ICFs, Insulated concrete forms will play a major part in insulations of walls in the house, especially the foundations. In order to gain the benefits of the large geothermal mass upon which the house is built, the foundations must be deeper than the frost line so that the internal mass is unaffected by the external seasonal changes. The outer foundations of the house will need to be about 3 ft deep.

Traditionally the concrete for foundations is poured between wooden forms that are removed after the concrete sets. With ICFs the polystyrene forms are left in place.  This leaves exactly what we require a deep seated and well insulated foundation.

As one can see from the photo to the right, the ICFs interlock like a Lego brick. The outer ICF will be continued up into the slip formed walls. The interior wall will be thicker and contain some rebar reinforcement for load bearing. The thickness of the wall will also introduce substantial structural mass to the interior for passive solar heating. The outer wall is basically a facade,  a shell for appearance and weather protection. For more info click here

  Of course roofs and roof cavities will have to be well insulated also. For roofs we are considering using panel systems. These panels come with the roof joist built in and a pine surface for the inner ceiling already in place. For more details click here.

Finally we must insulate the weakest thermal point in the house the windows, which is discussed on the next page.