ENVIROMENTAL

Half of our energy is used in buildings, which form an excellent focus for actions to reduce CO2 emissions, starting with energy efficiency. In Europe, the largest share of energy in buildings is heating. Insulation and good thermal design can dramatically reduce heat loss.

Heating demand in new buildings can be reduced by 90-95%, by using Structural Insulated Panel technology coupled with design knowledge and at competitive costs.

A typical house built in the 1990’s would be expected to use in the region of 100-120 kW.h/yr of heating energy. A new house built to 2002 standards we would expect to use in the region of 50-60 kW.h/yr. A new home designed and built with structural insulated panels, would be expected to use no more than 10 kW.h/yr of heating energy.

The OSB 3 boards are auto-adhesively bonded to the rigid urethane insulation core of the Structural Insulated Panels during manufacture. The factory preparation of Structural Insulated Panels ensures minimal material waste is generated on site in erecting a Structural Insulated Panel building. The energy which has been used in manufacturing panels (embodied energy) can be saved in a finished house in about 1 year.

COMFORT

SIP’s are an ideal choice for the future of home comfort. Not only do SIP’s keep a home warm in colder weather they also act just as well keeping a house cooler in summer months. The thermal properties of the system allow for a much more consistent temperature all year round. These properties combined with a whole house heat recovery system also mean little or no need for a conventional wet heating system, ideal for off grid properties.

FLEXIBILITY

The design of buildings using SIP’s plays a major part in its success. The SIP Building System leaves ample scope for bespoke design. The panels are cut in factory conditions according to the customer’s plans, which allows challenging structures to be easily accommodated. The complete building is delivered to site in kit-form ready for erection. SIP’s are used to create the walls & roof with the floor’s created using engineered timber joists.

SPEED OF BUILD

Structural Insulated Panels are easy and fast to work with on site under all weather conditions & so buildings can be installed on site in only a few days. The SIP’s Building System enables builders to shorten build programmes because the system incorporates the insulation into the panels so, unlike traditional timber frame, you don’t have to go back after the structure is complete to begin installing loose insulation.

SPACE

“The customer gets an extra 25% floor space for about 10% on the price”.Source: Ian Randall – Southern Area Managing Director, Laing Homes.

The SIP Building System is ideally suited to creating useable room-in-roof space. Room-in-roof construction is becoming ever more popular. Reducing the buildings footprint size allows builders to create family homes on challenging sites & fully utilise all of the potential for space that a building has.

FLOOR SPACE

The SIP wall to achieve a U-value of 0.18 W/m²K can be as little as 195mm thick. In comparison a full fill masonry cavity wall to achieve the same U-value will have to have a wall 405 mm thick. A timber frame wall to achieve the same U-value will have to have a wall 448mm thick. This means that the SIP’s Building System gives you more floor space for the same external dimensions.