Fact or Fiction: “The R-value tells me how much energy my house will use, right?” R-value measures the resistance a material has to heat transfer, this much is true. R-value alone, however, does not fully describe the energy performance of a building. Everyone in the ICF community knows that ICF buildings far outperform framed buildings with comparable stated R-values in terms of energy efficiency and comfort level, but why is that? Let’s look at the main factors affecting actual energy performance of a building: Thermal Conduction, Convection, Radiation & Mass. Thermal Conduction is the heat transfer through a material by contact of one molecule to the next. This is the only factor an R-value measures.

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