GBA Logo horizontal Facebook LinkedIn Email Pinterest Twitter X Instagram YouTube Icon Navigation Search Icon Main Search Icon Video Play Icon Plus Icon Minus Icon Picture icon Hamburger Icon Close Icon Sorted

Community and Q&A

SIPs for High Elevation and Heavy Snow Loads

laurens88 | Posted in General Questions on

Hello,
We are looking to build a basic ~500sq ft ADU in Truckee, CA. Snow load 182lbs per sf. We are exploring using SIPS or purchasing a SIPS panelized kit. Does anyone know of any examples of SIPS being used in small construction in high elevations?

Thank you!

GBA Prime

Join the leading community of building science experts

Become a GBA Prime member and get instant access to the latest developments in green building, research, and reports from the field.

Replies

  1. user-6184358 | | #1

    I have done SIP plans at 7,000 ft elevation with 125 lbs snow load. It is likely with the small footprint you will want too many windows & doors, that will be a problem for the SIPS lateral capacity for earthquakes. Part of the snow load is carried into the seismic calculation. A plywood shearwall double stud wall will be easier to engineer & build for lateral & gravity loads- then you can do a SIP roof.

Log in or create an account to post an answer.

Community

Recent Questions and Replies

  • |

  • |

  • |

  • |
View More Ask a Question

Featured Blogs

Musings of an Energy Nerd View More

Contemplating residential energy use

Product Guide View More

Double Check

Do you really want to delete the list, ?

Note

This won't delete the articles you've saved, just the list.

This feature has been temporarily disabled during the beta site preview.

You must be a magazine subscriber to access this feature.

Subscribe today and save up to 44%

Subscribe

Or learn more

Already a subscriber?