GBA Logo horizontal Facebook LinkedIn Email Pinterest Twitter Instagram YouTube Icon Navigation Search Icon Main Search Icon Video Play Icon Plus Icon Minus Icon Picture icon Hamburger Icon Close Icon Sorted

Community and Q&A

CLT vs SIP exterior wall construction

Caroline Di Diego| Posted inGreen Building Techniqueson

Pacific northwest, 4C climate zone. (asking for a friend)

GBA Prime

Join the leading community of building science experts

Become a GBA Prime member and get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.

Replies

  1. Expert Member
    Akos||#1

    About the only reason for either one is for speed of construction. Neither option is cost effective compared to standard stick built.

    There is a benefit for CLT for sound especially when it comes to multifamily units.

    There is a good thread about a CLT build on the site:

    //m.etiketa4.com/article/wolfe-island-passive-building-with-cross-laminated-timber

  2. Expert Member
    Rick Evans||#2

    Yikes.

    Is there a third option?

  3. Jason S.||#3

    One has integral continuous foam insulation. The other looks nice, and requires continuous exterior insulation.

    What are your [friend's] project goals?

  4. Expert Member
    Michael Maines||#4

    CLT can sequester carbon and can cost-effectively replace concrete and steel on mid-rise projects. It can be used for single-family homes but it's not common, or cost-effective except perhaps for some very unusual projects.

    SIPs have relatively high embodied carbon, are vulnerable to various construction errors and a house built with SIPs probably won't last more than a few decades without major repairs. But they install quickly.

  5. Burninate||#5

    为了处理一个particular misapprehension you may or may not be harboring:

    The R-value of CLT is about 1.25 per inch. Washington State requires a wall R-value of R-21. So if you're relying PURELY on CLT for insulation, as some of the proponents declare is feasible, you're looking at 16 inches (40cm) thickness of solid glued-together wood. I can barely find any cost estimates for CLT, but what I can find indicates that $1000 per cubic meter is a reasonable ballpark estimate. That means you'd be paying about $250 per square meter, or $23 per square foot.

    This is much, much higher than you would pay for a cavity wall of any type, or for SIPS, or for ICFs, or for a sane CLT assembly featuring 4"-6" thick panels and some other form of insulation.

Log in or create an account to post an answer.

Community

Recent Questions and Replies

  • |
  • |
  • |
  • |