Best Practices For SIPs Design

Search

SIPs are a fully engineered, designed system to build stronger, more efficient buildings.

Below are design documents developed in cooperation with the Structural Insulated Panel Association’s (SIPA) technical committees to fully address specific issues in depth.  They provide a lot of well researched, technical information that shows the details have been addressed thoroughly.

This document focuses on the need to meet and exceed the newer building code’s thermal requirements and eliminate additional continuous insulation. Doing so helps to provide an extremely airtight structure with better indoor air quality. Factory applied insulation also eliminates concerns over the insulation install quality.

In this document, SIPA reviews how great amounts of testing and information, construction manuals and load design charts can be easily used in construction. Panels are in the IRC and are recognized for model building codes in multiple different evaluation reports. The capacity of SIPs to be used across different spans creates a flexibility in design.

SIPs panels (wall, floor and roof) can come in a variety of sizes, however some lengths and widths will produce more waste. Read about how you can plan your building size to optimize panel costs. A SIPs roof will need to be supported even though they can reach further and provide larger overhangs. Usually your wall thickness will increase, meaning extension jambs may be required for window and door detailing.

With a high efficiency building there needs to be a high efficiency HVAC system. This usually means a smaller system is put in place which runs more frequently in order to properly cycle air throughout the house. An air infiltration system will need to be a part of the HVAC as SIP buildings are very air tight and stagnant air can cause mold. Read more about proper sizing here.

Let's talk about your project.