The SIP guy

My Energy Saving Structural Insulated Panel Home

Have you ever said to yourself, “If I had only known?”  I hope that after reading this article you’ll have one less worry when you build your house!

After my wife, Jennifer, and I got married we began planning to build our own home.  We saw the purchase of a home as the biggest investment we were likely to ever make, and therefore we wanted to do things right. For us this meant creating an attractive, comfortable home while minimizing the energy required to both build it and to heat and cool it throughout its life span.

We knew what we didn’t want, and that was an energy hog that would suck up our money for the rest of our lives!  I was dissatisfied with traditional stick framed homes. Who ever invented attics anyway?  In the summer they become an oven situated directly above the space that we try to make cool. Go figure!

So began our search for a better way to build.  After scrutinizing various types of alternative-construction methods, we singled out one which was easy to use, affordable, and met our environmental concerns. We chose to build with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs).

Structural Insulated Panels are not new. SIP technology dates back to the 1930s. The first practitioner was Alden B. Dow, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. Mass production of panels began to take place in the 1970s.

Homes built using SIPs are more common in colder climates such as in the Northeast, where energy conservation is more critical. Rising costs for energy is one factor causing the technology to migrate into warmer climates. Although home buyers and contractors in the North Valley are largely unfamiliar with SIPs, manufacturers throughout the U.S. are experiencing record growth.

In a nutshell, SIPs are two pieces of a plywood like material called orientated strand board (OSB) with foam in between (expanded polystyrene, or EPS).  Think “ice cream sandwich.” This composite material is structural support and insulation, all in one.

This incredibly strong building material can be used as walls, roofs, and flooring.  It provides twice the insulation value as standard homes, and is insect, rodent, mold, fire, and earthquake resistant.

Assembling a ready to install custom SIP home is quick and easy. It is like putting together some kind of adult erector set. Once the walls and roof are in place, you have a nice shelter to continue working in where you are protected from wind and rain.

Due to the abundant use of wood within the walls, gaps in the insulation, and moisture caught between studs, standard stick framed walls with fiberglass insulation perform relatively poorly. On the other hand, the solid closed-cell foam core of a SIP wall is not susceptible to poor insulation — there is no space for moisture to circulate, and they use 40% less wood.

This is how SIP walls are able to provide about twice the insulating value. Consider how well a thinly walled Styrofoam cup can protect your hands from boiling water. Now imagine the performance of 5-1/2” of foam!

Structural Insulated Panels are environmentally friendly. No ozone-depleting chemicals are used during the manufacturing process of the expanded polystyrene. The OSB is composed of recovered wood and new wood derived from fast growing trees. Most important, SIP home occupants consume less energy to heat/cool their home which results in a healthier environment.

In May 2004 we completed our 2,174 sq. foot SIP home and we love it. The majority of our house has vaulted ceilings. We lowered ceilings in a few rooms to create spaces for storage and the air conditioning unit. We have no true “attic” spaces as the insulation is part of the roof membrane. Temperatures in the storage spaces are only slightly higher than they are in the living areas.

We typically use our air conditioner for only 10 – 20 hours each year. This is possible by drawing in cool air throughout the night and closing up our home during the day.  We also have ceiling fans in most every room.

Winter performance is equally amazing.  For a month straight, we heated the house to 65 degrees until 10:30 PM. The next morning the indoor temperature dropped an average of only 2 or 3 degrees while the outdoor temperature was 25 to 30 degrees cooler.

Through the use of efficient appliances and by exercising conservation, our relatively small solar power system (2.5 kilowatts) is large enough to generate all of the electrical power we require throughout the year.

You might think that SIPs should cost much more than stick frame construction.  Surprisingly they commonly range between 0% and 5% more.  Average monthly energy savings are far greater than the extra amount paid toward the monthly mortgage.

The Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA) states that building with SIPs generally costs about the same as building with wood frame construction, when you factor in the savings. These include: saving labor costs due to shorter construction time, less job-site waste, by being able to install a smaller heating and cooling system, and by incurring fewer contractor “call backs.”

Increasingly hot summers, cool winters, and rising electricity prices are reason enough to consider living in a super insulated SIP home, and, in the process, saving money. The energy conserved brings us one step closer to living “sustainable” life-styles!

Structural Insulated Panels are not new. SIP technology dates back to the 1930s. The first practitioner was Alden B. Dow, a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. Mass production of panels began to take place in the 1970s.

Homes built using SIPs are more common in colder climates such as in the Northeast, where energy conservation is more critical. Rising costs for energy is one factor causing the technology to migrate into warmer climates. Although home buyers and contractors in the North Valley are largely unfamiliar with SIPs, manufacturers throughout the U.S. are experiencing record growth.

I was so impressed with the performance of our house, that I started a business designing and building SIP homes. I find that the more people learn about SIPs, the more they are sold on them. The occupants of the homes we have built thus far are very happy with how they perform.

Do the right thing.  Reduce resource consumption by building a well designed and well insulated home. Take advantage of solar energy technology, energy efficient appliances, and proper use of day lighting.

If you would like to learn more about Structural Insulated Panels, contact me at <http://www.SIPeriorHomes.com> , or the non-profit Structural Insulated Panels Association (SIPA) at http://www.sips.org/. They represent manufacturers, suppliers, fabricators/distributors, design professionals, and builders committed to providing quality structural insulated panels for all segments of the construction industry.

Todd Harris

Chico, CA.