How SIP Construction Cut Energy Bills by $1,300 a Year Per Apartment in Blacksburg Affordable Housing
Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are high-performance roof, wall, and floor building panels made of a rigid insulation core structurally bonded between two structural-grade facings, used in place of conventional stick framing. They deliver a tighter building envelope, significantly lower heating and cooling costs, and faster on-site assembly. At Prices Fork Village Apartments, they delivered something more specific: $1,300 a year back in the pockets of families who needed every dollar.
When a family is living at 50 to 60 percent of the area median income, $1,300 a year is not a rounding error. That is a car payment. Three months of groceries. Breathing room in a budget that has almost none. It is the difference between a thermostat someone is afraid to touch in January and a home that just stays warm, without a second thought.
That is the real measure of what happened here: sixteen new apartments in Blacksburg, Virginia, built with ACME Panel SIPs throughout the walls and roof. EarthCraft certified. Energy savings of $1,134 to $1,323 per unit per year compared to conventional construction, or roughly $18,100 to $21,200 in total annual energy savings across all 16 apartments. For the families who live there, those numbers show up every month. In one two-bedroom apartment, that showed up as an electric bill of less than $50 a month, for everything, including heat and air.
Project Highlights
→ 16 new SIP apartments built for families at 50 to 60 percent of area median income
→ $1,134 to $1,323 in annual energy savings per unit vs. conventional construction ($18,100–$21,200 total across all 16 units)
→ 6.5-inch wall panels and 10.5-inch roof panels, EarthCraft certified
→ Panels manufactured at ACME’s solar-powered Radford, VA facility
→ Winner of the 2025 Virginia Governor’s Housing Conference Best Multi-Family Housing Development
If you have seen what SIPs can do for a custom home, this project shows what they can do for the people who need lower energy bills most.
The Project
The old Prices Fork Elementary School in Blacksburg had been sitting empty for years. Our sister company, Taylor Hollow Construction, saw what it could become. Today the building houses sixteen apartments for residents 55 and older, Moon Hollow Brewing, Millstone Kitchen (a commercial incubator with a community meal program for low-income residents), and Featherbone Provisions. The school did not get torn down. It became a neighborhood again.
Phase III was where ACME Panel came in. Right behind the historic building, Taylor Hollow broke ground on 16 brand-new apartments using ACME Panel structural insulated panels throughout the walls and roof. Eight three-bedroom units. Eight two-bedrooms. A mix of affordable and market-rate, open to all ages. Completed July 2021.
Why SIP Construction Mattered for Affordable Housing Energy Savings
This was not a luxury development where buyers could absorb high utility costs as a footnote to their mortgage. The affordable units serve families at 50 to 60 percent of area median income. Performance had to be real, and it had to be measurable. For a family already stretching every paycheck, a heating bill that spikes in January is not an inconvenience. It is a choice between staying warm and paying for something else that mattered that month.
ACME Panel 6.5-inch EPS foam core wall panels and 10.5-inch EPS foam core roof panels delivered exactly that. No drafts. No sky-high heating bills in January. Homes that hold temperature the way a well-built home should. The EarthCraft certification confirmed it from the ground up.
SIP buildings perform this way because the building envelope has no thermal bridging and virtually no air infiltration. Every stud in a stick-frame wall is a thermal break, a path for heat to escape in winter and slip in during summer. A SIP wall eliminates that path entirely. The result is a home that is quieter, steadier, and cheaper to run for its entire life: a bedroom that stays warm on a cold night without the furnace working overtime to keep up.
The families who benefit most from lower energy bills are exactly the ones who can least afford to go without them. That is who SIPs are built for.
Manufactured at a Solar-Powered Facility in Virginia
Every structural insulated panel that went into this project came out of ACME Panel’s facility in Radford, VA, powered by 360 solar panels. Lower carbon in the manufacturing. Lower carbon in the home’s energy use for the entire life of the building. That is not a talking point. It is a physical fact built into every panel we ship. For homeowners, builders, and developers asking how to reduce the carbon footprint of a building without adding cost, Prices Fork Village Apartments is the proof.
ACME Panel serves the eastern United States from Radford, VA, covering Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and beyond. See our structural insulated panel pricing here.
Recognition
2025 Virginia Governor’s Housing Conference
Best Multi-Family Housing Development, presented at Hotel Roanoke. The award recognized the full partnership behind the project: Taylor Hollow Construction, Montgomery County, the New River Valley Regional Commission, and the NRV HOME Consortium. High-performance materials. Community purpose. Dense, affordable development done right.
SIPA Building Excellence Awards
Multifamily Honorable Mention from the Structural Insulated Panel Association, recognizing the Phase III SIP building for design innovation, structural engineering, and environmental sustainability.
