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JOHNNY
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New Member
Posts:30
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| 09/06/2000 12:05 PM |
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As I was looking over the posted messeges I happened to run across this statement from Steve Andrews posted 7/24/00 "...however, that a few insurance companies are apparently waking up to those strength advantages in the price of their policies to owners of ICF and SIP homes.". My question is do we have any documentation on this it would really help sell the SIP construction verses conventional methods, we have many customers that seem to hang on the fence indefinately. Thanks
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Steve Andrews
Registered Users
Basic Member
Posts:334
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| 09/10/2000 10:25 PM |
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The news is good and bad. First the good.
The evidence is nearly conclusive: SIPs are extraordinarily strong, compared to conventional framing. Gerald E. Sherwood, with the Forest Products Laboratory, has written that the "outstanding structural features [of SIPs] also offer a solution for buildings to resist the forces of natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes." Stories from the 1995 Kobe earthquake, the annual typhoons on Guam, Hurricane Andrew, tornadoes in the Southeast, and trees toppled on houses from straight-line winds provide considerable evidence that SIP structures exhibit extremely impressive strength in the face of natural disasters. You can get strong performance ratings from wood frame construction as well, but you have to add cost and a lot of attachment details.
That said, here's the bad news. Applying a dollar value to this advantage for SIPS, and then achieving comensurate discounts on insurance premiums, hasn't been easy. I've heard of isolated cases were ICF's and SIPs have received better rates from insurors; from what little I heard on this subject nearly two years ago, ICF's have an easier time getting a discounted rate than SIPs do. But I'm unaware of any industry reports or concerted efforts covering insurance rates. (I will invite comment on this subject here...)
The devil can be in the details at the construction site. Let's say, for example, that you use SIP walls and roof, but a conventional floor system that is attached conventionally to the mudsill and foundation wall without metal hurricane straps. That foundation attachment becomes the weak link in the mostly SIP system. Right now, the SIP industry doesn't have a widely accepted detail that would prevent this weakness and guarantee a certain level of performance. At their May annual meeting, the Structural Insulated Panel Association was invited by Simpson Strong Tie to come up with certain applications which they would like to have tested. In time, that type of effort may help provide the verification that insurance companies might need to grant lower rates.
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