Amazon Forms Newsletter>May 2006 In This Issue   Amazon Show Home First Year Energy Usage   Contractor Specializes in Arches   ICF's (Insulated Concrete Forms) on the Upswing   Learn How To Build Basements with Grid-WALL™   Grid-WALL™ Cutting . Amazon Show Home First Year Energy Usage Energy requirements for this 6,800 square foot living area or 9,500 square feet under roof structure were absolutely awesome. This atypical house has walls that are ten feet high and twenty-five feet high in the living area. This extra cubic footage as compared to standard eight foot walls means potentially 25%-30% more space to heat and cool. Most recently this past March temperatures dropped into the mid 30’s for four nights. Temperatures in the totally non-heated house only dropped to 63 degrees. This is a perfect example of how R value working in conjunction with the thermal mass of the concrete and reduced air infiltration can have a positive impact on heating and cooling requirements.   Average Monthly Energy Costs to Heat and Cool Different Size Grid-Wall™ Houses Based On Our Grid-Wall™ Show Home Data Sq. Ft. of House Energy Cost @ $31.91/1000 Square Feet W/ 10 Foot Plate Height Energy Cost @ $23.93/1,000 Square Feet W/ 8 foot Plate Height 1,000 $31.91 $23.93 2,000 $63.82 $47.86 3.000 $95.73 $71.79 4,000 $127.64 $95.72 5,000 $159.55 $119.65 Saturday, March 25, ambient temperatures reached 76 degrees. Doors and windows were opened and allowed the warm air to move through the house and raise the internal temperature from 63 degrees to 72 degrees. The doors were closed when exterior temperatures dropped to 70 degrees. Nothing like using Mother Nature’s warm breezes to warm a cool house! The following data is based on eleven months of energy demand for our show home beginning March 2005 through January 2006. If you live in a stick framed house, compare your energy costs with those below and see how your house compares.   An enlargement for a window from the Greek Orthodox Church in Dripping Springs, Texas.   Contractor Specializes in Arches Arches in the conventional building trade are fairly complex to make and also time consuming which adds up to more expense for arches. Alexander Grant Homes is a pro when it comes to arches of all types.  Alexander-Grant Homes is a full-service general contractor with over 35 years experience in residential and commercial building design and construction. The goal of the Company is quality and energy-efficient structures. Alexander Grant Homes can help design and build your Grid-Wall™ home. They will act as a consult or provide subcontracted services for installing Grid-Wall™. Contact Alexander-Grant Homes by calling Arjen Foreman at 512-663-5838 or by email at arjenforeman@yahoo.com A Grid-WALL home in Wimberly, TX Exhaust area over the cook stove Super thick walls that are arched and also a deep alcove. More arches are seen in the backgroud . ICF’s (Insulated Concrete Forms)on the Upswing Homes and light commercial buildings made with ICF’s are on the upswing, according to the latest shipment reports released by the Insulating Concrete Forms Association. The report, released in mid-March, indicates the number of U.S. and Canadian forms installed INCREASED 15.7% IN 2005 COMPARED TO 2004. Furthermore, in the last five years ICF use has grown from 26.1 million square feet in 2000 to 62.5 million square feet in 2005, a 58% increase. According to the report, 56% of the installed forms went into above grade walls in 2005, 10% more than 2004. Of that amount 74% went to residential construction, a 3% decrease over 2005, while commercial construction commanded a 26% share during the same period, up 3%. Using average size 16” x 48” ICF’s to build an average sized 2,280 square foot home takes approximately 156 blocks for the exterior walls. The Portland Cement Association estimates the ICF industry will garner a 5.7% share of the 1.4 million projected housing starts, or 80,000 homes, in 2006—2,000 more than in 2005. . Learn How To Build Basements with Grid-WALL™ Permanent Buildings and Foundations has a CD available for $29.95 that features 273 pages of basement construction and expertise. This CD is jam packed with information that will make you basement a huge success. To order a copy call 877-764-7248 or check out their website @ www.pbf.org. . Grid-WALL™ Cutting Perfect ninety degree cuts are somewhat difficult to make when attempting to cut a Grid-Wall™ block. Because the block is so thick (10”), there is a tendency to scalp the block, thus making an imperfect cut. The jig shown above will allow the operator to not only make perfect 45 degree cuts, but also make various miter cut perfectly. A Grid-Wall™ house currently under construction required multiple 22.5 degree cut. Installers had tried unsuccessfully to cut the blocks without a jig, and so a jig was hurriedly fabricated. Note that all the cuts illustrated in the picture above were made with minimal error. Once the jig is set up, the installer can make the required number of cuts very rapidly and without error.   Amazon Forms One, Inc. 19068 Marbach Lane, San Antonio, TX 78266 Phone: 210-629-0333  Toll Free: 866-651-3322