The Design-Build Process of a Modular Home Using Structural Insulated Panels

Many of the most qualified designers and builders may have little experience Photo courtesy of Details Homes of Architectural Distinction, LLC, McLellan, CA 95652 with building modular homes with SIPS. Your design/build team must also work with a modular factory that offers SIPs. While many factories have yet to accommodate SIP construction, two innovative modular companies do: EcoStructures in Maidsville, W. Va., and Homes by Detail in McClellan, Calif. Ultimately, the factory is part of your design/build team and modular manufacturers are all very different in what they can design and build. It is very important to check references of not only the builder you choose to facilitate your project but also those of the modular manufacturer. One Home’s Story In the summer of 2008, manufacturer Penn Lyon Homes of Selingsgrove, Pa.; Murus located in Mansville, Pa., which makes SIPs; and local contractors constructed a SIP modular home on a rural lot in Massachusetts. This Colonial style home was over 3,700 square feet with a SIP exterior walls with an R-40. According to Steven Winter’s Associates, Inc., the company that was hired to commission this LEED certified home, they estimate that this home will use 62 percent less energy than a code-built house, which is built to the  minimum standards of construction, alteration or demolition of an improvement and has a HERS index of 38. (The HERS Index is a scoring system established by the Residential Energy Services Network, or RESNET, in which a home built to the specifications of the HERS Reference Home scores a HERS Index of 100; a net-zero energy home would score a 0 on the HERS index. The lower a home’s HERS Index, the more energy-efficient it is.) “It is extremely important that consumers understand that modular homes are built fast, but there is a lengthy design and planning process,” says Mickey Locey, the vice-president of Penn Lyon Homes. There is also quite a bit more engineering involved in the design process of using SIPs. With that understanding, the possibility of purchasing a modular home constructed with SIPs has many benefits. It is more affordable to own in the long-term, it’s more efficient, less expensive to heat and cool, and requires less ongoing maintenance. From a livability standpoint, the home is quieter [and] healthier, and the interior design is enhanced by the lack of ceiling trusses, which allows for full cathedral ceilings. Leading by Example PowerHouse, a Massachusetts modular design build company, offers another For more information, check out these: ARTICLES “Premier Building Systems’ SIPs Installation” “Premier Building Systems’ SIPs” VIDEOS “Building Walls Using SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels)” “R-Control SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels)” “Tour of the Premier Building Systems Factory” series of designs called PowerPod that uses structural insulated panels. PowerPods are autonomous buildings that  arrive by truck and can be installed in a day. Each building is solar-equipped, stands on its own stylish legs and is a prime example of everything PowerHouse puts into a building , which uses building products and materials that have no or low VOCs, no added formaldehyde and renewable energy resources which includes solar. “We chose to construct the shell of the PowerPod using structural insulated panels because of their exceptional strength and thermal properties,” says president Quincy Vale. “By working with an established and experienced vendor, Panel Pros, we arranged to have all of needed frame components engineered and cut from unitary SIP blanks to eliminate the splines, connections and thermal bridges seen when working with smaller 4’ x 8’ panels. As an added benefit, with a minimum of connections, assembly was greatly accelerated, which enabled our team to focus on the myriad tricky elements associated with creating an energy-efficient, green PowerPod that folds up and splits in half for transport.” Both Locey and Vale agree that the modular building industry has yet to embrace the idea of using SIPS in their green building practices. With better marketing by the SIP industry, it will be a consumer-driven initiative to get SIPS used in more residential and light commercial modular projects.

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