Save big on home heating, cooling costs with this building method
(BPT) - If you are planning to build a
new home or add on to your existing home, you likely take for granted
that it will be constructed with “sticks.” For more than 100
years, homes in North America have been built using hundreds of
individual pieces of lumber, wall studs, floor joists and similar
framing pieces.
Although so-called “stick-built”
homes are the norm, the resulting walls and roofs are notoriously
drafty and difficult to insulate well.

Because the insulation in SIPs is
continuous across the height, length and width of each panel, they
are more energy efficient than stick construction, which consists of
hundreds of pieces of lumber dividing portions of insulation every
16-24 inches, resulting in numerous gaps for energy exchange and
pollutants to enter a building. U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) tests
show SIP structures are up to 15 times more airtight than stick-built
construction, and therefore offer higher insulating values. As a
result, building with SIPs can reduce home heating/cooling energy use
up to 60 percent, saving homeowners money year-after-year for the
life of their home.
“Everyone is so amazed by the energy
efficiency SIPs provide,” says Scott Bergford, a DOE Energy Value
Housing Award Builder of the Year, based in Olympia, Washington. “It
only costs an average of $200 to $300 a year to heat one of my homes.
That’s anywhere from one-fifth to one-six the typical costs for
this region, so the savings are pretty significant, and the
homeowners love that.”
“As they learn what is now possible
in construction, more homeowners are asking their builders for
high-performance, energy efficient materials like triple pane windows
and SIPs,” says Joe Pasma, Technical Manager for Premier
SIPs, North America’s largest SIP panel manufacturer. “To
further boost our panels’ energy efficiency, soon all of our SIPs
will be made with insulating foam enhanced with graphite — a
product called Platinum GPS.”
At first glance, a SIP might not look
very strong given the rigid foam core. But, extensive testing shows
SIPs are structurally superior to lumber framing. When a devastating
earthquake struck Kobe, Japan, in 1995, the SIP-built structures were
some of the few homes that remained standing, despite the severe
ground shaking.
And, despite being a manufactured
component, SIPs can be adapted for use in any architectural style —
from Colonial to contemporary.
Many homeowners wonder about the cost
of SIP construction, given the range of benefits the panels provide.
SIPs generally cost about the same as stick construction, considering
that they enable faster home construction, reduced heating and
cooling equipment and reduced disposal costs from construction waste.
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