Insulated Concrete Forms · Design intelligence

Know the build before you build.

The block count, course layouts, steel cut list and order form for each ICF job, from one live model of the building. Bring your own engineer: enter their design and the app draws it and checks it fits the blocks.

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One complete building design at no charge. No credit card.

Engineering design checks and pricing are New Zealand only today. Outside New Zealand you enter your engineer's design and your own rates; quantities, layouts and cut lists work the same.

Flagship model ≈ $303/year heating vs typical NZ code-built home ≈ $2,352/year

Live 3D X-ray of the demo house's foundation from the app: the rebar cages, starter bars and footing stirrups drawn in orange against the ICF walls

The model · every bar drawn

One live model The picture and the numbers stay connected as the design changes.

ICF WALL AREA256.1 m² · 2,757 ft² · FLOOR AREA179 m² · 1,931 ft² · WASTE4.9% · CONCRETE34.96 m³ · ICF ESTIMATE$84,131 NZD · HEATING COST EST.≈ $303/yr heating

The look, the take-off, the build estimate and the heating estimate come from the model behind this view.

Experiment across every stage — changes reset safely Download Example Quantities

Built by New Zealand's Nudura distributor 15 years with Nudura 250+ ICF projects 2022 International ICF Award

Who it's for

One project model, whoever you are on the job.

Homeowners

Know the cost to build and to run

See the build cost line by line, with verified rates marked apart from estimates, and what the home may cost to heat, before you commit.

Open the demo build costs → See the running cost →

Builders

The quote, cut lists and site paperwork

Price the job from your supplier rates, then hand the crew the course layouts, the steel cut list and the steel set-out.

Open the demo quote → Architectural & structural details →

Designers, architects and engineers

The model, IFC, sections and the working

Inspect the 3D model and export IFC. Design Assist shows the working behind wall and footing values, and Engineer-supplied mode checks your engineer's design instead.

Open the demo engineering → Indicative structural design (NZ) → Trace your PDF plans or import IFC →

Or send us your plans: we'll set up the model. From NZ$40 to NZ$200 + GST, depending on size and complexity; we confirm the fee before we start.

One complete building design at no charge. No credit card. When you want the drawings, quantities and reports out, a Single Project is US$89 (US dollars) one-off, for one building.

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Act I · Know the look

See the home before it is built.

See the home as a picture, then see how it is laid out: the finished look and the course-by-course layout, from one project.

Flagship demonstration house floor plan with wall dimensions and live cost estimate

Draw or trace the plan

Inspect the live 3D model, every bar drawn

Photorealistic render of the demo house generated from its plan

See the finished look

Change the project once. The drawings, ICF layout, quantities, build cost and performance evidence stay connected.

Act II · Know the build

See what the picture is made of.

"Renders sell the house. Bills of materials build it."

Course 1 layout of the demo house showing every ICF block and cut length, openings and wall dimensions — **Every course laid out.** Each block and cut length, with openings and wall dimensions.

Wall elevation from the app showing the wall length, openings and the vertical bars, with dimensions — **Every wall elevation.** Openings, bars and dimensions for each wall, from the same model.

One model gives you the drawings a crew builds from. See how the walls are actually coursed and reinforced, bar by bar. The design is resolved block by block, with offcuts from one internal wall matched to the needs of another.

Full-module optimisation that minimises cuts and waste
Thermal feedback tied to the same roof, walls, floor, windows and doors
Corners, gables, mono-pitch walls and openings resolved using ICF-specific rules
Offcuts tracked for reuse across internal walls
Bar-by-bar reinforcing schedules, not just total weights

299 blocks 4.9% waste

Those design decisions become the quantities—and the quantities become the cost.

Engineering

Engineering, with the working shown.

We show our working because your engineer is going to ask for it. It is a design aid for your engineer, not a producer statement (PS1).

In New Zealand: indicative structural design

Design Assist works to NZS 3101 and the NZS 1170 loading standards for walls, footings, lintels and ring beams. The wall and footing checks show their working and clauses on screen. The review package carries calculation sheets for the lintels, and the app's working for the walls, footings and ring beam, for your engineer to review.

Engineer-supplied mode, anywhere

Enter your engineer's design. The app draws it, checks it fits the blocks, prices it, and produces the cut lists and set-out. Where its own check disagrees with the steel your engineer entered, it says so with the reason and does not replace it. Outside New Zealand this is the mode that runs; any check it shows is to New Zealand standards and says so.

