Darby Strong

Playing point. Delivering the rock.

Get on the SIP's Bus

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Although it sounds vaguely like some sort of bacteria, rest assured, SIP’s are much less threatening. The acronym stands for Structured Insulated Panel’s. These efficient and ingenious panels are used in floors, walls, and roofs in mostly residential (and some light commercial) projects.

From the SIPA (Structured Insulation Panel Association) website:

The panels are typically made by sandwiching a core of rigid foam plastic insulation between two structural skins of oriented strand board (OSB). Other skin material can be used for specific purposes. SIPs are manufactured under factory controlled conditions and can be custom designed for each home. The result is a building system that is extremely strong, energy efficient and cost effective. Building with SIPs will save you time, money and labor.

I am told that because SIP’s are manufactured with the insulation built-in, the application is more reliable. Instead of having, say, a spray-foam insulation on your project, where areas can be missed and only show up once a blower door test is performed, SIP’s provide a tight and reliable envelope from the start. This, of course, allows your blower door test – if you are going after a specific building program compliance path -to be more efficient.

As you can see by the graph above, just by using SIP’s, as opposed to conventional timber frame building, you are reducing your energy needs by half. Those are great numbers, don’t ya think?

Also, by by using energy efficient building materials such as structural insulated panels, builders and contractors can qualify for a $2000 tax credit on residential homes or up to a $1.80 per square foot tax deduction on commercial buildings.

Rapidly Renewing with Armstrong

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It seems that the folks at Armstrong World Industries in Lancaster, PA have not only jumped onto the fast-moving green bus, but are in fact driving said bus. With a recent induction into the small but esteemed group of LEED Platinum Buildings (and the first LEED EB Platinum outside of California), Armstrong Headquarters in Lancaster is a shining example of this company’s committment to sustainability.

Ironically, Armstrong has recently settled its asbestos injury claims, which had placed them into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. During this time, they restructured their business, no doubt becoming more competitive and refining their line of sustainable flooring, ceilings, and walls. Odd, too, is the full circle in which Armstrong has travelled over this past century, from the hand-carved cork for bottles that started their path, to asbestos, and thankfully back to rapidly renewable materials.

Armstrong provides many different products incorporating high-tech applications for ceilings, like Techzone, to Vinyl and Linoleum flooring with no added formaldehyde. Having a proven track record through the LEED certification process on their own headquarters surely substantiates Armstrong’s ability to provide truly sustainably-minded materials for commercial applications. They also offer tons of great resources on their website, including the LEED credits to which their products are applicable, to product descriptions and chain of custody to aid in the LEED submittal process.

LEED affected credits:
CI 2.0: MR 4, 5, & 6
EQ 4.1 & 4.3

NC 2.2: MR 4, 5, & 6
EQ 4.1 & 4.3