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In Central Point, Ore., Darrin Thornton, a fifth-generation concrete/construction contractor, has carved out a niche for the last 12 years using ICFs in his area with his company PolySteel Alternative Building Systems, Inc. Thornton serves mostly as a subcontractor on a wide range of concrete construction jobs, including decorative concrete, flatwork, post-tensioning and ICFs.

Thornton works with ICFs on the majority of his jobs, and he says the addition of the system has expanded his mostly custom residential company into the commercial construction world. "The block offers an almost soundproof four-hour fire wall and qualifies for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) points, which many commercial projects seek," he explains.

"Concrete is what we do," he continues. "And ICF lends itself to the concrete industry. On a jobsite, we can come in and do the footing, stack the wall, pour concrete in the blocks, pour garage floors and do any decorative stamping or color on the project."

Thornton says a lot of people call him because they know he offers ICF installation; then he can offer his other concrete services. "We can pick up other types of work on the job and we like that, because we know we're setting our block on something we know is square, level and flat."