The revision register

You register the issue of your engineer's and architect's drawings. Values taken from them record the issue they came from, and the app lists what has not been checked against a newer issue.

Footing cross-section from the app with the working listed beside it: slab, foundation blockwork and footing notes with NZS 3101 references — **A section with its working.** The notes beside the drawing show the values used and the clauses they come from. Marked review only, not for construction.

Lintel cross-section from the app: concrete band, bars, closed link and timber insert, with sizes — **The lintel, in section.** Bars, link and band for each lintel type.

Steel set-out assistant for one demo wall: every dimension measured from the start corner, bar by bar — **The set-out.** Running dimensions from the start corner, bar by bar.

Act III · Know the build cost

Know where the build cost comes from.

Green means a verified rate. Amber means an honest estimate. You can see the difference before either becomes a commitment.

The budget is built from the geometry: blocks, concrete, reinforcing steel, labour and waste. ICF Designer never dresses an estimate as a fact, so you know which parts of the budget to lean on and which to pressure-test.

Line item	Model quantity	Rate basis	Estimated total
ICF wall materials — blocks, corners and accessories	256.1 m²	LOCAL VERIFIED	$50,288.87
Ready-mix concrete and pumping — ICF walls	34.96 m³	LOCAL VERIFIED	$12,761.20
Reinforcing steel — walls	2,103.8 kg	LOCAL VERIFIED	$7,572.20
ICF installation labour	91.8 hrs	LOCAL VERIFIED	$5,508.00
Bracing & temporary works	103 braces · 66 planks	LOCAL VERIFIED	$8,000.80

A border moves the price, not the building. For a fixed design, the measured quantities belong to the building, wherever it is built; only the applied rates change by country, region and supplier. These flagship lines use locally verified rates in green and estimated rates in amber.

Client quotation in the app, headed with the project, the ICF wall area and a 3D view of the job — **The quote.** Priced from your supplier rates, with your scope, inclusions and exclusions.

Footing steel cut list from the app: label, item, length, weight and description for each bar — **The cut list.** Every bar, its length and its description, to give your steel supplier.

Labour effort estimated from real quantities
Live budget that updates as you design
Costs in your own currency

A budget you can defend — because we showed you which parts to defend.

Structural outputs: a steel cut list to give your supplier, and the engineer's review package for the lintels

Why trust the numbers?

An estimate you can challenge, adjust and trust

Every headline number is backed by the model. Inspection views show how bars, laps, openings and quantities were derived, and the lintel review package carries the working for your engineer — so an early estimate can be questioned and verified rather than taken on faith. Confidence comes from traceability.

Flagship model · normal ICF specification

Act IV · Know the running cost

One floor plan. Same weather. The way you build it decides the rest.

We ran the 179 m² flagship floor plan as this ICF home and as a typical NZ code-built home. Both sit in Queenstown, New Zealand — 45° south, in the Southern Alps, with 5,976 heating degree days a year and 571 hours below freezing. For heating demand that is Denver, Colorado, within 1%. The floor plan and the Queenstown climate stay the same, so only the construction choices differ — and these are two of many. Rotate the model to see how much orientation alone moves the answer.

Simple northwest 3D view of the flagship home, coloured by gross fabric heat-loss share — Thermal heat-loss view

This ICF home

The flagship design shown on this page

Annual heating demand 19.0 kWh/m² each year

Modelled range 17.4–20.5 kWh/m²·yr

Typical NZ code-built home

Code-minimum insulation and glazing, more air leakage and no heat recovery

Annual heating demand 147.5 kWh/m² each year

Lower numbers mean less energy is needed. In this model, the flagship requires 87% less annual heating energy than the code-built case.

Explore the thermal model, assumptions and evidence →

Field-tested

Built from real ICF project experience

PHD Building is New Zealand's Nudura ICF distributor and Australasia's ICF trainer — 250+ projects, including Te Toka, our 2022 International ICF Award winner. Across every one of those projects, the same problems kept appearing before the pour. ICF Designer is the tool we built to fix them, and today it's the same software we use when pricing and planning our own projects.

Jeremy Chisholm

Director, PHD Building · NZ Nudura Distributor · Australasia Trainer

15 years supplying and training on Nudura ICF across New Zealand and Australasia. I built this tool because I needed it.

Read the full story → PHD Building — NZ Nudura supply & training → For builders: build a trusted take-off →

Know more before the first block is placed.

Design one complete building free, then export its drawings, quantities and reports when you are ready to use them.

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