Stress-Panel Housing

From Factory to Site

Stress-panel construction is a building technique that combines factory-produced modular wall units with on-site assembly. Stress panels, also known as sandwich panels, are an insulated wall system that is manufactured off-site, and then shipped to a site for assembly.

A 1,000+ square foot model home utilizing this building technique was constructed in New York Mills in 1997 for a total cost of under $40,000 and sold to a low-income family. This joint effort project was led by Ottertail-Wadena Community Action Council. The Council worked with students and faculty from a local vocational program, and with crews from the Minnesota Department of Corrections' “Sentence to Serve” program.

There is a great deal of interest in this model as a means to provide quality, low-cost housing for flood victims, migrant workers, and other low-income households which prefer homeownership. The use of stress panel technology allows for quick and easy framing.

Benefits of this system include:

• Cut down on construction costs and wasted materials.
• Potential of being more energy-efficient because of standards of quality control on assembly line.
• Flexibility in design based on how panels are assembled on-site.

Potential Drawbacks:

• New construction training for labor.
• Durability and lifetime of the home must be determined, especially with respect to the air handling system, since the building envelope is much tighter.

GMHF funding activities?
Other current involvement?

Links

For more information on stress panel housing options, refer to:

The Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA) is a non-profit trade association representing manufacturers, suppliers, fabricators, distributors, design professionals, and builders committed to providing quality structural insulated panels for all segments of the construction industry.

Premier Building Systems is a distributor of stress panel technologies in Minnesota.

Insulated wall panels are delivered to site.

Wall panels are leveled
and squared over foundation by faculty, students, inmates and volunteers.

Windows are cut in place using
a circular rip saw.

Electricians wire the home based
on design layout and specifications.

Walls and roof are
assembled in one day.

Within two months, the unit is
finished with siding and
the lot is landscaped.