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Jim LeRoy of Panel Pros is a distributor,
fabricator, and builder of Insulspan structural insulated panels.
A committed SIP builder for nearly 20 years, Jim joined the Insulspan
team in 1998 because he believes that quality products attract quality
builders, and he wouldn't build with anything but Insulspan®
panels.
September 2001
Rural Builder Magazine
Reprinted with permission.
As part of this effort, LeRoy has presented
on-site seminars to other builders to explain the construction process
and break down their natural resistance. "If I were looking
for one big word, it would be a big education process that we have
to do," he says. Part of this process is explaining the inherent
advantages of SIPs and another is dealing with what can be a cost
disadvantage.
Advantages are numerous and include energy
efficiency, a drastic reduction in air infiltration, strength, faster
construction, a quieter building, and the virtual elimination of
waste on the job site. Contractors attending his on- site seminars
have marveled at the fact that virtually all the waste is the SIP
wrappings.
 Enclosing
timber-frame structures like this home "is a breeze,"
says LeRoy
Panels used by LeRoy have expanded polystyrene
insulating cores bonded between skins of 7/16-in. oriented strand
board in thicknesses from 3-1/2 in. to 7-3/8 in. Panels connect
to each other with 2x or plywood splines. In his part of the country,
LeRoy believes he can correctly claim a 50 percent energy savings
annually. "We're talking $1 a day to heat or cool this house
with nominal 2x6 walls," he says.
The cost of a SIPs building can be higher or
lower than conventional stud-wall construction. LeRoy admits that
his building can be as much as 5 percent more costly than a building
composed of simple 2x4 walls. "It is certainly not the cheapest
way to enclose space," he says, "but it is the best way
to build energy efficiently."
He tells a potential customer that a SIP building
"will cost the same as a quality-built 2x6 frame structure,
and we can build cheaper than someone trying to meet the Model Energy
Code." Stick builders conforming to the code must use foam
sheathing and caulk the connections, in addition to stuffing wall
cavities with fiber glass insulation.
Says LeRoy: "When a customer gives us
a set of plans, we try to qualify them to see what they are thinking
and if they understand value and want energy efficiency. Then SIPS
can compete. You have to combine budget with what value is worth."
LeRoy's
crew finished enclosing this 18-ft x 42-ft addition in just six
hours while being filmed for a This Old House episode. The company
has appeared on several of these shows as well as Bob Vila's Home
Again program.
The Panel Pros' Web site is evidence that it
practices what it preaches. The site provides sales messages, of
course, noting that the company buys panels at volume rates, offers
pre-cutting services, provides experienced installation crews, manufactures
pre-built wall assemblies, does CAD design, and more. And there
are testimonials from satisfied customers.
But the site works to educate, too, with secondary
pages explaining how SIPS lower energy bills, what the panels are
made of, and some details of how a SIPS building is constructed.
Part of educating is informing the visitor that Panel Pros is a
one-stop source "for all your panel needs." Says its headline:
"We offer the most complete structural insulated panel system
package available nationwide!"
 His
company has become a distributor / fabricator /builder of SIP structures,
says LeRoy.
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