Understanding the seismic performance of structural insulated panels for use in New Zealand

Abstract

New Zealand has an urgent need for quality housing that can be built quickly and affordably. Using structural insulated panels (SIPs) is one possible solution, particularly for residential applications. SIPs are sandwich panels made of two face layers and an insulating inner core, as seen in Figure 1. They can be prefabricated and assembled quickly on site for walls, floors and roofs and are one potential solution which could be used to increase construction speed and reduce overall building cost. While SIPs have been widely used overseas, less is known about their performance in a New Zealand context. Following on from the Canterbury earthquake series in 2010 and 2011, there has been increased interest in prefabricated building systems where larger building segments are constructed in factories and assembled on site. SIPs fit this paradigm extremely well and are already being used for stand-alone houses, multi-unit residential buildings, schools and other commercial structures across New Zealand.