Other benefits of concrete homes include:
•  Energy efficiency, with up to 40% energy cost reduction per year and the ability to use smaller, more efficient HVAC components.

• Noise reduction, often two-thirds quieter than a wood-frame home.

•  Lower maintenance with more durable finishes (stucco and brick)

•  Environmentally friendly, using more abundant natural and recycled materials as well as using less energy.

•  Safe from fire, wind damage, termites and wood rot.

Concrete Masonry Units. New types of concrete block, advances in rigid foam insulation, and advances in construction methods have combined to provide concrete block building systems that cost-effectively compare with traditional frame building methods.

Autoclaved Aerated Concrete. Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is made with all fine aggregates (nothing more coarse than a grain of sand), cement and a natural expansion agent that causes the concrete to rise like bread dough, with countless small air pockets. In fact, this concrete is 80% air. The factory can mold it and cut it into precisely dimensioned units.

Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF). ICFs are basically forms for poured concrete walls that stay in place as a permanent part of the wall assembly. The forms, made of foam insulation or other insulating material, are either pre-formed interlocking blocks or separate panels connected with plastic ties. The left-in-place forms not only provide a continuous insulation and sound barrier, but also a backing for drywall on the inside, and stucco, lap siding, or brick on the outside.

Traditional concrete forming techniques . Using temporary forms, typically made of aluminum, rigid foam insulation is placed inside the forms or between the forms and held in place with a system of non-conductive ties. Concrete is then poured on either side of or between the foam. Steel rebar is also generally used to add strength to the wall. Once the concrete has cured, the forms can be removed and re-used many times with a minimum of maintenance.

The obvious advantage for cast-in-place techniques is speed. All exterior and interior walls can be poured at the same time, with door and window openings cast right along with everything else. Some systems even have floor and ceiling forms.