SIPS Panel Article

This is another article from ebuild.com. This is about SIPS. I have emailed information and discussion about this before, but there is always more and an increasing awareness of this type of construction. I have even read how more home builders are using this for building out subdivisions.

Structural insulated panels
Structural insulated panels sandwich a thick foam panel between two layers of OSB to create structural wall and roof sections. The resulting panel is ready to finish on both faces. It also creates a thermally superior and more reliable envelope to a stick-framed house; a

4-inch SIP wall is 36 percent more thermally efficient than an insulated 2x4 wall, according to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

According to NAHB research, SIPs were used as the structural wall material for 1.7 percent of all new, single-family homes built in 2005, a full percentage point higher than five years earlier and now representing nearly 30,000 new homes annually.

Because SIPs are a wood-based system, they are more familiar to framers than a concrete alternative. SIPs are easily manipulated on site with common construction tools, are compatible with other wood framing materials and practices, and offer greater design flexibility and mainstream marketability.

As full wall panels, they often assemble even faster than ICFs, and require no pour or cure time. Those savings help balance a 15 percent or more materials-only price difference between SIPs and stick framing, one of several hurdles the industry faces.

SIPs' installed cost savings, and the system's energy-saving benefits, are what drove Ferrier to the technology. "SIPs give me the biggest bang for my energy-efficient buck," he says.

SIPs walls were adopted into the International Residential Code (IRC) last May, though they may still be hindered at the local level. The language in the IRC was based on a prescriptive method for SIP wall construction developed by the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing. The standardized method for calculating and using SIPs enables builders to gain code approval without the stamp of a licensed architect or engineer and puts the technology on par, code-wise, with ICFs and steel framing in residential construction.

The question is whether SIPs manufacturers are ready for a larger wave of demand from the housing industry. "We're seeing more demand, but there aren't experienced and qualified contractors in the field to install it," says Al Cobb, director of SIP School, an outreach education and training effort based in Shenandoah Junction, W.Va.

Like ICFs, the SIPs industry also is still grappling with its supply chain model. Bill Wachtler, executive director of the Structural Insulated Panel Association in Gig Harbor, Wash., isn't aware of any lumberyards currently stocking SIPs, though some may be acting as distributors or middlemen. "I could see a customer ordering SIPs as an option when purchasing a house package [from a dealer], but not walking down an aisle and picking out a panel," he says.

"At a lumberyard, you can just swing by and grab a few sticks from the pile when you need them," says Gary Pugh, a SIPs builder in Santa Rosa, Calif. "With SIPs, you have to think about them long before you start building."

Although Wachtler can envision LBM dealers one day supplying SIPs, the most likely scenario is one in which manufacturers sell their systems through existing component manufacturers. Until then, builders are left to look for the best SIPs they can find and afford, often going out of market to get them.

Indeed, whether it's overcoming distribution hurdles or learning new installation techniques, alternative systems such as ICFs and SIPs require builders to shift some of their thinking. But an increasing number are finding that the benefits of these methods outweigh the initial adjustments.