The Green Dream Home Gets a Crucial Second Skin

An extra panel system called ZIP saves the day

Posted 10.13.2009 at 2:45 pm 12 Comments

ZIP panels go up Carnett adds a layer of ZIP panels instead of typical house wrap. John B. Carnett

Building this house has been a constant learning experience, and today was no exception. My original plan was to build the walls from special insulated structural panels from Kama-Eebs, add some simple "X" braces to control shear, and throw on some housewrap before attaching my siding. And that would have been the cheapest and most ideal solution, but the more I looked at the final Kama panels installed the more I began to question the wisdom of that idea.

During install, we ran into some fit-up issues and the panels were now full of metal plates and caps that were added in various areas at different elevations as part of the field repairs to get the system to all fit together. As hard as the Kama repair team worked to get the roof to line up with the walls, things were still not flush. If I just threw housewrap over my panels, the shiplap siding -- the part you'll actually be able to see -- would never sit correctly. I needed something to create a smooth, uniform surface and I needed it not to cost a fortune. Then I discovered the amazing ZIP panel system.

The ZIP system is a combination engineered-wood panel and protective covering (with special tape for the seams) that would give me a 7/16-inch thick structural wall panel, moisture resistance and an air barrier all in one lightweight sheet. Just attach the $10 panels to my walls, tape the joints and that's it. I was sold.

Smooth Zip wall: The Zip panels create a flush surface to attach the outer siding to. John B. Carnett

I ordered the wall sheathing (they also make a roof version) and we started throwing it on. Part of the appeal of the ZIP panels is the quick install, but it took us three days to get 2,600 square feet up because every panel had to be cut to fit and screwed onto the Kama system. The screwing itself was the most time consuming part. Imagine driving thousands of machine screws with an electric drill, screws breaking off in the wall, screws hitting screws already in the wall. If we had been attaching it to a standard timber frame, we could have just used nail guns, which would have been a lot faster.

The other timesuck was cutting the 4-by-8-foot ZIP panels so that the screws would hit the steel in the kama panels, which were not uniform. Neither of these things were ZIP's fault -- just the result of our ongoing experiment here. Once we got the panels all screwed on, we used the special zip tape to go over all the joints.

Zip panel close-up: Special tape covers up the seams between panels and the screws that hold them on. John B. Carnett

After the chaos of the past couple of weeks, I'm thrilled to say I ended up with walls that are now smooth and very tight. Just touching the final result is impressive when compared to typical housewrap over sheathing, which always felt to like gift wrap on a present: very easy to have a bad fit, a tear, a leak. The ZIP panels were idiot proof and a great way to take care of my Kama issues. Like I said, every step an adventure in this house.

John B. Carnett, PopSci's staff photographer, is using the latest green technology to build his dream home. Follow along as the project progresses on his Green Dream blog: popsci.com/green-dream

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12 Comments

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Tor

10/13/09 at 6:31 pm

Wow, these zip panels must also add much more to the R-value than if you'd just gone with simple housewrap over the Kama panels.

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Oakspar77777

10/14/09 at 7:18 am

Not too much. The actual panal is just typical press-board (hand-sized wood fiber sheets and an adhesive pressed into a panal) with a moister blocking coating on one side (looks like a green paint). So, you are only getting the R-value of about a half inch of wood. Most of your heatsaving (or repelling) comes from the tape that covers the seams (preventing air exchange).

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smw2340

10/15/09 at 8:41 am

Looks great, night and buttoned up. Otherwise, would you have secured the exterior siding directly to the Kama panels? What kind of exterior cladding are you going to use? Also, what is the turnaround time from the initial ordering of the panels to when they were delivered? Thanks!

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TahoeCindi

10/16/09 at 8:56 pm

Thanks Oak, there are alot of illusions, and dillusions about building green. Reasearch is what it's all about. Not what ever is the most new fangled thing on the market. Also really researching your engineer, alot of them are making great money on reworking plans, and having clients over build.

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newsie23

07/27/10 at 8:01 pm

I 'agree' with your use of the Zip panels - but the Zip literature, clearly indicate, not to use them with Sips; without suggesting any reason.

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mattkent

09/22/10 at 10:20 pm

Hey Newsie23, From what I understand, The ZIP system is an alternative to SIP system. It has reasonably good insulation values (short term "R" values from a lab with no dynamic conditions). I would be suggest being guided by a supplier in your local area. I believe I read that ZIP has greater level of fire resistence, but I could be wrong.

www.northchicago.floorcoveringsinternational.com

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dogto

11/25/10 at 11:03 am

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allanboerger

11/30/10 at 6:39 am

تبدو كبيرة ، وحتى ليلة زرر. وإلا ، فقد أمنت لكم انحياز الخارج مباشرة إلى لوحات كاما؟ أي نوع من التغليف الخارجي انت ذاهب للاستخدام؟ أيضا ، ما هو الوقت الذي تستغرقه من الطلب الأولي على لوحات لحين تسليمها؟ شكرا!
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gupgip

12/06/10 at 2:04 am

Hej Newsie23, från vad jag förstår, är ZIP-systemet ett alternativ till SIP-system. Den har ganska bra isolering värden (kortsiktiga "R" värden från ett labb utan dynamiska förhållanden). Jag skulle bli föreslå att styras av en leverantör i ditt område. Jag tror jag läste att ZIP har större grad av brandmotstånd, men jag kan ha fel.

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susie88

12/06/10 at 10:05 pm

Pas mal, nuit et boutonné. Sinon, auriez-vous fixé le revêtement extérieur directement sur les panneaux Kama? Quel type de revêtement extérieur allez-vous utiliser? Aussi, quel est le délai d'exécution de l'ordre initial des panneaux au moment où ils ont été livrés? Merci!

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anna19

12/06/10 at 10:35 pm

Grazie Oak, ci sono un sacco di illusioni, e dillusions circa bioedilizia. Reasearch è ciò che è interamente circa. Non è quello che è sempre la cosa più nuova fangled sul mercato. Anche molto la tua ricerca ingegnere, molti di loro stanno facendo i soldi molto sui piani di rielaborazione, e avendo clienti costruire in eccesso.
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allanboerger

12/07/10 at 4:40 am

Thankyou