On a recent trip to Washington D.C., accompanied by SIPA Executive Director Bill Wachtler and Past President Frank Baker, I had the opportunity to meet with a number of government officials, trade organizations and energy efficiency advocates. I was astounded by the amount of interest in SIPs we encountered from nearly everyone we visited.
Much [...]
On a recent trip to Washington D.C., accompanied by SIPA Executive Director Bill Wachtler and Past President Frank Baker, I had the opportunity to meet with a number of government officials, trade organizations and energy efficiency advocates. I was astounded by the amount of interest in SIPs we encountered from nearly everyone we visited.
Much of the recent enthusiasm comes from the dramatic increases in energy efficiency being enacted through changes to the International Energy Conservation Code, the popular ENERGY STAR for Homes program, and other building performance programs like the Builders Challenge, the 2030 Challenge, and LEED. The amount of additional effort and materials required to meet these more rigorous energy efficiency standards with conventional wood frame construction is significant.
As these standards increase, SIPs become the clear solution. I’m convinced that now is the ideal time to promote SIPs as the building system of the future and push SIP construction into the mainstream. We have the best product out there for what everyone is trying to accomplish—a high R-value building system with minimal thermal bridging and excellent air sealing that will help builders meet increased energy codes.
There was plenty of other promising news on the trip. We met with representatives from the Forest Products Laboratory to explore how we might partner on future research projects, such as seismic testing. We also stopped by the NAHB Research Center, who recently received a $300,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to examine deep energy retrofits with retrofit insulated panels.
At the federal level, SIPA is an active member in a lobbying coalition led by RESNET that is advocating incentives for energy-efficient construction. The latest incarnation of such legislation is the SAVE Act, which would modify mortgage and appraisal standards to include consideration of energy efficiency.
I know that this trend towards energy-efficient construction will be one of the key topics at the SIPA Annual Meeting & Roundup, April 10-12, 2012 in San Antonio, Texas. SIPA is putting together an impressive lineup of speakers, networking events, and even a tour of the Vantem Panels SIP manufacturing facility. Registration is now open online, so I encourage you to register and make hotel reservations early before the hotel rooms fill up. I look forward to seeing you there.
Terry Dieken, Extreme Panel Technologies
SIPA President
Post by Terry Dieken
SIPA President
Extreme Panel Technologies
Like most of you who attended the SIPA Annual Meeting & Conference in Greenville, South Carolina, I walked away energized after learning about all the great projects SIPA members are building and the exciting initiatives that SIPA has planned for the future. The conference was very well attended by SIPA members and those interested in joining SIPA. Our membership continues to grow steadily and we recently welcomed SIP manufacturer Eagle Panel Systems to the association.
I would also like to thank hsbCAD for donating a complete software package for the SIPA Auction. The generous donations from hsbCAD and other members allow SIPA to continue to host this conference every year.
I am excited to see the online portion of SIPA’s Certified Builder Program near completion. This online training module has been under development for nearly a year and will soon be available on the Green Builder College website for builders to learn how to properly install SIPs. The curriculum contains nearly eight hours of video hosted by SIPschool founder Al Cobb and 10 quizzes that test the participant’s knowledge as they make their way through the videos. Discounts will be available for SIPA members who wish to sharpen their SIP knowledge or view individual chapters, such as the chapter on focusing on SIP sales.
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It is time once again to bring SIPA members up to date on what has been happening with the association.
One of the areas we have been concentrating on is builder education. SIPA is putting together a 10-hour online training program. The Builder Education with SIPs Training (BEST) program consists of 10 one-hour video training sessions that give a general overview of SIPs and the correct techniques to install the walls, roofs and floors. It will explain all the steps involved in a SIP project, from initiating the job through the installation, plan details, site preparation, caring for the panels on site, and many other aspects of working with SIPs. Taking the course will be the first step in becoming a trained builder in the SIPs industry. An announcement will be made once this program is complete.
The SIPA Board of Directors met at the NAHB headquarters in Washington, DC on September 15, following the SIP School Design Symposium. The symposium was well organized and well attended. We are looking at the possibility of providing this type of event in other regions.
One of the highlights of the board meeting was an informative presentation from our friends at the UK SIP Association on the status of SIPs in the UK. We thank Darren Richards, Andrew Orriss and Charles Stewart for the work they did and the time they spent with us. The hospitality of the NAHB staff was also certainly appreciated.
A few topics discussed at the meeting were the status of the BEST training program, working with the Canadian Construction Materials Centre (CCMC), gaining new membership, developing a retrofit panel system for existing buildings with details and installation guidelines, and developing new AIA continuing education presentations – one course covering just the basics of SIPs, one advanced course, and one course aimed specifically at engineers.
