Press Releases
HOICH-LEMKE BUILDING FEATURES INNOVATIVE ICF WALL SYSTEM
Released: August 01, 2002
Omaha, Nebraska, August 2002-The new corporate headquarters building for the Hoich-Lemke company at 5919 South 118th Street is currently under construction using insulating concrete forms (ICFs), an innovative wall system that is stirring a lot of interest.
Although ICFs have been around for more than forty years, they still create a sensation whenever an ICF building is under construction. After all, while under construction, an ICF building looks like it is being built from the foam ice chests you can buy at the grocery store. But when finished and filled with steel-reinforced concrete, ICF walls provide unequaled strength and energy efficiency compared to other types of wall systems such as wood frame or concrete block.
When the owners of Hoich-Lemke began planning their new corporate headquarters building, they knew they wanted it to be well insulated and energy efficient. After doing some research, they decided to build with insulating concrete forms (ICFs). The owners then asked general contractor Larry Buland, president and partner of John Luce Company of Omaha to begin investigating which ICF to use.
"After investigating several companies, we chose Reward Wall Systems because we felt they have engineering technology that is understandable, thorough and precise," said Buland. "We are very proactive in construction technology details and won't use a product unless we are convinced it is technically and environmentally sound and will last a long time." Engineering details were especially important, because with wall heights of 24 and 28 feet, the 18,000 square foot Hoich-Lemke building is one of the tallest ICF buildings in Nebraska.
Reward ICFs consist of two 48" x 16" polystyrene panels held together with plastic ties to make a hollow block. The forms are stacked up to create a wall. They are braced and aligned, and steel reinforcement is placed vertically and horizontally within the forms. The forms are then filled with concrete and stay in place after the concrete has cured, resulting in a steel reinforced, fully insulated concrete wall that provides a high degree of protection from high winds as well as energy efficiency and noise reduction. In addition to anchoring the steel reinforcement within the forms, the plastic ties provide full length furring strips on which to fasten the interior and exterior finishes.
Arid Resources of Elkhorn, a contracting company that specializes in environmentally friendly construction and is experienced in installing Reward ICF walls was hired to install the walls. Daniel Taylor, president of Arid Resources is very pleased with the speed of installing the ICF walls. "This is a very versatile product and is easily configured to the floor plan," he said. "In addition, you can build with it year around, it's environmentally friendly, and when the walls are complete, so is the insulation and furring. You're further along in the project."
Located in Omaha, Nebraska, for the past 13 years, Reward Wall Systems, Inc. was the first national manufacturer of two complete and diversified lines of insulating concrete forms used in residential and commercial structures. Reward's customers include general contractors, residential contractors, concrete contractors and construction supply distributors.