Compared with a one-inch section of foam insulation in a typical ice chest that will hold ice for five days at 80 degrees F, the SIPS wall and roof sections are 3 1/2" to 12 1/2" of foam insulation. Consider this - a coffee cup is merely 1/16" thick and yet can insulate 210 degree F coffee so your fingers are not burned. It takes less energy to heat and/or cool a SIPS home because of the insulation and the low air infiltration in a SIPS home. Because SIPS homes are so well insulated they require a special and smaller heating and air system. The HVAC system is 60% smaller, resulting in even more energy savings!

Builder and homeowner benefit from the speed and efficiency with which a SIPS home goes up. SIPS panels are components, which are constructed with dimensional accuracy in a manufactured setting then transported to the job or home site. Construction time at the site is spent erecting walls, not correcting mistakes. Each panel is numbered and labeled and assembled on-site. The walls of smaller homes (under 1,200 square feet for instance) may go up in under an hour and the entire home is often "dried in" in a matter of days. Not only does this save the homeowner thousands of dollars in labor costs, most SIPS construction crews consist of less than half-a-dozen workers, including the crane operator. Depending on the size and configuration of the house, the panels can be assembled in a matter of days or weeks as well. It's not unheard of to have a home ready to move into in 30-to-45 days.