For my own research i did a survey of all the new homes offered in this area to see what the builders were using.There were several hundred homes in this survey:
1.Sip panel construction. = 0
2.Icf construction =1
3.Geothermal heat = 10
 The consensus of builders seems to be that sips or icf are too expensive because the payback was too long and could only be used in custom homes at customer request. Several green builders said they can achieve the goal in much cheaper ways. This is a cold climate,central Minn.

ok. I'll bite. If you do a consensus on this web site of builders, you will find that nearly 100% are using SIPs or ICF's. Your research is flawed for a number of reasons. First might be that it is expensive to truck where you are at. That is always a concern. Next would be the experience and knowledge of those you surveyed. Have those green builders actually built with ICF's or SIPs? You will find that most builders that have worked with these products would rather build with them. But cost and marketing are still issues. If you build with an alternative building product as a spec, then you can limit your audience and may have to educate the buyers why your home is more expensive then the ones down the street. And the simple fact is that it is easier to say that you are a green builder and get bang for your buck in marketing rather then actually building what is right. Next is the custom build where you have to convince the home owner that building with SIPs is the right thing to do. And that is exactly what the builders that have used SIPs are doing. Because they create an efficient comfortable home.

Payback is a completely different animal. How do you convince home owners that they are going to save money to pay for an upgrade? Unless you are big enough to build two of the same house with different envelopes, you are proabably going to have to rely on anecdotal evidence to qualify your statements and that isn't an easy task. Many in the building profession are not even willing to consdier the risk of trying something different for fear of ending up with the keys.

So I am not sure if you have told us anything other then that there is market opportunity for SIPs in central Minn. Perhaps you should look at being a builder or in becoming a dealer.

Perhaps you should do some research into Pulte and find out why they are converting their stick builds into SIP builds. Finally, you also have to consider the animal. SIPs have been around for years. But the industry is fragmented and the factories eat their young. Rather then provide wholesale/retail opportunities like other subs, the manufacturers are content to not reward those for promoting the use of SIPs. The green builders you talked with probably get more incenvtive from their local lumber yard then they would get from a SIP supplier. Its Christmas and I haven't gotten a card from my SIP supplier let alone a discount for bringing them business. What gives???

Xman..... where are you located, here is the major challenger with builders, especially this late in the cycle of this bull market in real estate, get them up and sell them and if you have to educate a buyer you may lose them. Building a subdivision is a huge risk, we have done it many times. If Pulte is doing it that is news to me there are several Pulte subdivision in this area and they are still using kit homes bot from weyhauser, if Im not mistaken,,, its a matter of time before they change, once a builder uses the SIP system they wont go back....t

Pulte is indeed building with SIPS. However, it's way more than that, and it's only in areas where they have factories. Yup, factories. IMO they are the most advanced builder in the country. They created a division called Pulte Building Sciences. PBS is responsible for their engineering, material choices, and I believe the operation of their factories. They are completely building the homes in the factories(yup, even the foundations!), and trucking them to the site. They can completely assemble the components in just days. And, their Cust SAT surveys are putting them at the top.

They are still stick building here in Colorado, but if they bring a plant online in the area, that will change.

The Washington DC area is the first or second region where Pulte has a SIP factory. They have this subdivision thing down and the SIP customers are loving it. They use precast concrete basement walls, SIP upper walls, panelized interiors, and truss roof systems. It is a thing of beauty to watch the speed and efficiency of construction. As PanelCrafters said the satisfaction surveys say this is the way to go. Now with a few years of homes on the market it would be interesting to see what the customers are seeing in savings and if their initial high marks hold up.