There are many debates to the history of Insulated Concrete Forms or ICFs as they are more commonly known.  Many give credit to Rastra in Europe for they were the first "popular" ICF.  Some would say that the history of ICF's is a merely a portion of the history of concrete housing and credit must be given to the likes of Thomas Edison and Frank Loyd Wright.  However there is one man who cannot be denied credit in the history of ICFs.  Werner Gregori, a Canadian, made the first patent application for an Insulating Concrete Form on March 22, 1966.  

     Made of expanded polystyrene, the appropriately named, "Foam Form" was very similar to the ICFs of our day.  Gregori filed his first U.S. patent on October 24, 1968 and he later secured patents in several European countries.  While the Foam Form had mild success in North America through the 70s and into the 80s, ICFs in general established a strong marketplace in Europe.

     In Europe there was a tradition of building durable, long lasting homes with stone and concrete.  Wood resources were also costly at this time.  Rastra claims to have "pioneered the Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) industry and invented the Compound ICF."  And for good reason, they have been around for over 35 years and are still going strong today.  They ran into competition during the 80s as many innovations were made in the ICF industry in Germany and France, according to the Permanent Buildings and Foundations Magazine.  Enthusiasm for these new ICF systems crossed the pond, first to form foundation walls and later for entire structures.  Energy conservation policies in Canada helped to create a formidable market for ICFs in the 90s.  Enthusiasm has been steadily growing for ICFs in the States, especially in areas of high wind, high energy bills, and natural disasters.

     Today the ICF industry is growing faster than ever.  Home owners and builders are recognizing that the 2 - 5% increase of cost of construction is well worth it for a durable, energy efficient home.  There are currently 20+ separate Insulated Concrete Form systems on the market and it is estimated that 4 or 5 new systems are developed each year.  Although ICFs are consuming larger portions of the residential market each year, traditional wood framing still accounts for 90+% of new construction.