TOANO — When LaTasha, Askia and their two children move into their three-bedroom, two-bath, 1,347-square-foot home this spring, they’ll know it was built with efficiency and sustainability at the forefront.
Two Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg homes currently under construction in Toano are using a modern building method called Insulated Concrete Forms, or ICF. The homes are the fifth and sixth built by the local Habitat affiliate to utilize the method, which uses interlocked rigid foam forms reinforced with rebar and concrete.
The foam insulation is about 2.5 inches on the inside and outside, and the concrete cures with the forms remaining in place to permanently provide insulation, said Tyler Johnson, a Habitat partner who is the area general manager for the Peninsula with Vulcan Materials Company and the president of Virginia Ready Mix Concrete Association.
While the ICF method is used for the foundations of the homes in Toano, it also was applied to form the foundation and walls of four Habitat homes in Charles City that were dedicated in 2024.
Tyler Johnson, president of Virginia Ready Mix Concrete Association, and Craig Meadows, chief construction manager for Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg, at the ICF foundation concrete wall pour phase during construction of Habitat for Humanity homes in Toano. (Virginia Ready Mixed Concrete Association)
“It’s super insulated because of foam on the exterior and interior,” Johnson said in a phone interview. “The concrete drastically reduces energy loss, unlike conventional wood or steel (house frames). Thermal mass helps minimize heating and cooling loads by 30-to-50 percent. It’s super efficient.”
That helps keep energy bills low, and homes with ICF foundations often have a smaller, more efficient HVAC system, Johnson said.
Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that helps families achieve affordable homeownership. Homes are built or renovated, and the homeowners have a zero-interest equivalent 20- to 30-year mortgage. Participating families also put in 300 sweat equity hours where they work on their home or others, and/or work in a Re-Store.
Habitat’s chief constructor manager, Craig Meadows, said Habitat International encouraged its affiliates to use ICF starting in 2021 in an effort to build more sustainable and energy efficient homes. The organization teamed with the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association and Build with Strength to provide support to its affiliates.
The first Habitat homes in the country to use it were in California, according to Habitat International.
“Habitat International is always pushing us toward sustainability and energy efficiency in the homes,” Meadows said. “They prompted the push to vary construction methods and try to give everybody a few ways to be energy efficient.”
A close-up of the foundation of one of the Habitat houses, where you can see the foam. The foam helps provide better insulation, making the house more energy efficient. (Andi Petrini/The Virginia Gazette)
The Habitat affiliate in Virginia’s New River Valley starting using ICF before it was used in Charles City in 2023, according to Meadows. He oversees building plans for all the Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg Habitat homes and said because the Toano homes sit on such a steep slope, making the call to use ICF for the tall foundations was easy.
In Charles City, Meadows said he coordinated the contractors and suppliers he knew from jobs before he joined the Habitat team in 2015. He worked with Creative Building Products to get professional ICF installers to donate their time and knowledge, and the heads of VRMCA to organize donors such as Vulcan and Fox Blocks (which has a discount deal with Habitat International).
“This time, since I knew all the players, I went straight to Tyler and talked to all the sub-contractors to get the ball rolling,” Meadows said of the Toano homes.
Each partnership company contributes to Habitat homes differently, Johnson said. It could be a donation of people and time at a site, or reduced pricing of materials to help the families.
“It’s very self-fulfilling to see the families’ appreciation of getting a nice home at an affordable rate,” said Johnson, who attended the dedication in Charles City and was on-site for the concrete pouring in Toano.
Energy efficient and low maintenance
ICF is more energy efficient and cost-effective in places such as Toano, where “weatherization and structural integrity is paramount,” Meadows said.
Habitat construction supervisor Paul Williams, who has been with the organization for 20 years, called the use of ICF “cutting edge stuff.”
Williams, who has led on-site supervision of 150 houses from the ground up or for renovation, said using ICF is experimental for Habitat.
“We learned a lot, and it’s something eventually we can start to do ourselves,” he said.
Johnson and Meadows both said that when ICF is used in construction, fewer people are needed to build it, which expedites the process. It happens at once with fewer tradespeople, making it quicker, cost effective and more likely to keep construction on schedule.
The crawl spaces under Habitat homes are paramount, Williams said. ICF gives it the “encapsulation we’re looking for.” It keeps it dry, clean, leaves room under the home for contractors to work efficiently, and reduces dust, mold, pests and rot.
Keeping those maintenance costs low is important to LaTasha and her family, who did not want their names used prior to moving into their home. In addition to putting in the sweat equity hours, LaTasha said the Habitat team offers several workshops on budgeting and other support.
LaTasha has been there since the land was cleared to build her home.
“I like all of it — to see it from start to finish and see the transformation. We do get to help, but we’re not professionals, we can’t do everything. I watched them clear the trees out, to (lay the) foundation, to build the walls. You help build your home. … I saw how it went up, so if I have to fix something, I know where to start looking,” she said.
Because Askiah is a veteran, the family needed to complete 200 sweat-equity hours, but have completed more and will donate them to another family.
“This is a great program for anyone to try to get into,” LaTasha said. “(The Habitat team) helps you in so many ways, not only with credit, but how to manage your money to make sure you can take care of your home. … A lot goes into it, but the payoff is worth it.”
More IFC use on the way
Starting in March, Meadows will help coordinate ICF foundations for five homes for Habitat Metro Richmond. While he calls ICF “another tool in our chest for specific projects,” Habitat will not always utilize the building model because it can be more economic to stick-frame a standard house.
ICF foundation won’t be the only modern building method applied to the third house on the lot in Toano, Meadows said.
“We’ll implement ICF, and prefab(ricated) wood and 3-D printed walls. All of that will be coupled in that project,” he said. “It’s a pretty special project.”
Next year Habitat will break ground on another first: duplexes.
“We’ll do more ICF foundations with really tall basement-style foundations for duplexes we’re building in (James City County). It will be our first duplexes,” Meadows said. They’ll be near Sentara hospital, which will serve as a partner.
“It’s always nice to have major organizations get on board to help sponsor houses.”
And the ICF team will be there too, Johnson said.
“It’s a great team. We at Vulcan and VRMC look forward to continued relationships and enjoy being a partner,” he said.
https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/12/01/habitat-for-humanity-homes-built-for-efficiency/
