What is a SCIP?

In a conventional house, the exterior wall begins with a stud wall. Usually 2x6 lumber is used, giving you a 5 1/2 inch insulation space between studs. Everywhere there is solid wood including headers over windows and doors, there is no thermal break stopping the transfer of heat or cold through the wall.

After the stud wall is up, sheathing is put over the outside, then housewrap, then siding or mesh for browncoat. Finally, the outside is finished with stucco or cultured stone. Inside, the walls are filled with insulation, sheetrocked and painted.

In a stud wall, pipes and wires are run through holes drilled into the studs. This weakens the studs and can cause gaps in the insulation between studs, reducing further the insulation ability of the wall.

In a CBS SCIP wall, the panels are set on the foundation and tied to the rebar. The wall is 11 inches thick filled with 8 inches of solid insulating foam. The only members passing through the foam are the trusses that hold front and back metal mesh panels together. This insulation is the body of an R-40 wall.

After the walls are assembled, they are coated with 1.5 inches of concrete on the inside and outside. This creates a nearly perfect thermal barrier between the outside and inside concrete walls. In our panels, both wall surfaces are solid concrete and the insulation is between where it belongs. The concrete can be finished smooth for the interior walls, ready for paint, or rough troweled or stippled for a stucco look. The exterior can be finished for a stucco appearance or a toothed finish that will firmly hold cultured stone or brick to the wall.