Amherst Habitat ‘blown away’ by insulated concrete forms [Video]

Just more than six years after a tornado destroyed a range of homes in the Elon area, Amherst Habitat for Humanity in late May began building its first home with insulated concrete forms, a method that will allow the residence to be heavily fortified in the event of natural disasters.

Debbie Habel, executive director of Amherst Habitat for Humanity, is highly familiar with the devastation that ripped through Elon the night of April 15, 2018. In the many months that followed, she was construction manager of the Amherst Disaster Recovery Group, which helped the affected homeowners.

Through her work she observed a home in Roanoke being built with Nodura insulated concrete forms (ICF) and immediately said to herself “that’s what I’m building.” An ICF home can withstand 200-mile per hour winds and would be left standing in the event of a tornado or other disaster, Habel said.

The result of …