Press Releases
OREGON CONDOMINIUM PROJECT TAKES ICFs INTO MAINSTREAM CONSTRUCTION
Released: August 01, 2002
OREGON CONDOMINIUM PROJECT TAKES ICFs INTO MAINSTREAM CONSTRUCTION
Omaha, Nebraska, August 2002-Wall construction on the main part of North America's largest insulating concrete form (ICF) project is now complete signaling to the rest of the construction industry that ICFs are here to stay.
"Now there can be no doubt that ICFs are a mainstream construction product that can be used on any size project from small safe rooms to high-rise office buildings," says John Moylan, national sales manager of Reward Wall Systems, Inc., the Nebraska-based company whose flat wall form was selected for the project. "ICFs are accepted as more than just a custom home product that is chosen because of its energy efficiency. Now they are chosen more often for their feasibility, constructibility and performance." "The use of ICFs will only continue to grow," he added.
Wall construction on the massive 436,161 square foot, eight-story condominium-resort, located in Seaside, Oregon, began last February, and the top floor of the main complex was completed in early August. Installation speed of the Reward ICF infill walls accelerated as the building rose, until the last three 54,500 square foot floors were installed in just 12 days each.
Since the building is located right next to the Pacific Ocean, the project planning team was looking for new, more durable wall materials that could withstand extreme weather conditions, the corrosive effects of salt water and possible seismic activity. After evaluating several types of wall systems, the team settled on Reward ICFs. "Basically, ICF walls are simply concrete walls," said planning team member Stephen Yu, a structural engineer with Cary Kopczynski & Co. of Bellevue, Washington.
"ICF construction is cost competitive because there is no need to add insulation after the walls are constructed. And since there is no exposed steel, it is corrosion resistant, and it meets the code criteria," he added.
Reward is the only ICF company that currently holds National Evaluation Service Type I approval for non-combustible construction, which is essential for the construction of large, multi-story buildings.
The Seaside structure is actually three independent, freestanding buildings configured in a U shape. Designed to withstand seismic activity, the building system consists of spread footing foundations, traditional cast-in-place 20" shear walls, 8" post-tension slabs and concrete columns. The shear walls are the main structural component. The concrete slabs and columns transfer the load to the shear walls, which then take the load into the foundation.
The buildings are designed for 12 inches of lateral movement each way at the roof level during a seismic event. The Reward walls are used as non-load bearing infill walls that are isolated from the concrete column and slab frame. This means that they basically "ride" on the concrete slabs during seismic movement. Since the Reward walls move laterally in both directions, they are more resistant to damage during an earthquake.
"The Reward ICFs functioned very well in this project. They're a great product, and I will definitely use them in other projects," said Yu.
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.