Development
The ICF construction technique was first developed in Europe following the second world war as an inexpensive and durable way to rebuild damaged structures. The first modern ICF forms were developed in the late 1960s with the advent of modern foam plastics. Canadian contractor Werner Gregori filed the first patent for a foam concrete form in 1966 with a block measuring 16 inches high by 48 inches long with a tongue-and-groove interlock, metal ties, and a waffle-grid core.
The adoption of ICF construction has steadily increased since the 1970s though adoption has been hampered by lack of awareness, building codes, and confusion caused by many different manufacturers selling slightly different ICF designs rather than focusing on industry standardization. Data from the National Association of Home Builders shows 48,000 ICF homes and 10,000 to 15,000 commercial structures were built using ICF in 2002. Since 2002, sales of ICFs have increased 30% annually. ICF construction is now part of many building codes and accepted in most jurisdictions in North-America.
Read more about this topic: Insulating Concrete Form
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“The development of civilization and industry in general has always shown itself so active in the destruction of forests that everything that has been done for their conservation and production is completely insignificant in comparison.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)
“The work of adult life is not easy. As in childhood, each step presents not only new tasks of development but requires a letting go of the techniques that worked before. With each passage some magic must be given up, some cherished illusion of safety and comfortably familiar sense of self must be cast off, to allow for the greater expansion of our distinctiveness.”
—Gail Sheehy (20th century)
“They [women] can use their abilities to support each other, even as they develop more effective and appropriate ways of dealing with power.... Women do not need to diminish other women ... [they] need the power to advance their own development, but they do not “need” the power to limit the development of others.”
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)