP NORTH LIKE MICHIGAN. I CALLED THEM EARLY INTO MY PROJECT AND SPOKE WITH THE OWNER, THE TECHS ETC VERY HELPFULL PEOPLE. I'M AT MY WORK AND I JUST  CANT REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE
COMPANY I USED...  YOUR WELCOME TO CALL 816-726-2493
I HAVE A FEW YRS OF EXPERIANCE WITH THE ICF CONCEPT AND MIGHT BE ABLE TOP HELP WITH ANY QUESTIONS YOU HAVE.  I USED ARXX. WITH 10FT WALLS.  WE LOVE OUR HOME, QUIET, STRONG AND ENERGY EFFICIENT.

My husband is a contractor, and we are also building an ICF house- have a few questions about ductwork. Can you provide some guidance? Thanks, Jordan

Icf is usually on the outside walls only and the inside are stick built. There is likely no changes for heating and cooling....Electrical is a different story...

Let us know any question and good luck with your project.

ICF homes tend to be tighter sealed and may therefore require a HRV system. HRV systems are best accomplished with dedicated fresh/stale air ducting. To save the expense and hassle of having to bore through your concrete walls, you should plan where all penetrations will be located and place chases in the walls BEFORE pouring the walls. You will likely need penetrations for the HRV inlet/outlet, range hood outlet, makeup air inlet, exterior electrical outlets, exterior wall lights, doorbell, exterior hose bibs, any combustion appliances requiring outdoor air and any refrigerant lines.

Hire Richard Rue with Energywise in Dallas TX area to engineer HVAC system. You will be money ahead in the end. You will use him for all future projects!