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Concrete Wall Systems an Alternative to Wood Framing

An increasing number of families are discovering that homes built with exterior concrete walls offer significant energy efficiency, safety from natural disasters and a quiet, comfortable indoor environment, according to the Portland Cement Association.

The Portland Cement Association is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry (NCHI) — the Supplier 100 of NAHB.

The association is projecting that homes built with concrete systems will account for a full 25% share of housing starts by 2005 as residential contractors continue to look for alternatives to framing lumber, which has been declining in quality and can fluctuate unpredictably in price.

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The Portland Cement Association has gathered these facts about concrete wall systems:

• Houses built with exterior concrete walls can use an estimated 44% less energy for heating and 32% less for cooling than comparable wood-frame houses.
• Significantly less sound penetrates concrete walls than ordinary frame walls.
• Concrete walls can withstand up to four hours of intense fire without structural failure, compared to wood framing, which can fail in one hour or less.
• Fire is five times more likely to spread when exposed to wood than when exposed to the plastic foams in Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs).
• Debris driven by 250 mile-per-hour winds will penetrate through typical wood frame construction, but will be stopped by the concrete within ICF construction or cast-in-place walls.
• Volatile organic compound emissions from concrete building products are lower than those observed for most other building materials and do not present a health risk.

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