Home Show - SIP

Well the home show turned out well, I received quite a few people stopping by to talk.  Hopefully some of those people turn into customers! I have been sick and family has been sick since the home show so it's been hard to keep up on this.  Anyways I had someone ask me about SIP (Structural Insulated Panels).

I had to do a little investigating on these as I've only had one very indirect experience with them. I've heard of many good things about them though. They can be used on walls and roofs (I'm assuming floors somewhat too if it works for roofs?) so you can create an enclosed house envelope that is virtually sealed off from any air infiltration.  Obviously the biggest problem with that is how do you get fresh air in and stopping mold problems! You'd definitely need your HVAC people to be aware of this issue, and use an air exchanger.  From my research they say that the SIPs can be up to 60% times more efficient than your standard stick built home.  Plus some studies show they're more structurally sound than stick framed, which makes sense if you've ever had hands on touch with the rigid foam insulation they use that stuff is pretty stiff and then you combine it with OSB sheathing would be pretty strong I would think.

The down side is their upfront cost is more, which seems to be the going story with a lot of new building products, but you save money down the road.  The biggest problem from my limited reading is running electrical (during construction and after if you happen to do a remodel job) they put "convenient" chases in for the electrical but I imagine some planning has to be done up front to make sure that they're convenient and that they will work. Not sure how a remodel electrical project would go, seems like that is always the case until they invent wireless electricity, will probably always be a problem!

Just curious if anyone reading my blog has had any experience with the SIPs feel free to comment or you can shoot me an email at aretehomecm@hotmail.com!  Thanks!