There was an entire row of exhibitors showing various incarnations of insulated concrete forms (ICFs) with their styrofoam walls and their plastic ties that are filled with concrete and then labelled green. Then there is Durisol, that has been around for half a century. it is made of wood chips and a bit of portland cement, 78% recycled materials, is noncombustible and is the original insulated concrete form. So why is it always ignored?
exposed Durisol at Fifth Town CheesePerhaps it suffers from a “not invented here” factor, being developed in Holland and Hamilton, Ontario. Perhaps it is because it is proprietary rather than foam ICFs, where there are a dozen different systems. A case can be made that it is a lot greener and a lot better:
It is easier to use and avoids the problem of voids:
The Fifth Town Cheese Factory was built out of Durisol for LEED points.
It is just one of those products that is so logical, yet has just never found its place. I wish I knew why.
