Yeah, I am not a fan of the ground floor garage crammed in under living spaces above. In densely populated (urban) areas, square footage is a luxury that may not exist, so the home must be configured that way in order to happen. In most other scenarios, I would gladly sacrifice some yard space for a separate garage footprint. Then again, I actually park cars and do projects in the garage constantly. If the space is being used mainly for storage, rather than a working/activity area, it can be utilized as thermal mass for the rest of the structure. They do make good jam rooms as well if you're musically inclined.
I agree that the extra couple inches of wall space is almost too good to be true. The extra thermal mass and structural integrity is worth it on its own. For a DIY project, the ICF method is awesome. Most forms have channels built in for rebar and caps and corners and such, so the guesswork factor goes way down. No massive pouring forms to remove afterwards, no lugging hundreds or thousands of precast blocks, just lots of labor involved with super lightweight styrofoam. Less injury potential for sure. If a certain detail needs rework to be perfect, it can be seen (and modified) before the interior is filled.
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