“Our taxes will pay for the building today, but our kids will pay to heat and cool it down the road,” local resident Chad Johnson told the Farmington Area Public Library board at an open meeting.

Plans to replace the current library, a 3,000-square-foot building dating to 1906, were finally moving forward after taxpayers in the Central Illinois community voted down two funding measures but approved a third.

Now, Johnson felt the community should make another wise choice by building the library with insulated concrete forms, or ICF.

While new to many, ICF has proven its value in providing superior insulation that can cut energy costs by as much as 25%. The method also creates a resilient building envelope that stands strong in storms like the EF-4 tornado that leveled nearby Washington, Illinois.

Johnson and his wife, Candy, had built an ICF home in Farmington years earlier. “Our utility bills are a fraction of what we paid in our 1920’s-era home,” Johnson reports. Convinced of ICF’s value, he founded Sustainable Building Solutions, LLC to promote its use.

But will it work here?

Architect Mark Misselhorn, AIA of Apace Design in Peoria had seen ICF homes but wasn’t immediately sure the method was right for the library project.

“I needed to know more before I could agree it was good for a public building, where design and construction standards are very different from homebuilding,” he explains.

Cost was a key concern. Area taxpayers weren’t about to approve a budget increase. “Also, our plans called for a dramatic high-low roof line,” says Misselhorn. “I wanted to be sure that structurally, ICF would support all the features we had in mind.”

Experts weigh in

Sensing deep doubts, Johnson invited energy and construction experts to meet with the decision-makers.

“We were able to show facts and studies that made the potential savings real,” he says. “When the board had all the facts, they were excited.”

Misselhorn did a thorough study of structural considerations, costs and benefits before recommending ICF for the new building.

The learning curve

Officials led by Library Director Barbara Love hosted the ground-breaking celebration in September 2013 after Bishop Brothers of Peoria had signed on as general contractor.

Though they’d never built an ICF structure before, Bishop’s skilled team was up for the challenge. “There was definitely a learning curve, but we like working with new methods,” says Project Superintendent Justin Bishop.

Chad Johnson worked with forms maker NUDURA to provide training for Bishop’s crew. “The lightweight forms fit together easily,” Johnson says, “but precision is key, just as it is with conventional framing. Carpenters can readily adapt their skills to this method.”

Working through the polar vortex

Bishop crews made a fast start last fall, but fierce winter weather threw challenges their way.

During the first wall pour in late December, 30- to 40-mile-per-hour winds whipped across the open job site. “Handling the styro forms was like flying huge kites!” Justin Bishop says. “After getting them in place, we had to check and re-check for correct alignment while we pumped in the mix.”

January’s record-low temps forced delays, but workers finished the walls during a second pour last month.

No accelerators, despite low temps

Prairie’s Central Illinois team provided 4,000-psi mix with uniform, ¾-inch aggregate for the job, notes Peoria Area Manager Dave Minor.

“No accelerators were needed, thanks to the insulating properties of the forms,” he says. “As the concrete generates heat from the hydration process, most is retained in the walls.”

Standard cold-weather batching practices were performed at the plant, aiming for a 70 + degree batch temperature with an expected temperature loss of 10 degrees during transit and placement.

Sustainability wins

As soon as the weather breaks, Bishop Brothers will place the concrete slab and move forward with all other elements. Despite delays, the 9,000-square-foot facility may open as early as September 2014.

Meanwhile, visitors to the existing library can learn all about ICF construction at a special hands-on exhibit, says Library Director Barbara Love. “There’s been a lot of interest in what we’re doing, and though ICF is not well-known in our area yet, people want to know more about it,” she says.

Love and the board take special pride in the new building’s sustainable, ADA-compliant design. An added dividend: the concrete walls will make interior spaces especially quiet.

“These are improvements we’ve needed for a very long time,” Love says. “The new library will serve the community well for many, many years to come.”