The Concrete House: Building Solid, Safe & Efficient ... (ISBN 1402736290)

Insulated Concrete Form buildings:
ICFs provide cost-effective ease of construction, energy efficiency, quiet, and long-term sustainability for any location (mountain, coast, valley, flood plain, frequent tornadoes, cold and hot, arid and humid). The use of steel studs on interior walls provides strong structure and reduces thermal breaks. ICFs work for basements and multistory structures. They are insect-proof. Anything you can design and build with typical "boards and sticks" construction you can do much better with ICFs. ICFs can be used for floors, ceilings, walls and roofs or SIPs (structural insulated panels) can be used. ICFs are suitable for the tropics or high elevation snowy mountains. Want a house that will still be there after a severe tornado? Look into ICFs. How do you introduce a contractor to ICFs who has been building the same way for 25 years with the motto, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" (resistant to changing methods of construction) - give your contractor a copy of this book. Spend one 24 hour in an ICF house - feel the ambient temperature, listen to the sound, look at the natural and artificial lights, then demand high quality, sustainable ICF construction for yourself, your business, schools and church. Houses are expensive and costly to operate, regardless of climate. ICFs require good thorough thinking in advance (you're not going to move a window or door easily later on). Want sustainable cost-effective construction in and above ground? Build ICFs.

Good overview:
The Concrete House, by Pieter A. VanderWerf. It is an interesting book to read if you are considering building in this manner. It is witten from an American perspective, for the American market (I'm Australian), but as it doesn't get too technically involved, it translates quite well. This is not a "how to build" book. It is written in question and answer format, and is aimed more at those who have heard of the ICF style of building but want to know more about the features and benefits, and basic construction details of it.