IZODOM TECHNOLOGY

The new building technology known among builders as ICF or Insulated Concrete Form construction spreads over. And it's inevitable because in third millennium one should build faster, more economical, more durable and with higher quality.

__________________________________

I.

The suggested ICF construction method is the most modern and is one of innovating building technologies. Now ICF is even used to build houses up to 50 meters high (up to 16 floors). So, what we are talking about is the building technology of permanent EPS shuttering. The principle of this technology is as simple as ABC: hollow insulation forms (made of EPS) are put together like baby bricks and then are filled in with foam concrete. Foam concrete is hardening and the insulation forms are not removed improving thermal efficiency of the building.

		Do you know?
	II..

EPS – expanded polystyrene (пенополистирол) Expanded polystyrene (EPS) isn't just foam insulation, it's an innovative building material that lends to the design and structural integrity of many building projects. Since the 1950's, EPS has been recognized as a mainstream insulation material, but over the past decade, new applications using EPS have expanded, and EPS now serves as a powerful design element. http://www.epsmolders.org/3.html

Using this building technology one gets wall resistance to heat transfer (wall thermal efficiency, R-Value) R = 2.90°C/w per sq., which shows doubtless advantage in comparison with other building technologies. It is obvious that building a warm brick wall with a similar to ICF wall thermal efficiency will cost 2.5 times more. For concrete wall with the same thermal efficiency the cost will go up 6.5 times. Comparison of thicknesses of walls made of different materials with R-Value equivalent to R = 2.90°C/w per sq.m.

 

Material	ICF with foam concrete	Pine tree	Brick	Concrete
Wall thickness (m)	0.25	0.56	1.50	4.50
Cost (ruble/sq.m.)		1 800	2 250	5 900

Simple analysis of this table will convince you that heating costs for ICF house decrease 3 times as compared with warm brick house.

III

Another advantage of ICF technology is light wall weight: 100 kg / sq. m. against 1500 kg /sq. m. of a brick wall with just 50 sm. thickness. This allows to considerably reduce expenses on basement construction and also to build up additional floors above old buildings where basements cannot bear extra load inevitable when conventional building technologies are used.

Activity 6 Vocabulary

IV

One more advantage of the offered technology is 10 % gain of interior space due to small wall thickness with the external building size remaining the same. Very important advantage of ICF technology is the short construction period. Practice shows that ICF walling gives 10 times reduction of construction period in comparison with traditional construction methods. This in its turn reduces the time of construction investment return. Besides we have immense reduction of transportation costs, also conduit application works (plumbing, heating, wiring, etc.) become easier.

1. Look through the text again and find expressions which mean:

 

I	Высотой до 50 метров
	Несъемная опалубка из пенополистирола
	Полая изолирующая форма
	Пенобетон
	Термический кпд
II	Теплонепроницаемость стен
	Мера теплосопротивления теплоизоляционного материала
	Толщина стены
	Стоимость отопления
III	Сократить расходы на строительство фундамента
	Нести дополнительную нагрузку
IV	Увеличение внутреннего пространства на 10 %
	Размер здания с внешней стороны
	Стены, возведенные с помощью изолированной опалубки
	Сокращение времени строительства в 10 раз
	Период окупаемости
	Прокладка коммуникаций

 

2. Use the expressions from the exercise above to write about the advantages of ICF technology.

 

 

Activity 7 Grammar Review “-ing“ forms

1. Study the table and pay attention to different uses of