Structural insulated panels (SIPs) made significant gains in market share in 2008, and now command slightly more than 1% of the US single-family housing market, according to an annual survey conducted by the Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA).
With 53.3 million ft2 of SIPs produced in 2008, SIPs have doubled its market share from the height of the housing bubble in 2005. These gains came amidst an overall 8.8% decrease in OSB-faced SIP production, the first recorded decrease since the survey was initiated in 2003, said Gig Harbor, Washington, based SIPA.
The association’s executive director Bill Wachtler said the SIP industry had experienced only a moderate decline in comparison to the overall housing market and other building products during the US economic recession and three straight years of falling housing starts.
Wachtler attributes much of the industry’s relative success to the growing popularity of green building.
