Insulating Form System for Concrete Foundation

The majority of homes in the Southern and Southwest United States are built on concrete slab foundations. In many of these homes, the concrete slabs are not insulated, resulting in heat loss through the edges of the slab during the heating season.  While there are methods for insulating the edges of slabs, they are costly, difficult to install, slow construction, and can cause termite problems in some areas of the country. In partnership with DOE’s Building Technologies Program, Davis Energy Group, Inc. is developing an installer friendly slab-edge insulation system offering multiple benefits to builders and homeowners. 

The slab-edge insulation, Formsulate, is a leave-in-place concrete slab form board allowing concrete subcontractors to continue using the industry standard practices they are accustomed to.  he form board consists of a PVC extrusion filled with two inches of Styrofoam insulation.  It contains specialized linear and corner couplers for easy installation regardless of shape. The leave-in-place form board system reduces heat loss through the slab edges, resulting in lower heating loads. Formsulate reduces this heat loss by more than 80% when compared to the uninsulated concrete slabs found in many homes. Lower heating loads also result in a reduction of greenhouse gases, significantly reducing the homeowner’s carbon footprint. The form board is also treated with approved termite-resistant chemicals to prevent the pests from tunneling through the foam and into the wall cavities. 

A major benefit from this developing technology is the waste reduction associated with it. Standard practice for pouring concrete slabs uses wooden form boards, which are then stripped and end up as waste material. The wooden form boards typically add an additional 400 pounds of construction waste per home. Since Formulate is a leave-in-place product, no additional construction waste is created. 

Contact:

Davis Energy Group
http://www.davisenergy.com