Home   News   Schools   Sports   Biz   Opinion   Health   Scitech  Arts   Dining   Movies   Outdoors   Weather   Comics   Archives  NM Jobs Cars Real Estate

          Front Page  homes

Alternative Building Methods are Becoming Mainstream
    As alternative construction becomes more popular, new and innovative products are entering the market. Homeowners are becoming more and more concerned about health problems associated with poor indoor air quality, while builders are recognizing that they aren't affectively addressing the problem by using the same materials and methods that have always been used.
    With increasing shortage of natural resources/materials and consequential increase in prices, the industry is changing.
    "Alternative building" isn't just about using natural materials, either.
    It's a whole-systems approach to building, recognizing the impact of everything that goes into a home from the time building products are manufactured through the actual construction, and including the time that the home is occupied. The ideal alternative building material offers design flexibility, environmental responsibility, energy efficiency, long-term structural integrity and durability, and most importantly lower home operation and maintenance costs. One new material which meets all of these requirements is insulating concrete forms (ICF's). This innovative new product meets the challenge of alternative construction.
    "At four percent over conventional building material costs, ICF's can repay that cost in the first few years of the home's life," said Joe Ayala of Reward Wall Systems of New Mexico, local distributor for ICF.
    Due to their high thermal mass, ICF's have a very high insulating capacity and can often result in heating and cooling costs lowered by as much as 50% to 80% as well as the reduction in size of the HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) equipment needed in the home.
    In addition to their heating and cooling insulating qualities, ICF's also provide outstanding noise reduction allowing for a pleasant interior environment which will even allow for sophisticated acoustics. When building a new home, one should consider all of their options, or as is the case now, all of their "alternatives."