Save time and money. Interested? 

Building systems can save you both, so it’s worthwhile checking out the alternatives to conventional onsite construction homes. A house built “stick by stick,” building-systems proponents say, is like ordering all the parts for your new car and then putting it together in your driveway. Logic is on their side. 

And just like stick-built houses, with few exceptions, you can use stock house plans from House-plan.org to build any of these three manufactured options: 

Modular houses can save you time and money; panelized houses are a hybrid option that can also help builders realize savings that are passed on to you; and SIP (structural insulated panel) houses offer some added benefits of strength and long-term energy savings. 

Savings are realized through assembly line efficiencies. There’s less wasted building material, minimized onsite pilfering, and closer tolerances that reduce heating and cooling costs.

Modular Means Reduced Costs and Faster Move-In

The building-systems industry has gained momentum, and represented within the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) by the Building Systems Councils to promote factory-built modular homes or panelized sections, that is, parts of homes.

Modular homes account for more than 20 percent of all new single-family dwellings in the United States. The building systems industry says you can save at least 5 percent over stick-built construction, but the real attraction for many buyers is you typically can move into a modular home six to eight weeks after it arrives on your site. 

Modular houses can be built from just about any house plans from House-plan.org, and although there are some width and height restrictions for each module, even multimillion-dollar mansions have been brought to life with this method. Manufactured houses are available that are complete down to the fixtures, appliances, and flooring.

Panelized Versions May Be Perfect for Special Circumstances

Panelized houses arrive in sections, sometimes just the walls are panelized but roofs and other sections are available as well. There isn’t much savings over stick-built versions, but the building systems industry claims that the assembly line efficiencies create a better quality product. 

Unlike its modular cousin, panelized houses save time only with the framing phase, but there are situations that make this alternative attractive. 

Both panelized and modular houses are built with the same materials as conventional construction, and both are virtually indistinguishable from a house built completely onsite. If you’d like more information about these building systems, visit www.buildingsystems.org . You’ll find more information and a list of manufacturers that deliver in your state.

SIPs Offer Best in Strength, Fire Safety, & Design Flexibility

According to SIPA (Structural Insulated Panel Association), SIPs are “high-performance panels for floors, walls, and roofs.” Panels are EPS (expanded polystyrene) or polyisocyanurate rigid foam insulation sandwiched between two outer sheets of OSB (oriented strand board). 

Other board materials are also available. Building costs are about the same as stick-built homes when labor savings and reduced job-site waste is factored in. 

However, the real savings is long term: Energy costs can be reduced literally by 50 percent. Because of SIPs’ tighter building envelope, you can reduce the size of your heating and cooling equipment.

Referred to by the industry as 21st century building material, SIPs have similar structural characteristics to a steel I-beam. Not only have they stood the test of natural disasters such as Hurricane Andrew and the Great Hanshin (Kobe, Japan) and North Ridge earthquakes, but they also are incredibly fire resistant. 

With no air within their solid cores, fire cannot penetrate and “run up” the panel’s interior space as it can with conventional fiberglass insulation. SIPs can be adapted for any stock house plan from House-plan.org and meet code requirements of the NES (National Evaluation Service) or the ICBO (International Conference of Building Officials). 

For more information and a list of manufacturers that can deliver in your state, visit www.sips.org .

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