Structured Insulated Panels (SIPS) have been widely adopted in USA and Europe, particularly its organisation in Netherlands where high performance panels have been the preferred method of thermal roofing construction for nearly 40 years.
The UK SIP Association www.uksips.org has been operational for just over a year. In this time it has acquired 54 independent members and has rapidly become one of the most influential forces of change in the UK construction industry -leading the change in terms of low carbon construction and challenging the misconceptions that good environmental performance has to cost much more.
SIPS construction provides very thermally efficient buildings with a much improved air tightness, contributing significantly to energy conservation and carbon reduction and therefore scoring high on the code for sustainable homes. Clearly, SIPS technology offers extraordinary flexibility. It not only meets and exceeds the requirements of the Building regulations but offers cost effective construction solutions at both high level and basic level. Importantly, with air tightness as one of its fundamentals, SIPS has great empathy with Passivhaus design, so much so that manufacturers are actively embracing and encouraging house-building to move in that direction.