ABSTRACT ONLY

Insulated concrete walls are increasingly chosen as an alternative to wood-frame walls in residential construction. Insulated concrete walls can be built with insulating concrete forms, cast-in-place concrete, precast concrete panels, autoclaved aerated concrete, and concrete masonry. Houses built with these walls are disaster resistant (wind, hurricane, fire, and flood) and energy efficient. Their energy efficiency is imparted by the walls’ thermal mass and high levels of insulation. In addition, solid concrete walls have very low air infiltration.