Above Grade Walls

Rigid insulating core panel walls

Also known as stress skin wall panels, rigid insulating core wall construction incorporates installing premanufactured walls panels (generally 4' wide) together on site.

The panels use either expanded or extruded polystyrene or polyurethane insulation in various thicknesses as their core with waferboard, drywall or prefinished wall paneling structurally bonded to each face. Some systems incorporate a small amount of wood framing within the insulation, but most do not and rely on the skins of wood or drywall on both sides for their structural capability.

When installed with a reasonable degree of care and attention to detail, this system of wall building will result in a very airtight structure.

Advantages of rigid insulating core panels:

• reduced on site installation time
• uniform insulation of the wall assembly
• thermal bridging significantly reduced is not eliminated
• easy to obtain a good air barrier