Investment property"Woodn"t" You Rather Have a SIP?
Many builders these days are on a quest to find products that are easier to
use, are environmentally correct, and offer the homeowner energy efficiency
savings with a higher quality of construction. It takes a few "maverick"
builders to try a new product, become successful with it, and the rest seem
to follow suit in short order. Such is the case with SIPs. Referred to as the
"Pentium Chip of the construction industry", Structural Insulated Panels, now
used for both structural walls and roofing on new homes, are some the fastest
growing engineered wood products on the market.
Jim Tracy, Executive Director of the SIP Association, says SIPs save labor
for the contractor, provide a more comfortable and durable structure to the
homeowner, and are vastly more energy efficient than the old fashioned
stick-framed house. Installation can take place in a fraction of the time as
well, since the panels are cut and nailed in a factory, where weather and
equipment restraints are not a factor.
The three elements of SIPS; the foam core with its inner and outer sheathing
and lamination, perform astonishingly well in strength and seismic
capacities. Surprisingly enough, this was determined way back in the 1930"s,
when the U.S. Products Research Laboratory built some of the first SIP houses
in the Los Angeles area.
The rigid foam core that is present in all SIP products is significantly more
efficient than all other forms of insulation. Why? "Because air is unable
to move through it," says Tracy. "The result is a more comfortable and
quieter indoor environment. The panels also offer a flat, solid surface for
attaching finish materials, such as drywall, siding, and cabinets," adds
Tracy. And, because SIPs don"t contain many studs (common 2 by 4"s), SIP
construction produces no twisting and warping of lumber.
The environmentally "green" crowd should be pleased as well, since SIPs use
up to 65% less raw timber than other construction techniques. This, in
itself, is a huge benefit to the environment. The wood used in SIPs is
typically farmed or weed wood, taken from rapidly growing second growth (not
old growth) trees, which are harvested for the sheathing or " skins" for SIPs.
SIPs are assembled with a varied array of combinations of joining mechanisms,
called "splines." These splines can be old lumber, engineered lumber
products like I-Joists, strips of OSB called surface splines or even cam
locks, which work like little deadbolt locks pinning one panel to the next.
The various properties of these different splines can determine and alter the
panel"s stiffness. This type of engineering allows the panels to be used at
different spans or under different loads. SIPs have been used successfully
in virtually every conceivable climate and load condition in the world,
according to Tracy.
SIPs are fully compatible with any floor or foundation system. Once the
floor is finished, the walls are ready to be tipped into place. Boom trucks,
cranes, or good old-fashioned muscle can put them into place, and there are
no special tools to buy or skills to learn for carpenters, since all the
pieces are pre-cut.
The crowning glory of a SIP house, however is the SIP roofing, which is
literally "flown" into place by a boom truck. SIPs produce true vaulted, or
cathedral ceilings, and, because of the rigid insulation used in SIPs, this
cost-effective space can be used as a second story or loft, since they are
considered one of the most energy efficient ways to construct a home.
When a house is "dried in" (closed in from the weather) the process of
finishing the panels with wiring and plumbing begins. Wiring is a breeze,
with wire "raceways" pre-built into the panels, at predetermined heights for
both switches and outlets, creating a network of conduits or access runs for
the electrician. Although exterior walls usually don"t contain water lines,
plumbing vents can go through SIP walls with a small amount of preparation by
the manufacturer or builder, depending on local building code requirements.
After these trades have had their day, panels may be finished with drywall or
plaster inside, and any exterior surface, such as brick, stucco, siding, or
stone. "The real savings come into play at this point," says Tracy. "With
each passing day, about half the energy of the traditionally stick-built home
is saved in a SIP-constructed dwelling, for both heating and cooling."
To be sure SIPs are manufactured under the most stringent of standards, each
SIPA Manufacturing member is required to maintain an independent third party
quality assurance program in their plant or factory, according to Tracy. All
things considered, SIPs generally cost about the same as lesser building
materials, with the efficiencies of any system becoming more evident with
time. No job site waste contributes to the savings in landfill fees.
Combine this with labor savings, faster drying time, and better drywall
utilization, and you have an idea that SIPs may indeed be the future of
homebuilding. An interesting note here: for the homeowner, even a 4-inch
SIP wall has been proven to surpass a 6-inch frame wall in thermal
efficiency, according to the Structural Insulated Panel Association.
In hurricane country, where Insulated Concrete Forms are increasingly being
used to create "safe" housing, SIPs may be used in combination, to create an
incredibly energy efficient, structurally sound home
For more information on SIPs, visit their website at www.sips.org. Links are
provided there to a SIPs manufacturer in your area.
Also See:
New Builder Products are Built to Last
Exciting Building Products For Exciting Times
Everything Old Is New Again, Even Insulation