In addition to the Design Symposium and board meeting, a small group of SIPA board members spent a full day meeting with representatives from the USDA, HUD, EPA’s Energy Star program and the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). We were well received at all of the departments. Some of our group had met with them in June and in those discussions it was determined that SIPA should focus on the retrofit market. A high percentage of their time and budget is being put in that area.
Continue to check the SIPA website to see what our association is doing. I encourage you to join a task group or one of the committees so you can provide input on the decisions that are being made. I am troubled when I read articles about building more energy-efficient building envelopes and all of the various ways of doing it with no mention of SIPs. I know I’m preaching to the choir, but we can build the most energy-efficient envelope and achieve the best HERS rating. The industry has proven this over and over again through blower door tests. We must let the public know this through all of SIPA’s marketing efforts.
This year has also been a challenge for SIPA’s support staff. The board of directors continues to give them more responsibilities while asking them to work fewer hours. They continue to work very hard and are achieving goals that we thought would be unreachable. Many thanks to each of them.
Terry Dieken
Extreme Panel Technologies
It is hard to believe that a new year is almost over. It appears that 2009 will be remembered as the year of global economic recession. However, the long term picture is improving. Housing prices appear to be stabilizing, with recent reports from the S&P Case-Shiller Index and Federal Finance Housing Agency showing modest increases in national home prices during September and October. More importantly, the world is moving to increase the energy efficiency of homes and commercial buildings through ground breaking legislation that will pave the way for SIPs in the future.
On a national level, the House passed the American Clean Energy and Security act (ACES) in June of 2009 that requires a 30 percent increase in residential energy efficiency just one year after enactment, with scheduled increases leading up to 75 percent more efficiency than the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code by 2030. Commercial buildings would follow a similar progressive tightening of energy codes under the pending bill.
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by Terry Dieken
I can’t believe how time flies! Fall is already knocking on the doorstep. Here in Minnesota, we’re having cooler mornings and the trees are starting to show their brilliant colors. Fall is also the time for builders to start planning their projects so they can get them enclosed before the winter arrives.
For me, I think the reason the time is moving so quickly is because of all the activities that SIPA has going on. Please take the time to look at the members-only section of the SIPA website and read the new monthly activity reports. These reports allow our members to see what the Board of Directors and the various committees are doing. They should give you a better idea of what SIPA is doing for you and for the industry as a whole.
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I’d like to extend a warm welcome to all SIPA members and thank you for your continued membership and support. I realize that many of you have not met me personally, so I’d like to tell you a little about myself.
After twenty years of farming and a stint in the paging and radio telephone business, my wife Linda and I started Extreme Panel Technologies 16 years ago in our hometown of Cottonwood, MN. We had built our first SIP house about a year earlier and decided that SIPs were the only way to build. Since then, Extreme Panels has blossomed into a company of 29 employees, three of which are members of our family – our son, Jeremy, our daughter Jodi and our son-in-law Brad.
Extreme Panel Technologies has been a member of SIPA since 1994 and has seen the association go through a lot of changes. SIPA has made some major strides in the past few years and it continues to pick up speed. It is like a snowball rolling down a hill: getting bigger, rolling faster, and picking up a lot new members along the way.
The results from this year’s annual Production Survey prove that SIPs are gaining market share in the residential market. I think these gains are, at least partially, the result of the hard work SIPA has done in educating the right people in the right organizations. SIPA’s Board of Directors plan to continue this success with new projects designed to facilitate the use of SIPs by builders and design professionals across the nation. Some of the major items planned for the future include developing quality control standards, a standardized installation manual, a common code listing that is available to our manufacturer members, an online training program for builders and code acceptance for SIPs in high seismic zones.
Our association can only continue moving forward by increasing our membership and having all our members involved. So I’m asking each member to talk about SIPA to the people you deal with on a daily basis. Tell them about the value of SIPA and explain how they can join in the effort to grow the SIP industry. Expanding membership is the only way we will have the financial means to take on more meaningful projects and increase our outreach.
Right now, the SIPA staff and the Board of Directors are working hard to provide an online training program for builders, distributors, architects and engineers. If anyone has any ideas regarding possible funding sources for this prospective program, please contact the SIPA office.
Lastly, I would like to thank Frank Baker for serving the last three years as SIPA’s president. Linda and I have always been impressed with the vision Frank has for the SIP industry and how hard he works to further the industry as a whole. He has been involved in many projects that have increased the awareness of SIPs and generated lots of good publicity.
With the all hard work that Bill Wachtler continues to put in as Executive Director of SIPA, and the expertise of the people he has working with him in the office, I am optimistic about our future and hope you are as well. I look forward to working with all of you to help grow SIPA and the SIP industry.
Terry Dieken
Extreme Panel Technologies, Inc.
