SIPs a 'green' alternative to materials

Years ago, Jimmy Farlow started looking for ways to achieve maximum energy efficiency in a retirement community he hopes to build someday behind his family’s restaurant, Mary’s Diner.

During the course of those explorations, Farlow discovered SIPs — structural insulated panels, which are expanded polystyrene foam cores bonded on both sides by oriented strand board (OSB).

Farlow was so impressed by the process that he purchased SIPs of America, in Lumberton, N.C., and moved it to Blairs last year.

SIPs are a “green” alternative to standard building products, Farlow said, that can reduce energy costs in a home or business by as much as 60 to 75 percent because they create air-tight buildings that use far less energy for heating and cooling.

Farlow said he heard about them from a client in Martinsville, who constructed a new office building from SIPs panels.

The new building was two-and-a-half times larger than the client’s previous building, but his power bills were 33 percent smaller.

The Villas, at Virginia International Raceway, are 2,500-square-foot townhouses constructed of SIPs panels — and have power bills of less than $100 a month, Farlow said.

The panels have other benefits as well.

“With SIPs construction, you have to use an air-to-air exchanger,” Farlow said. “It filters the air in your house mechanically through the heating and cooling system.”

What that does, Farlow said, is filter all the air coming into the building and controls the humidity level.

“Mold spores and dust mites cannot live in that environment,” Farlow said.

Since the SIPs operation opened in Blairs, several local buildings have been constructed from SIPs, and Farlow said he currently has projects lined up around the southeast.

But, not content with the 60 to 75 percent energy savings SIPs provide, Farlow has been working on a project that he says will make them even better: using polymers and energy cells that will harness solar power to reduce energy consumption by another 15 percent, and integrating that into the SIPs.

If the new panel works as planned, it would also be waterproof, fireproof and insect-proof, Farlow said — while increasing energy savings 75 to 90 percent.

“It will also be more practical for affordable housing,” he said.

To explore that possibility, Farlow teamed with Ronald Moffitt, director of the Advanced and Applied Polymer Processing Institute at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, and with Diane Arnold, director of the Longwood Small Business Development Center, to seek a government grant.

They asked for $1.2 million to cover research and testing at the Institute, and equipment that would be jointly operated by the Institute, Virginia Tech and SIPs of America.

Former Congressman Virgil Goode liked the project, Farlow said, and was able add a $470,000 earmark to last year’s federal budget to get it going. The approval of that funding was recently announced by U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello, D-5th District.

The funding will be handled through the Institute, and John Kennedy, senior director of Research and Innovation at the Institute, said he doesn’t expect the funding to come through until later this year.

Farlow said overall construction with SIPs costs about the same as traditional building methods.

“If you’re looking at simply the cost of materials, yes, we do cost more; however, you recoup that savings on labor,” Farlow said.

When the company built a Habitat for Humanity home from SIPs last year, Farlow said it took four workers — who had never seen a SIPs panel before — an hour and 15 minutes to put up all four walls of the house.

“Is that not a labor savings?” Farlow said. “When you get to the end of your project, we’re cost neutral.”

Another area Farlow is exploring is how to use SIPs to retrofit old buildings to improve energy consumption.

“We’ve come up with a completely new panel and a new look for the Downtowner building,” Farlow said.

Farlow said the developer hopes to renovate the now vacant old hotel on Main Street into 118 efficiency apartments designed for students.

“That could be the prettiest building in all of downtown Danville, and the most energy-efficient in the state of Virginia,” Farlow said.

Farlow said he hopes to be able to help the city decrease utility bills for its residents.

“Green’s not just a color fad,” Farlow said. “It’s all about saving money and protecting the environment.”