FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BuildBlock ICFs Releases ICF Products & Safe Room Engineering Manual

Oklahoma City, OK – The BuildBlock ICF Products & Safe Room Engineering Manual increases the scope of prescriptive engineering for BuildBlock ICF products. This document is intended to be used in conjunction with the PCA 100 Prescriptive Design of Exterior Concrete Walls for One- and Two-Family Dwellings when determining reinforcement for residential walls and as a reference for commercial engineering.

• Below grade wall include 12ft heights for all products and 14ft in certain applications.
• Maximum above grade wall heights are engineered to 14ft for all products and 20ft in certain applications, reducing the need for site specific engineering.
• Easy to read lintel design tables are based on opening sizes and provide clear reinforcement requirements.
• FEMA 361 & ICC 500-2014 compliant prescriptive design for safe rooms with spans up to 22ft, wall lengths up to 44ft, and wall heights up to 20ft.
• Rebar conversion tables to convert between single and double bar applications.
• The IRC, the PCA 100, the Prescriptive Method, and ACI-318 are recommended companions to this engineering manual.

“The Prescriptive Engineering for ICFs by HUD has been a great reference since it was adopted into the IRC, but wasn’t designed with modern ICFs in mind. Our customers needed modern engineering for our products reflecting stronger reinforcement and extended design limits reflecting the types of projects we see every day.” says Mike Garrett, BuildBlock CEO. “Safe Rooms are becoming such a large part of the national conversation in homes, schools, and businesses we also wanted to provide clear guidelines to design safe rooms that are FEMA 361 compliant.”

About BuildBlock

BuildBlock^® Building Systems is the manufacturer of BuildBlock Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs) the most environmentally-friendly, energy-efficient and disaster resistant method of residential and commercial construction. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, BuildBlock serves North America through 14 manufacturing facilities including locations in Mexico and Canada.

About ICFs

Insulating concrete forms (ICFs) are hollow foam blocks which are stacked into the shape of the exterior walls of a building, reinforced with steel rebar, and then filled with concrete. Insulated concrete forms combine one of the finest insulating materials, Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), with one of the strongest structural building materials, steel reinforced concrete. The result is a wall system of unmatched comfort, energy efficiency, strength, and noise reduction.

More information about BuildBlock^® Insulating Concrete Forms can be found online at buildblock.com or by calling 866-222-2575.

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