Sip Panel Layouts Revisited

[angelaleigh]

I know there has been discussion around this topic, but has anyone of late figured out a good workaround to do SIP panel layouts?

My have been playing around with using studs and treating them as the actual panel breaks, utilizing automatic framing. I set the stud width so narrow that they appear as a thin line in sections= 1/16" @ 48" O.C. It still needs quite a bit of manual work.

 

Maybe there is a way to use wall segments that have pre-configured widths? Sort of like using a fence panel with a set width. That would be another approach. I can also manually do a CAD grid but I'm hoping someone has another innovation until Chief adds this important function.

Thanks. 

Is this something we need to keep writing into Chief about to include on the next version? If so what is the best way to get their attention?!

 

(attached is a quick example of a wall panel drawing...arbitrarily labeled)

[DavidJPotter]

I have done several sip panel homes and the sip company uses their own Engineer and software using my plan as the basis of the design. They did not seem to need  my input to do their jobs, all the homes I designed are now built and the owners happy. It may be that you are making something basically simple into something unecessarily complicated.

 

DJP

[angelaleigh]

Agreed to an extent- I am working with a company that is in the process of building their own SIP panel fabrication plant, in which case it would be most efficient to be able to panelize right from the designs we create in Chief (or find the most simple straightforward way for us to learn a system for the machinery).

[Joe_Carrick]

Try this:

 

1.  Create a Wall Type that's a single Layer just as thick as the SIP's.  Make the Material "Transparent" or use "Insulation/Air-Gap"

2.  Insert all Doors and Windows into the Walls

3.  Create SIP Panel Symbols (Generic Shape or Millwork)

4.  Place the SIP Panels up against the Walls, adjust their sizes, and center them on the Walls.

 

It's the same method I use for Log Homes - basically stacking the Logs.

[Sparkgroup]

Hi All,

 

I am still searching for a user friendly software to design houses from EPS panels/SIP. I don't seem to be finding it with this software. Has any one found any solution to this.  Or does anyonr know of any other software, that can be used for designing house from SIP.

 

Would highly appreciate some guide lines.

 

 

[joey_martin]

Unless you are a manufacturer of SIP panels, you are not going to find one. Most, if not all, of those types of software are propitiatory to the manufacturers and their engineers. As a designer, a pencil and paper will work on our end. The panels are 48"-60"...design accordingly.

[HarryOrd]

Agreed to an extent- I am working with a company that is in the process of building their own SIP panel fabrication plant, in which case it would be most efficient to be able to panelize right from the designs we create in Chief (or find the most simple straightforward way for us to learn a system for the machinery).

 

Try this:

 

1.  Create a Wall Type that's a single Layer just as thick as the SIP's.  Make the Material "Transparent" or use "Insulation/Air-Gap"

2.  Insert all Doors and Windows into the Walls

3.  Create SIP Panel Symbols (Generic Shape or Millwork)

4.  Place the SIP Panels up against the Walls, adjust their sizes, and center them on the Walls.

 

It's the same method I use for Log Homes - basically stacking the Logs.

Hi Joe,

Thanks for posting your method for representing SIPs in your model.

How do you represent the  panel when it has a window or door opening cut into it?

Also, how do you (or do you) include the framing associated with the panel in the material list?

I would like to use the model to get an accurate costing of the house design so I can compare it with other construction techniques (such as a Insulated Concrete Forms).

I'm using CA X8 premier.

[Joe_Carrick]

My tendency is to have full height panels between openings and use short walls below windows and header walls above doors and windows.

 

I don't include panel framing in the materials list.