Affiliations
Structurally Insulated Panels
Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPS) are the "greenest" thing you can do to your home. As part of a super-insulated building envelope, SIPS create walls that are twice as strong and twice as well insulated as stick-built walls.
Stick-Built vs. SIPS
There is absolutely nothing wrong with stick-built.... unless you want insulation, electricity, and drywall. You see, stick building is over 200 years old and worked fine when walls were plaster, there was no insulation, and electricity wasn't available inside the home. Old homes with plaster walls were able to absorb about 500 gallons of water. This meant plumbing leaks, moisture, or water vapor coming from the outside, simply absorbed into the plaster, and then dried-out over time. "Modern" stick-built houses can only hold about 50 gallons of water and there is nothing to absorb the water, except the paper on the drywall. Moisture + paper = mold. So insulation made the houses just tight enough to prevent them from drying out. When electrical outlets were added, water vapor was more easily able to move into and thorough the house.
But don't houses need to breathe?
You hear it all the time, "you can build a house too tight?" Why? Because we want it to breathe, right? So, where exactly is the house breathing from? Around cracks in the foundation, windows, plumbing stacks, and my favorite, through seams in sheathing filtering through a mesh of formaldehyde insulation and into an electrical outlet. Doesn't sound too healthy.
At Smart Builders, we build a super-tight structure, and then condition the air inside to be clean and humidity controlled.
Can't we just stick-build and use spray foam for a tight seal?
While spray foams offer better insulating value than fiberglass, there is still the question of the wooden studs. They offer very little R-value, and provide a great place for water vapor and air to enter the house. As you can see from the diagram below, air infiltration is the greatest contributor to energy loss. By the time a stick-built house is properly sealed with spray insulation, it would have been cheaper to install SIPS. The SIPS house will also produce far less waste during construction.
SIP Services we offer
Smart Builders, Inc offers a wide range of services from simple SIP installation to complete, ground-up home construction. We offer the best and lowest-priced SIP installation found anywhere. We also work with a variety of SIP vendors and can offer very competitive pricing for your SIPS package.
As SIPS experts, we can help you navigate the different types of SIPS, and help you choose the system that best fits your plans. SIPS are simply the most energy efficient, cost-effective material you can put in your house, and you might be surprised to learn that we are very competitive with Stick-built prices. Send us your house plan, and we’ll convert it to a SIPS house for free, or if you already have a SIPS house plan, we’ll prepare a quote for free.
We are based in Asheville, NC, but service a wide area for SIPS installation. We are always happy to discuss your new project with you, and consultations are free, so drop us a line, or email us your plans.