Press Releases

Concrete Construction on the Rise in Colorado
Released: April 01, 1999

Concrete Construction on the Rise in Colorado

Denver, Colorado – Whether you want to build a curved house that recalls the look of a seashell in the Caribbean or a 45,000 square foot office/warehouse, you can build it using a product that looks like the foam ice chests you buy in your local grocery store—insulating concrete forms (ICFs).

Two very different steel-reinforced concrete structures built using Reward ICFs are currently underway in Denver and Colorado Springs, and each demonstrates the tremendous versatility of this type of construction.

The Reward building system is a stay-in-place insulating concrete forming system that is used above and below grade in the construction of commercial and residential structures. It consists of individual lightweight foam blocks made of two pieces of expanded polystyrene (EPS) held together with plastic ties. The foam blocks are stacked like building blocks, aligned, braced, strengthened with steel reinforcement bar and filled with concrete. The resulting wall is a solid continuous airtight steel-reinforced concrete wall surrounded by several inches of insulating EPS.

Contrary to the perception that a concrete building must be completely square or rectangular, the large custom home that Roger Loo is having built near Colorado Springs contains all curved exterior walls. Built in a semi-circular shape, the exterior wall at the back of the house is almost solid concrete while the wall at the front of the house is almost all windows. "The most unique feature of this house is the privacy, yet openness it provides us," said Loo. "And since the interior walls are also built with Reward, we have an extremely tight, sound proof, energy efficient house."

Loo went on to describe how surprised the contractors were at how cool the house stayed during the warmest summer weather, even without air conditioning. The company maintains that when built to specifications, a Reward structure can save the owner between 50 and 80% on heating and cooling costs.

The Titan Road Industrial Building that contractor Mike Radke is building for developer Steve Williams in Denver represents a totally different kind of structure from the Loo house. This 45,000 square foot office/warehouse complex consists of fourteen 2,475 square foot units and two 4,950 square foot units. Each unit contains a small office space, a bathroom and warehouse space. Since all the interior and dividing walls are also steel-reinforced concrete using Reward forms, the units are being sold as "office/warehouse condominiums."

According to Reward distributor Chuck Lipari of EPS Building Systems, L.L.C. in Broomfield, this building represents the largest ICF structure in Colorado. "This building contains interior ceiling heights of 12' to 16', and at nearly 45,000 square feet is the largest ICF structure ever built in Colorado," he said. Lipari added that the high insulating value and sound deadening properties of the Reward steel-reinforced walls were the key selling points for using Reward forms for this complex. "Each unit is sold separately," Lipari said, "so it's crucial for each unit to be buffered from the neighboring units. Reward walls provide the insulation, strength and sound proofing required."

For more information about these two structures and Reward Walls, please contact:

Chuck Lipari
EPS Building Systems, L.L.C.
Broomfield, Colorado

Phone: 303-460-1125
Cell: 303-919-9222

Or the marketing department at Reward Wall Systems, Inc. at 800-468-6344.

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