The storms came early this year, wiping out homes across the South and Midwest. Arkansas took a beating, as did Kentucky, Mississippi, and even Oklahoma. Imagine the constant anxiety that homeowners must be feeling.
At the same time, lumber prices are spiking due to tariff chaos. FEMA seems to be in limbo, crippled by cuts and confusion. States find themselves on their own in the rubble, despite pleas for help to Washington. But there’s no cavalry on the horizon. We’re on our own.
Builders can do something to help: Switch to insulated concrete forms (ICF) construction.
Try crunching the numbers. ICFs are about to reach price parity with lumber-framed homes again, just like during the pandemic. Combine this bottom line with their strength, labor savings, and performance—plus the growing availability of less energy intensive concrete—improved with products such as recycled glass aggregate from Opta Glass.
Wood-framed houses have structural limitations. Even the strict Florida Building Code (FBC) sets design wind speeds up to 180 mph in certain high-risk areas. But that’s still below the strength needed to handle large tornadoes, which can hit 200 mph or higher.
ICF homes, when detailed properly, offer excellent tornado resistance. For example, during 2021, a Nudura ICF home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, remained standing as homes around it blew away in a season of tornadoes.
Florida Green Building Construction, based in Palm Coast, Florida, specializes in ICF homes, emphasizing resistance to 200 mph winds. Notably, their designs go beyond the basic ICF shell.
Windows and doors must be protected. Wood-framed roofs must be strengthened. Impact glass is recommended, but I’d opt for an upgrade to rolling shutters or the equivalent, extra roof ties, bracing, and spray foam added to roof assemblies. Spray foam can increase roof uplift resistance by up to 250 percent.
While it may be impossible to completely fortress an ICF home against the very worst EF5 tornado, 99 percent of tornadoes to hit the U.S. since 1950 have not exceeded 200 mph.
The economics and the times point to a need and an opportunity for homebuilders in much of the so-called “heartland” of the nation. We’re 3 million units of housing short of what’s needed in this country, with a surplus of luxury product and a shortage of resilient homes.
FEMA recommends that most people duck and cover into a safe room during a tornado. But instead of throwing up their hands, can’t we give them homes that survive?
ICF technology should have a dominant place at the table, not only for builders, but also for governors and public officials facing down the new reality of worsening climate disasters without a federal safety net.