Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)

sip-thumbStructural insulated panels (SIPs) are high-performance building panels used in walls, floors, roofs, and exterior ceilings for residential and light commercial buildings.

TTS’ SIPs are produced by fusing a rigid polyurethane foam insulation core between two outer structural skins of drywall, plywood, or Oriented Strand Board (OSB) to create an extremely strong construction panel. TTS’ SIPs are prefabricated at our plant, either for predesigned plans or a customized layout, and once the foundation is in place, they are shipped and assembled on-site. Building with SIPs saves end-users time, money and labour, and significantly reduces the impact of homes and commercial buildings on the environment.

Advantages of TTS’ SIPs

TTS’ SIPs offer a broad range of advantages over conventional framed buildings:

Customizability

  • TTS can provide customized SIPs tailored to our clients’ needs and specifications. SIPs can be provided that include both interior drywall panels and pre-made exterior finishes that save end users money and time.

Superior performance characteristics

  • TTS’ SIPs create a building envelope that is airtight and extremely well-insulated.
  • Our SIPs offer a significant increase in structural strength over conventional framed homes, including shear, tensile and compressive strength, bending strength, and axial load-bearing capacity.
  • Because TTS’ SIPs are highly resistant to local loading, railings, cabinets, fixtures, and wall-mounted brackets can be anchored anywhere on interior walls.
  • TTS’ SIPs resist buckling and bending, and are superior to framed walls in their resistance to shearing forces, a critical structural attribute for resisting extreme wind, hurricane and earthquake conditions.

Ease of installation

  • Installation of TTS’ SIPs is simple and requires much less labour than traditional framed houses. A three-person crew can typically complete the panel erection of a standard 2000 sq. ft. home in as little as a single day, and complete the installation within three days.

Quality Control

  • TTS’ SIPs are manufactured in a highly controlled factory environment with rigorous quality control measures, resulting in a final product of exceptionally high quality and consistency.

Environmental Benefits

  • Less forest acreage is required to build a SIP home than a conventional wood framed house.
  • Through the use of advanced optimization software and automated fabrication technology to produce a product that meets client specifications, TTS’ SIPs drastically reduce the waste generated during construction. TTS’ production line also employs a state-of-the-art material recycling system so that no waste is produced during SIP production.
  • TTS’ SIPs are highly energy-efficient compared to conventional framed homes, reducing the energy requirements by 290 barrels of oil over the lifecycle of a typical 1,100 sq. ft. home.
  • TTS’ SIP line has higher throughput and is more automated than other SIP production lines, resulting in increased production rates and a significant reduction in production costs.
  • The energy efficiency of TTS’ SIP buildings results in reduced GHGs and other toxic emissions that cause global warming, acid rain and ozone depletion. TTS’ SIPs are also lighter than conventional wood framing materials, consuming less fuel to transport, and because they are produced from less wood, SIPs reduce deforestation, contributing to carbon sinks.
  • A recent Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) conducted by BASF Corporation evaluated the total environmental impact of SIPs, taking into account their entire life cycle, from raw material extraction through production, operation, and demolition. The LCA confirmed that SIPs have a significantly lower environmental impact than conventional wood framing with fibreglass insulation, reducing energy consumption and decreasing carbon emissions, water pollution, deforestation, damage to natural habitats, and emissions of other ozone harming gases.

Health Benefits

  • Because they are airtight, buildings constructed using TTS’ SIPs provide a high degree of control over indoor air quality, allowing occupants to filter out contaminants and allergens and dehumidify incoming air, which reduces mould growth. Our SIPs do not contain any volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or other harmful chemicals that can affect occupant health, and the components used meet some of the most stringent standards for indoor air quality.

Lower energy costs

  • The airtight building envelope provided by TTS’ SIPs results in substantially reduced energy costs associated with heating and cooling a building, and allows for the installation of a smaller and less expensive HVAC system, saving homeowners an average of $29.32 per month in energy costs.

Upcoming Improvements to TTS’ SIPs

TTS also has a series of planned upgrades to its SIP production line, including:

  • Transitioning to the use of natural oil polyol (NOP) foam derived from soybeans or grain, rather than petroleum-based PU foam;
  • Including up to 10% natural fibres in the insulation component of our SIPs, reducing the quantity of foam utilized and further reducing the cost of our SIPs while maintaining the thermal resistance characteristics;
  • The use of TTS’ unique microwave technology, which increases significantly reduces curing times and increases the energy efficiency of the production process versus conventional SIP manufacturing, reducing the GHGs associated with production even further.

 

 

Last Updated on Monday, 20 July 2009 20:13

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