The Mainstay Suites in Casper, Wyo., will be a four-story, 120-unit hotel. It is about to break Hidden Valley Builders with ICFs. “We're going to do the hotel, the pool house, and even some of the interior structural walls,” says Eco-Block's Bob Kupersmith. “We're using a Hambro floor system, a steel truss system that incorporates concrete decking to create a composite deck. It works perfectly with ICFs and is about half the cost than some of the insulated decks. We researched this to see how we could use poured concrete floors with less cost and it's worked out well.”

Kupersmith notes that experienced hotel owners go with ICF manufacturers that have the experience and flexibility of configurations to facilitate construction of taller walls. “Architecturally, if someone wants a certain configuration, we can form the blocks to meet that. And we have lots of code approvals for commercial construction,” he says.

This customer has built other hotels using ICFs, notes Kupersmith, so they are convinced. “They chose ICFs for the fire rating, the sound deadening, and the energy efficiency. If you are going to own the hotel, ICFs can save you a bunch of money on heating and cooling. It will cost a little bit more upfront, but relatively speaking it's not much money.”

ICF construction for low-rise hotels has a great future, although Lake notes that compared to the demand there are still relatively few experienced contractors and that this is holding back the growth of ICF construction. “The industry has a lot of growth potential as more contractors gain experience. ICF construction is really just now getting traction and it's going to be a fascinating transition to watch,” says Lake.

Concrete has big potential in hotel construction, although promotion needs to continue. “The chains will draw up a prototypical set of drawings,” says Landry. “The plans will say this brand needs to incorporate these basic features—room layout, size of rooms, etc.—but they don't get into the materials, because it might vary across the country and the cost in one area might dictate the material.”

Green construction might motivate hotel owners and developers to choose concrete, but Landry doesn't see that as an issue. “The national chains have architects who are closely aligned with the design and construction folks and they work hard to find green building methods that are appropriate for the hotel industry. But we don't see development companies focusing on green construction and when they do it's usually heating systems or energy-efficient lighting.”

Landry remains optimistic about the hotel industry noting that if interest rates stay low, hotel construction will stay hot. “If you'd asked me six or eight months ago, I would have said that a lot of air's been taken out of this balloon because of the cost of construction, but now I think we've weathered that storm. It's still expensive to build hotels, but what's allowed it to continue to make sense, is that the economy has remained strong—business travel has stayed strong—so hotels have been able to increase their rates.”

— William D. Palmer Jr. is a freelance writer in Lyons, Colo. He can be contacted at wpalmer@greenspeedisp.net.