SIPS ENGINEERED FOR THE REAL WORLD "No other feature of panels has impressed me as much as their ability to resist racking forces. We need only look at some recent natural disasters to see what this means. In the 1993 earthquake in Kobe, Japan, SIP houses were left undamaged amid general destruction. Hurricanes in the southeast United States destroyed large sections of communities, while SIP buildings came through unscathed. A tornado ripped through a Georgia suburb, wrecking conventionally framed houses but causing only superficial damage to a SIP home in the middle of the destruction. A 130-mph Michigan storm blew five mature trees down on top of a SIP home and caused no structural damage. SIP houses don't creak or groan in high winds, and drywall callbacks for cracks are almost unheard of. You cannot build a stronger, safer home". "To see how a SIP building really performs in a fire, the Winfield, Illinois, fire department recently conducted a field test. In the study, the furniture in a 12-ft. by 14-ft. by 8-ft. furnished room built with 5 1/2-in.-core R-Control panels was set on fire, and the door and windows were then shut. The fire brought the interior temperature of the room close to 2,000 degrees F, then it quickly dropped in intensity without affecting the structural integrity of the room. No delamination between the foam and the OSB facing was found, and apparently the fire resistance of the drywall was dramatically increased by the OSB facings underneath it. The fire department's conclusion was that a tight SIP structure will quickly starve a fire for oxygen and that there is no air in the wall cavities to feed the flames." Source: Building with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS) by Michael Morley, click for: