Advantages
- Extremely light as a material, making for easy handling
- Faster to build than most building methods
- Factory prebuilt, resulting in cost reduction and speed of building
- Superior insulation values compared to wood framing with fiberglass insulation
- Superior weather performance
- Superior structural performance compared to wood framing
- Superior environmental performance through less waste generated by SIPs building and less HVAC needs from superior insulation
- Proven performance in extreme conditions, documented observations shows that SIP buildings withstood earthquakes in Japan, and storms/tornadoes in the US better than framed buildings.
- Reduction of need for skilled laborers
- Reduction in need high quality raw materials. Engineered wood production does not need high quality lumber.
- Tighter tolerances in building due to it being an engineered product.
- Tight control of material usage
Disadvantages
- Lack of consumer and professional confidence in product due to underuse.
- Possible reduction in efficiency and increase in cost when using subcontractors unfamiliar with the system.
- Restrictive in design due to modularity.
- More involved mechanical systems planning may be required, which increases cost. Changes to things such as electrical may be hard to implement on site.
- Limited use in larger scale buildings such as high rise
- Need for mechanical ventilation for best HVAC performance
- Need for special tools if on-site modification of materials are required. For example, a circular power saw can't easily cut through a SIP wall panel (4.25in thinnest)
- Weatherproofing is important, as a compromise in it structural system from weather may result in a more disastrous situation than frame based construction.
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