| Why Eco-Panels |
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Simply put Eco-Panels will save you money. With the cost of energy rising every year over the last several years it is becoming increasingly expensive to live or work in a traditional stick-built structure. The 2005 North Carolina State Energy Survey states that the average monthly energy bill for a new home in North Carolina was $200 - and that's at 2005 energy costs. The structural insulated panel industry generally promotes energy savings of up to 50% with an insulated panel structure. Due to the even more energy efficient nature of the Eco-Panels product compared to the traditional SIP we should be able to conservatively use this number. So assuming with an Eco-Panels home you could save $100/mo in energy costs, this is equivalent to about $15,000 on a 30yr mortgage at 7%. Remember, if you're going to build a home or building anyway, all you need to do is offset any cost premium associated with using our product. Since we've sold entire home wall systems for less than $15k there is a darned good chance you'll never even come close to a premium of that size for an equivalent amount of insulation. So the additional monies that you may possibly require in a mortgage are more than offset by the savings you should receive starting from the very first month! Remember, traditional stick built homes are by their nature not very resource or energy efficient, and with the way energy costs are rising today we don't know what energy is going to cost tomorrow, much less next year or five or ten years from now. Traditional “stick” building originated in the early 1800’s when a home's heating energy was cheap. Stick-built construction is still the predominant method of construction in use in the United States today. Structural insulated panels were invented in the 1930's and while even adopted by such architectural luminaries as Frank Lloyd Wright, widespread use had not commenced until the last 30 years. Even now we estimate less than 1% of homes in America are built with SIPs today. Stick-built construction – when done properly – can be a fairly tedious and exacting skill requiring much attention to every little nook and cranny. But far too often building contractors employ personnel with little training in advanced framing techniques, proper insulation installation or air sealing. By the time the house is covered with siding and dry-wall you simply don’t know how well the home or structure was put together or insulated. On top of that the traditional home contains anywhere from 25-27% wood in the exterior walls as a percentage of surface area. Since wood has an R value of ONE per inch, this creates a massive thermal wick of energy around the entire envelope, significantly decreasing the effective R value of your typical insulation and increasing your energy bills just to maintain a comfortable temperature. Eco-Panels attempts to short circuit the shortcomings of traditional construction techniques to provide you with a healthier, stronger, more comfortable and safer home or building with a lower cost of ownership. Benefits include:
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