Project Details
| Location | 4237 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, VA 24060 |
| Builder | Taylor Hollow Construction |
| SIP Supplier | ACME Panel |
| Phase III Completion | July 2021 |
| Units | 16 (8 three-bedroom, 8 two-bedroom) |
| Income Mix | Affordable (50–60% AMI) and market rate |
| SIP Walls | 6.5" EPS foam core structural insulated panels |
| SIP Roof | 10.5" EPS foam core structural insulated panels |
| Certification | EarthCraft |
| Energy Savings | $1,134–$1,323 per unit per year vs. conventional construction ($18,100–$21,200/year across all 16 units) |
| Total Project Budget | $7M+ |
| Awards | 2025 VAGHC Best Multi-Family Housing Development; SIPA Multifamily Honorable Mention |
Someone made the right call at the design phase
The families at Prices Fork are saving over $1,000 a year per apartment on energy because of it. If you are working on a project where performance matters, start here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can structural insulated panels be used for affordable housing?
Structural insulated panels are particularly well-suited to affordable housing because they reduce long-term operating costs for residents. A SIP building envelope delivers significantly lower heating and cooling bills compared to conventional stick-frame construction — savings that are meaningful month to month for residents at lower income levels. The Old School at Prices Fork in Blacksburg, VA is a direct example: 16 SIP apartments serving families at 50 to 60 percent of area median income, with documented energy savings of $1,134 to $1,323 per unit per year, or $18,100 to $21,200 per year across all 16 apartments.
How much energy do SIP apartments save compared to conventional construction?
At the Prices Fork project in Blacksburg, VA, ACME Panel SIP apartments saved residents between $1,134 and $1,323 per unit per year compared to conventionally framed construction — a total of $18,100 to $21,200 in annual energy savings across all 16 apartments. The savings come from the SIP building envelope’s tight air sealing and continuous insulation, which eliminates the thermal bridging present in stud-frame walls. The building was EarthCraft certified, a third-party verification of its energy performance.
Do SIP homes save money on energy bills?
SIP homes consistently deliver lower energy bills than comparable stick-frame construction. Structural insulated panels provide continuous insulation with no thermal bridging at studs and very low air infiltration, which means less energy is needed to heat and cool the home year-round. Actual savings depend on climate, home size, and energy costs, but real-world projects regularly show 40 to 60 percent reductions in heating and cooling costs compared to standard construction. See how the numbers work on our Economics of SIPs page.
Are structural insulated panels a good choice for multifamily housing?
Structural insulated panels work well in multifamily construction for several reasons. Panels arrive pre-cut to project specifications, which speeds framing and reduces on-site waste. Building envelope performance is consistent across the entire structure because insulation is continuous, not dependent on individual framing quality. For multifamily developers, SIPs also reduce HVAC sizing requirements, which lowers mechanical system costs. For residents, the result is lower utility bills and a noticeably quieter, more comfortable home.
How are structural insulated panels manufactured?
Structural insulated panels are made by bonding a rigid foam insulation core — typically expanded polystyrene (EPS) — between two structural facing panels, typically oriented strand board (OSB). The panels are manufactured under factory-controlled conditions and cut to the specific dimensions of each project before shipping. ACME Panel manufactures SIPs at its facility in Radford, Virginia, powered by 360 solar panels, which reduces embodied carbon in the manufacturing process before the panel ever improves the energy performance of a home.
Who builds with structural insulated panels in Virginia?
ACME Panel is a family-owned structural insulated panel manufacturer based in Radford, Virginia, serving builders, homeowners, and developers across the eastern United States with free shipping within 300 miles of Radford. Taylor Hollow Construction, ACME’s sister company, builds with SIPs as their primary construction method and takes on client projects directly. The Old School at Prices Fork in Blacksburg is one example of what SIP construction delivers in Virginia.
What is EarthCraft certification, and why does it matter?
EarthCraft is a third-party green building certification program for residential and multifamily construction in the Southeast. An EarthCraft certified building has been independently verified to meet standards for energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and construction quality. For affordable housing developments, EarthCraft certification confirms that the energy performance claims are documented and verified, not estimated. The Prices Fork Phase III SIP apartments were EarthCraft certified at completion in July 2021.
Want to Learn More About SIPs?
If this article raised questions you want answered before you build, these two resources are worth reading next.
→ SIP Building Basics — A plain-language overview of how SIP construction works, what to expect during the build process, and how SIPs compare to conventional framing.
→ When to Use SIPs — Not every project is the right fit for SIP construction. This page walks through the building types, budgets, and timelines where SIPs perform best, so you can make the right call before design decisions get locked in.
→ SIP Dos and Don’ts — The practical guide to getting SIP construction right, covering installation sequencing, moisture detailing, and the mistakes worth avoiding before they happen.