WHAT ARE SIPs?

SIPs is an acronym for Structural Insulated Panel. Joining high performance rigid foam insulation to oriented strand board (OSB), produces these engineered wood building components. The result is a building product that is predictable, resource efficient and cost effective. SIPs are used as floors, walls and roofs on all types of building across North America and are shipped around the world for use on the widest variety of buildings imaginable.

WHY ARE SIPs SO MUCH BETTER?

SIPs outperform other building methods in virtually every category because the insulation is a component of the system, rather than an afterthought, thrown in when everything else is almost done. Even 4" SIP walls have been proven to surpass 6" frame walls in thermal efficiency.

WHY DO THEY OUTPERFORM OTHER HOUSES?

SIP buildings are vastly more energy efficient, stronger, more quiet and draft free than older technology systems like stud framing with common fiberglass insulation. Fiberglass is sometimes used for furnace filters because air moves through them so freely. Rigid insulation is used as a solid component insulation in almost every industry for its inherent efficiency and lack of air movement. These attributes are built right in to the SIP building. Less air movement or leakage translates into less drafts, fewer penetrations for noise, lower energy bills and a significantly more comfortable and controllable indoor environment.

HOW ARE ELECTRICAL AND PLUMBING INSTALLED?

In commercial construction, wiring is pulled through laid out pipe called conduit. There are actually "chases" that are built into the foam cores that work like conduit. Electricians used a fish tape and feed the wires through panels without compressing insulation or drilling through studs. Plumbing is not usually placed in walls, especially exterior walls, but through the floor into the bottom of cabinets. Where exterior wall vent pipe are necessary, chases can be formed in the foam cores. Island vents or loops vents are also common practices and can be found in the plumbing codes.

WHY ARE SIPs SO MUCH STRONGER?

SIPs are a structural composite, kind of like an "I"–beam. The skins act like flanges and the rigid core is similar to the web. In short, the three components work together, rather than against one another. This composite assembly yields stiffness, strength and predictable responses. Not only do test results show panels are stronger, but real life natural disasters have proven it time and again. The Great Hanshin (Kobe, Japan) and North Ridge earthquakes, Hurricane Andrew, a Colorado tornado, a Portland gas explosion, a Tucson fire and an Omaha fire, have done more to prove SIP strength to the homeowners than all of the scientific tests.

HOW DO SIPs REACT TO FIRE?

Fire requires three components, fuel, ignition and oxygen. SIPs have no "air" within their solid cores of insulation. The fire cannot "run up the wall" cavity even when balloon framed. SIPs have passed every Standard fire test that is required of wood based or type V construction. A key element of fire safety is protection of the SIPs and any other underlying structure with thermal barriers like gypsum wallboard.

WHY ARE SIPs MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE?

• Less job site waste means less landfill use.
• Lower heating bills translates to lower energy (fossil fuel) consumption.
• Use of fast growth harvested farm trees rather than old growth forest.
• Up to 35% less raw timber use in SIP buildings.
• Lower reported embodied energy cost.

HOW DO SIPs SAVE SO MUCH LABOR?

The cutting is done on a factory floor. Determining what cuts to make is done on a computer screen. The weather in a factory is never too hot, wet or cold. Easily recognized components are shipped to the site for assembly, rather than waiting for interpretation of blue prints. SIPs also come in much larger dimensional sizes than other building materials. The framing crew is more productive, the project is dried in from the weather faster and other subcontractors can get a head start on the work that needs to be done.

WHY ISN’T EVERYONE USING SIPs?

Because better educated consumers’ demand more for their dollar. SIPs are one of the fastest growing segments in the construction industry. Like other engineered wood products, time and care have been taken to evaluate and produce a complete systems approach. Since the mid 1980’s Major Model Building Codes have accepted SIPs as structural building components and systems. Over 20 years of destructive laboratory testing to nationally recognized code standards along with over 60 years of proof in real life homes and businesses have proven that SIPs are the best choice for homes and light commercial construction.