SIPs for Commercial & Public Spaces
Changing Step Code Needs
With changing energy demands in Canada, custom homes have paved the way for leading progressive sustainability measures. As of May 1st in BC, all Part Three buildings will also need to meet improved energy efficiency demands by over 10%. While this change may seem minor, these small changes to construction standards add up to major overall energy savings.
Need for Greener Infrastructure
In BC, Part Three Buildings include any building “over three stories or has a footprint of 600 square meters or more”, such as mid-rise apartments, office or commercial buildings. Outside of changing step codes, there’s already a pressing need for communities to have greener infrastructure. Especially in key community spaces such as schools or commercial offices where people spend prolonged periods of time.
Indoor air quality is something that’s been studied in both offices and school environments, particularly with the airborne transmission of viruses becoming an increasing concern. There’s been a growing concern particularly for schools to reconsider indoor air quality, as classrooms are often more congested than office spaces and good indoor air quality affects the performance, health, alertness, ability to concentrate and comfort of students and teachers alike.1
With the introduction of more affordable and economical sustainable building design methods, the potential to improve the quality of our indoor environments has grown substantially and become a lot more realistic with structurally insulated panels.
Rural and Northern Communities
This need is especially heightened in more rural communities. Particularly in smaller, more northern communities, where there is often tight public funding for municipalities to invest back in the community. The cost of resources to develop in more rural areas is also often higher if they don’t have the local material resources or labor required to take on a building upgrade or new build.
SIPs are less labor intensive than other conventional building methods such as wood or steel framing, and can reduce the overall operational and construction costs of a public building. Even adding a SIP roof system over a conventional steel assembly can significantly cut back on installation times, when a public project is working under tight municipal deadlines.
Educational Facilities
Educational spaces such as elementary schools, high schools and higher educational facilities have seen a growing need for more comfortable, learning environments. By improving the airtightness and overall indoor air quality of these spaces, there’s evidence that the quality of the learning environment for students and teachers can be significantly improved.
Schools often lead incentives to demonstrate more eco-friendly practices in their approach to learning, and using less carbon-intensive building practices can help demonstrate this initiative. Although there’s a lot more that goes into a Net-Zero building outside of just its materials, using high performance systems also has improved the indoor air quality significantly, which helps save up to 60% on intensive heating and cooling needs.2 Educational projects also often work under tight public budgets and timelines, and construction efficiency is key to saving majorly on installation times and operational costs.
Office & Commercial Buildings
The need for healthier office environments is also more prevalent than ever. While the awareness for building more eco-friendly public spaces has been growing, the initiative to build healthier interior spaces has been slow coming. While Part Three Buildings need to be 10% more efficient, developers often have a hard time justifying costs to build when the return on investment may take several years after the occupants have moved in.
More and more business owners have been seeing the benefits in building with high performance materials. Outside of the improved employee productivity, employees also have higher expectations of a working environment. Companies are seeing this and are investing more in the quality of their spaces so they can be places where people can be engaged, comfortable, and more collaborative spaces.
Healthier Public Spaces
Building with insulated panels like SIPs offers commercial and other public buildings more opportunities to create a healthier environment, which are economical but also durable for the wear and tear that public spaces endure. Their high insulation values allow for buildings to hold stable thermal values, which allows for a more comfortable work and community environment. Invest in your community and your own project by getting ahead of the energy curve on your next commercial project by using a high performance system like SIPs.
Sources:
- Journal of Building Engineering. (2022). Indoor air quality and health in schools: A critical review of developing the roadmap for the future school environment. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235271022200920
- Premier SIPs: Structural Insulated Panels. (2023). Sustainable building with SIPs. https://sips.premierbuildingsystems.com/sips-sustainability