July/August 2019 News

In April, Air­lite Plas­tics acquired Truegrid, which manufactures a per­me­able paving grid sys­tem. Air­lite Plas­tics—head­quar­tered in Oma­ha, Nebras­ka—man­u­fac­tures a wide range of custom plas­tic prod­ucts for con­sumer and con­struc­tion mar­kets, includ­ing con­tain­ers and lids for food pack­ag­ing, drink cups and lids, as well as the Fox Blocks insu­lat­ed con­crete form (ICF) system.

Truegrid pavers are made of post-con­sumer recy­cled high-den­si­ty poly­eth­yl­ene (HDPE) and can con­trol runoff, cre­ate less ther­mal pol­lu­tion, and reduce waste for land­fills. The pavers have the potential to revolutionize the con­struc­tion indus­try with ver­sa­til­i­ty, attrac­tive­ness and 100% permeability. They’ve been used to create park­ing areas, streets, walk­ways and bike paths for organizations such as Whole Foods, and the New York City Fer­ry.

“We are delight­ed to wel­come Truegrid to our fam­i­ly of world-class prod­ucts,” said Brad Cros­by, pres­i­dent and CEO of Air­lite Plas­tics. ​“This excit­ing acqui­si­tion launch­es a new peri­od of strate­gic growth. Air­lite Plas­tics will aggres­sive­ly con­tin­ue to devel­op or acquire addi­tion­al sus­tain­able con­struc­tion products.” 

Mike Kennaw, vice president and general manager for Fox Blocks says, “The paving sys­tem is a nat­ur­al com­ple­ment to Airlite’s Fox Blocks brand of ICF build­ing blocks.”

Truegrid will con­tin­ue to oper­ate in Hous­ton, Texas and sell under its Truegrid name. 

“Our com­pa­nies share a like-mind­ed pas­sion for devel­op­ing qual­i­ty prod­ucts that are both func­tion­al and envi­ron­men­tal­ly friend­ly,” said Bar­ry Stiles, founder of Truegrid. ​“We are proud to join forces with Air­lite Plas­tics, a lead­ing-edge busi­ness with a track record of success.”

In May, Logix Brands announced the results of their project competition. The 2019 Logix ICF Awards recognize innovative projects built with Logix brand ICFs in three different categories: small residential, large residential, and commercial.

Andy Lennox, company president, says, “It’s a pleasure every year to recognize the achievements of the clients and customers we value so much.”

Winner of the small residential category was a net-zero-ready senior living residence built in Northern Alberta, Canada. Lennox says, “This was a project about giving local members of the First Nations community the opportunity to build their own infrastructure and to develop their skills in construction.” Chris Maracle, the ICF consultant, trained an installation crew of local First Nations people, allowing them to develop their skills instead of bringing outside workers as is often the case.

The large residential winner was Chateau Nectar by Gonell Homes, which also took top honors earlier this year at the industry-wide ICF Builder Awards. This remarkable home earned Will Gonell “2017 Custom Home Builder of the Year” from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA) and has been covered by Canadian Contractor magazine. Built with the gray-bead Logix Platinum product line, the Ontario mansion mirrors the great chateaus of Europe, with 18,000-plus sq. ft. of living space and 26-ft. ceilings.

Runner-up in this category was the Afton Passive House in Minnesota (pictured below). Built to the most rigorous performance standard for residential homes that exists today, the homeowners spent 10 years researching how to build this home as efficiently and economically as possible.

In the commercial sector, the winner was Souris Hotel & Seniors’ Condominium in Manitoba. Runner-up was BeeHive Homes of South Jordan, an assisted living facility near Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Additional information, photos and video of the projects and the award presentation itself can be accessed online via the Logix website.

In order to meet increasing customer demand, Amvic Building systems has opened a second ICF molding facility in the Toronto area. Based in the suburb of Scarborough east of the city, the facility joins the original molding plant at the company’s Toronto, Ontario headquarters, and an in-house molding facility in Calgary, Alberta.

Two licensed manufacturing facilities in Nixa, Missouri and Salt Lake City, Utah make the most common sizes of ICF, ensuring the product remains cost-competitive across the United States.

“We are excited to expand our operation and add a third manufacturing plant in Canada with over an additional 100,000 square feet. We thank our customers for supporting us over the years and recognizing the benefits of our products increasing demand and interest.” says Patrick McMahon, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing.

U.S. home construction rose in April, led by an uptick in single-family homes.

The commerce department said Thursday that homebuilding rose 5.7% last month over the month previous to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.24 million. However, that’s down 2.5% from a year earlier, suggesting that would-be homebuyers are facing a shortage of new houses.

From March to April, housing starts surged 84% in the Northeast and 42% in the Midwest, while construction fell almost 6% in the South and West. 

On April 30, the Utah Ready Mixed Concrete Association (URMCA) and the Insulating Concrete Forms Manufacturers Association (ICFMA) hosted a major event to promote Insulated Concrete Forms (ICFs) in the region. 

The Utah ICF market is gaining momentum, with the first ICF school in the state currently under construction.

Patrick Matsche, NRMCA’s senior director of building innovations attended the event, and reports “interest exceeded the capacity,” with standing room only training sessions. 

Registered attendance was more than 150 construction and design professionals, including owners’ representatives, architects, engineers, testing firms, concrete contractors and ready mix producers.

NRMCA’s Build With Strength has partnered with ICFMA to organize a number of these presentations across the United States. Earlier events have been held in Arizona, Texas, South Carolina, and Kentucky.