Baxter Springs ? For their eighth house, students in Baxter Springs High School’s advanced building trades class are trying an energy-efficient alternative.

The students are using Insulating Concrete Forms. Both the building material and the technique have seen rapid growth over the past few years.

The students are building the house at 10th Street and Washington Avenue, on a lot that was once occupied by the city hospital.

Teacher Jeff McCandless said the house the class built last year was well insulated with an eye toward energy efficiency. As he did research, he discovered Insulating Concrete Forms, also called ICFs.

“This is about as energy-efficient as you can get,” McCandless said.

Building process

Here’s how ICFs work: Hollow blocks of plastic foam are stacked in place for the house’s walls. Concrete is poured between the layers of foam and reinforced with steel bars.

The foam forms remain in place after the concrete hardens, providing the insulation.

The insulating properties of the walls allow the owner to use 44 percent less energy for heating and 32 percent less energy for cooling than stick-built houses, according to the Insulating Concrete Forms Association.

McCandless said other benefits include walls that are fire-resistant, withstand high winds and are quieter than houses built of traditional materials.

McCandless said the wind and fire protection reduce the owner’s insurance costs.

Professionals with Shawnee Building Distributing, Galena, performed the ICF work with some help from the students this year.

Next year, McCandless said students would be more involved. Shawnee owner Stan Elsten said his company performed the work at cost.

“It’s a lot different than a regular stick-frame house,” said Kevin Rarick, a 17-year-old senior. “We got to learn a lot about pouring concrete and piers and footings.

“It’s an efficient way to build a house,” he added. “It goes up a lot easier.”

‘Way of the future’

Elsten said ICFs may cost 10 percent to 12 percent more than traditional materials on a house of 1,500 to 2,000 square feet.

The cost difference is reduced as the house size increases.

“You’re going to save on energy from now on,” Elsten said. “I think it’s the wave of the future.”

Elsten also said homeowners who can afford to place solar panels on houses built with insulating concrete forms can reduce their energy costs to nearly nothing, but the solar panels can be expensive.

Ayrekstet Smith, a 17-year-old senior, said he is proud to be part of a pioneering project.

“I think it’s pretty cool that we can build the first house in Baxter Springs with ICFs,” Smith said. “It’s pretty sweet.”

‘Great project’

Smith said the forms are much easier to handle than wood or other building materials.

Senior Taylor Siegert, 17, said he’s sure he will use the skills he has learned on the project in the future, either personally or professionally.

“It’s a great project,” he added.

Derek Sweeton, 18, who graduated last year, stopped by the construction site on Wednesday to tell McCandless that he had recently joined the carpenters union, Local 311 in Joplin, Mo.

Sweeton said he learned many of his skills in high school. He said he also worked for Dalton-Killinger Construction Co. in Joplin for awhile.

The house

McCandless said the house will have 1,450 square feet of space in the main living area in addition to a full basement of about the same size. He said it will have four bedrooms, three bathrooms and an indoor tornado safe room.

There are about 20 students in his class. They started building the house when school started in August and plan to have it finished by May.

He said all 20 students work on the house on Mondays. Then about half work on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the other half works Wednesdays and Fridays.

When a house is complete, the school district takes bids on it.

Money from the sale is used to buy supplies for the next house, McCandless said.

He also said there is space on the former hospital property for four more houses. He said he plans to use the same energy-efficient material on future houses.

The projects also do a small part to address the town’s housing shortage. McCandless said he knows of no one else building houses in Baxter Springs.

“We sell them before they’re finished,” McCandless said. “I’ve never had one sitting for more than a couple of months.”