Resources: Building With SIPs

In Building With Structural Insulated Panels (Taunton Press, 2000, $34.95), author Michael Morley likens stickbuilt construction to the folk hero John Henry and structural insulated panels (SIPs) to the steam drill. You may recall that John Henry hammered his fool self to death trying to compete with the steam drill. Morley predicts that the days of conventionally framed homes are likewise numbered. He reminds us that SIPs are faster to install and structurally superior, that they are more energy conserving, environmentally friendly, and cost competitive, and he says they are about to take the light-frame construction industry by storm. Despite his admission that SIPs have been around for 50 years and hold a meager 0.05% of the market, he believes