A GEO-Slab Foundation, or GSF, is a type of slab-on-grade monolithic concrete slab and foundation system offering many advantages for building construction – initially designed for Frost Protected Shallow Foundations (FPSF) and popular today with the movement towards energy efficient, sustainable construction.

A GSF can be designed for three building types:

1. An unheated building relying on geothermal heat.
2. Heated building – unheated slab relying on the building’s conventional heated floor system, i.e. HVAC system.
3. Heated slab supplied with any form of in-floor radiant heating from a hydronic or an electric, closed loop warm air delivery system.

Legalett’s GEO-Slab system is a composite design based on a combination of reinforced concrete and non-reinforced concrete and integral structural Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) insulation.

The combination of EPS polystyrene foam and concrete is an ideal blend of building materials offering:

• high strength
• high insulation value
• versatility
• ease of use
• relatively low cost
• sustainability

Legalett’s GEO-Slab system offers a cost-effective green solution, providing efficiencies in price and in materials consumed through simplification of the foundation design and reducing a building’s carbon footprint during  construction and use. The cost and energy savings of a GEO-Slab Insulated Foundation are realized in a number of different areas.

• Minimal excavation is required (stripping of topsoil versus digging over 4′ into the ground).
• A single concrete pour for the slab is required, compared to two and sometimes three pours for footings, slabs and frost walls.
• Supplementary footing drainage, i.e “Big O” is greatly reduced or eliminated as there is no worry about flooding.
• No sump pumps are required reduction of concrete volume by x% compared to other systems.