Thanks for you post ICFHyrid.
Regarding the engineering calcs, some of my recent bids have had an adder for ICF. My take is that the ICF industry has CAD/Engineering Details that are readily available and do not need to be recalced by the project engineer..this is just a waste of money paid by the homeowner.

Instead, the project engineer should make use of the expertise of the ICF engineering that has already been done. Using readily available standard from the ICF community can bring down the "engineering adder" for ICF and make it more competitive with stick.

That said, perhaps you can give me some insight on why the price for ICF seems to be high. In my simple minded calculations i see pricing for a single 2" 4x8 sheet of eps $24 that gives about 75 cents/sq foot. Note that this is price for one sheet (just googled it) and if i was buying a housefull, i would expect to save ~15% simply on the volume.

Given an ICF that is roughly 4.25" think, 4' long, 12" tall, one "block" is approximately equivalent to half a sheet (actual is 0.53 if you calculate by volume). That means that in terms of EPS material, one "block" should have $12 of EPS in it (note that this is for two sides at 4.25" each). In rough terms this is $3/sq foot for eps. 

Clearly this does not include the added cost of manufacturing, the plastic ties in the form, but it also does not capture the fact that the manufacturing equipment for ICF is probably fully depreciated by now, and when buying ICF you are ordering a truckload (i.e. there should be a volume benefit).

As far as avalanche resistance, this should be an intrinsic benefit of ICF (along with standard detail) that i can use that might lower my overall engineering expense and motivation to go ICF. If you know where i can find a standard detail from the ICF manufacturers, i will be more than happy to include it.

I'd like to hear other thoughts on this, including where my logic may be flawed.
Thanks, Steve 

Our project is on a 25% downslope, but we tried to keep things as simple as possible. That said, we have endeavored to keep a single gable across house (58' deep, 36' wide, max ht is 43' from bottom of footing to top of roof. house is ~3300 sq ft of conditioned (not necessarily living) space. Seismic zone 3.

Can you please advise on your selecteion rationale for your ICF supplier....we are sorting through our criteria and top of mind is cost given the relatively large square footage of exterior walls. if at all possible, providing a rough cost per sq foot of wall will be enormously helpful.
Thanks, Steve

Thanks for the perspective. That said, while i have been trying to convince my architect and builder of the merits of ICF, both have been telling me of the significant cost downside. We are quickly reaching the point in my project where i have to decide in order to do the engineering...your outline of the cost adders of ICF appear significant. Unfortunately, it looks like the architect and builder may be right, and this is not likely to be in the budget for our program. Appreciate the information. Alas.

this is just a waste of money paid by the homeowner.

Posted By steve burke on 02 Feb 2013 08:09 PM

Thanks for the perspective. That said, while i have been trying to convince my architect and builder of the merits of ICF, both have been telling me of the significant cost downside. We are quickly reaching the point in my project where i have to decide in order to do the engineering...your outline of the cost adders of ICF appear significant. Unfortunately, it looks like the architect and builder may be right, and this is not likely to be in the budget for our program. Appreciate the information. Alas.

while i have been trying to convince my architect and builder of the merits of ICF