How do houses built with SIPs wall systems compare with your AAC/passive solar houses? How about post and beam timber frame houses?
SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels) are made from polystyrene and OSB (Oriented Strand Board), which are not environmentally friendly materials and they have all the fire and insect problems of conventional wood houses. SIPs walls have a higher insulation value than AAC, but this is irrelevant given the high performance of our houses and all the environmental tradeoffs. SIPs houses can be conventional or they can be passive solar. SIPs can be incorporated in post and beam construction. SIPs are more expensive than AAC wall systems; and post and beam is astronomically more expensive. In the account below, Virginia Hill compares her post and beam house that used SIPs with our AAC passive solar houses. She has the unusual advantage of having acted as her own contractor in building both a conventional post and beam timber frame house and one of our passive solar AAC SunGarden Houses.
