Houses made with SIPs are more resilient and built to withstand today's extreme weather.
There has been an increase in record heat waves across the US over the past decade. Along with extreme heat there has been an escalation in the number of hurricanes and tornadoes as well. Building with Structural Insulated Panels (walls, roofs and floors) can be one of your smartest decisions during the building process. The exceptional strength of structural insulated panels are designed to resist typical loads caused high winds and provide an insulated airtight building.
Stronger Buildings
Because SIPs are composed of a solid core and two layers of OSB they have 3x stronger lateral loading than the equivalent framed system. The increased loading capacity means panels can span anywhere from 8’ to upwards of 20’ without trusses. SIPs also provide greater resistance to wind loads; For most projects SIPs can withstand winds up to 145mph without any additional tie downs. ACME has even engineered panel buildings to stand up to 200mph winds.
See what it takes to destroy a SIP
Safer Homes
Structural Insulated Panels withstand the forces of nature on a regular basis. Fire, tornadoes, earthquakes, and hurricanes demolish thousands of stick frame homes every year. These same storms leave Structural Insulated Panel homes with little-to-no structural damage. SIPs are your best protection against these storms that carry higher wind speeds and more precipitation. While there may not necessarily be more hurricanes in the future, we are already seeing an increase in their intensity.
Case study: The Southeast and Mid-West have to deal with Tornadoes every year. SIP homes have repeatedly withstood the 200 mph winds that are delivered by extreme tornadoes. Sun Spaces shares this story:
“Mac and Kim Chelsey built their two story home out of SIPs because the material promised more durability, energy efficiency, and a quiet environment. They never expected to be woken up by a tornado barreling down on their new home. Imagine their relief when the only damage to their SIP house was two broken windows and a few loose roof shingles.”
Healthier Houses
When compared to traditional lumber builds, a SIPs building allows for better control over indoor air quality. This translates to a healthier house with multiple benefits:
- An airtight home means there is less chance for pollutants including pollen, dust and smog, to enter the home. The air will enter the building through your HVAC or filtration system instead of through gaps and cracks created by poor design
- SIP homes have qualified under the American Lung Association’s Health House® indoor air quality standard
- The adhesives used in SIP production do not contain any measurable amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be harmful to occupants and does not off-gas during the lifetime of the panels
- Oriented strand board (OSB) does not contain urea formaldehyde adhesives and meets the world’s leading formaldehyde emissions standards, including the U.S. HUD Manufactured Housing Standard, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Air Toxic Control Measure for Composite Wood Products and the European EN-300 Standard
- SIPs are also healthier for the planet; learn more on our Sustainability and Carbon Savings page
