SIP

Hi everyone!!!

I am thrilled to announce our prefab Green Cottage Kit design is here!

Although a modern enthusiast, I grew up (and my parents still reside) in a home built in 1801. A Virginia native, I appreciate old farmhouses, Victorian brownstones, colonial and happy, yes, exuberantly happy cottage architecture.

So, when people came to me on GreenModernKits.com asking for a cottage, I understood.

So I kidnapped Eric Drivdahl, an award winning architect with a heart of gold, and he designed a gorgeous, passive solar, SIPs, cottage kit with so many thoughtful details:

- 2,000 sq. ft. (and less: this house has 3 configurations)

- 3 bedrooms (or less)

- Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) for energy efficiency

- Passive Solar

- Trombe Wall

- Nooks and Crannies where you can curl up and read your books!

We haven't even named it yet, but we're so happy.

If you have any names you'd like to suggest, we'd love to hear them!

Sincerely yours,

Copeland

aka Green Modern Kits! : )

Well, my fabulous contractor, Ron Bernaldo of Giant Oaks Construction just called to tell me...

He has the building permit for our modern plan casa ti house kit in his hand!

Now the fun begins!

Stay tuned!

If you'd like to follow along, you can also check regularly on my modern prefab green building project page and my blog for our own casa ti house kit.

Some more SIPs cheering... here's an excellent 3 minute video showing you the benefits of building with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) from a non-sales biased point of view (HGTV Pro's website). It also shows how they are put together, saving you time, money and the planet!

http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/pac_ctnt/text/0,2595,HPRO_20196_55073,00.html?c=484&videoid=66936

Cardinal Building Systems, Inc. will be hosting a builders class on Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)

The class will be held on January 19th from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. There is no fee for the class and is open to anyone interested in learning about SIPs. The class will be held at the Hampton Inn in Winchester, VA then we will go to the manufacturing plant to see how the panels are made.

This class covers:

The definition of SIPS, Building with SIPs, SIPs vs. Stick building, R-Control: Control not Comprimise, SIP's role in the Emerging Green Market, a Question and Answer Session and will be finished up with a plant tour.

Please RSVP by Friday the 11th as seating is limited. If you are unable to attend this class we will be having another in February and one in March. We can also schedule individual meetings with anyone interested who is unable to make it to the classes.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Contact: Summer Berry

Phone: 540-535-7282

Fax: 540-535-0992

e-mail: summer@cardinalbuildings.com

Many people understand that their homes or commercial buildings will leak energy. They also understand that over time it will hurt the environment. The problem is that it isn't a big deal to them because they can't see it. It is like telling a 16 year old that the sun can damage their skin. They don't see it happening so they don't worry about it. The easiest way for me to let people know that stick building, even if it does have decent insulation, is not efficient is with a picture. Building with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) is the best way to reduce energy leaks.

SIPs are a strong structural system consisting of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) insulation which is laminated to oriented strand board (OSB) forming a structural panel.

Now let me show you why. These two buildings are almost identical, located in West Virginia each has about 6,000 sf of roof. The photo on the top will show the thermal imaging while the photo on the bottom will show you what we are looking at with the naked eye.

The building on the left was stick built while the building on the right had a roof constructed of Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) You can see the roof has multiple large "hot spots". The building on the right is a nice consistent purple showing that there are little to no leaks. The parking lots and road retained heat so they show up as yellow and orange.

Below are the same picures from the other side.

Again the stick built building (now shown on the right) has obvious hot spots while the SIP roof (now shown on the left) has no heat loss.

The use of SIPS greatly reduces energy loss. The direct benefit of using SIPs is that there is less energy loss and in turn there are less greenhouse gases being let out into the atmosphere. So while you can't always see the effect our choices have there are consequences, short term and long term. People can help the environment and themselves if they choose green building materials.