Home > Why use SIPs? > Environmentally Responsible

Insulspan Homes are Environmentally Responsible

Insulspan panels help reduce pollution. Energy-efficient homes have a tremendous by-product: they're kinder to our environment. When you use less electricity, less electricity is produced, preventing the emission of thousands of pounds of CO2. If you elect to have a HERS (ENERGY STAR) report done on your home, you'll see for yourself just how many fewer carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are being released because you built an energy-efficient INSULSPAN SIP home.

Building with INSULSPAN SIPs also means much less waste generated at your construction site. With conventional stick framing, several dumpsters full of sawn-off construction materials are hauled to landfills. But at Insulspan, we pre-engineer your entire home. Our computer-controlled, automated production environment means precise measurements and very little material waste in our manufacturing facilities. On-site, wall and roof panels fit together precisely, eliminating framing mistakes and cutting down wood studs the desired length and throwing the rest away. You'll save on site clean-up costs and waste disposal fees.

Insulspan structural insulated panels are comprised of two exterior "skins" made of an "engineered wood" product called OSB. While as strong as plywood, OSB utilizes less wood pulp and is made from managed forests. In producing Insulspan SIP structures, Insulspan SIP systems also make use of "engineered wood" materials in lieu of sawn lumber for splines, nailers and other details. Thus, there is no need to harvest old-growth forests to produce Insulspan SIP Structures. Studies of SIP structures have also shown that the total amount of wood used in an average SIP home is significantly less than in a stick frame home. Next time you see a stick frame home under construction just pause for a moment and consider how much wood there is in these structures versus a SIP home.

According to the APA (The Engineered Wood Association), "Forest growth in the U.S. has continually exceeded harvest since the 1940s. We're growing more wood than we're using! And the manufacture of wood products requires substantially less energy than the production of competing products, resulting in less greenhouse gas and other air pollutant emissions."

Insulspan SIPs enable qualification for recognized Green environmental standards much easier and simpler. There are two primary respected systems for recognizing exemplary environmentally sensitive design. These two are:

• The U.S. Green Building Council program, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™.
• National Association of Homebuilders, Green Homebuilding Guidelines GBG.

Insulspan SIPs have been subjected to a third-party "Life Cycle Analysis" LCA to verify the extremely high level of environmental performance. This further enables LEED and GBG certification.

Insulspan has certified LEED designers and Home Energy Raters on staff as does many of the Insulspan Dealer network to assist our customers in Green design decision-making.