With a reported 8.4 million people in England affected by the housing shortage, and many years of failure by the construction industry to meet successive governments’ new housing targets, two exponents of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) ask why it’s taking so long for architects, developers, financiers and contractors to change their habits.

As one of the UK’s largest and leading high-volume insulated panel manufacturers, Hemsec has worked with Chartered Structural Engineers Atom Consultants since 2005. Both companies share similar values and have a passion for excellence in construction, understanding the intrinsic benefits of Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs). Atom has a wealth of expertise in the modular and semi-modular construction sector, successfully positioning themselves as project management and engineering partners for the construction of schools, commercial and industrial properties as well as for residential projects.

Using their combined expertise, Hemsec and Atom Consultants wish to persuade building industry professionals to use the housing crisis as a springboard to action, taking advantage of the multiple ways in which SIPs can be used and the significant financial savings achievable over the longer-term: as well as the speed of delivery.

Chris Griffin, Hemsec Commercial Manager, said:

“The scale of the UK’s housing crisis demonstrates that a change in building practice is urgently needed, due to the number of poor quality homes, inappropriate accommodation and overcrowding. That means thousands of new homes have to be constructed. Building research proves that SIPs are the most economical, energy efficient and eco-friendly forms of construction. Ask any project manager who has used SIPs and they will tell you that the material will save you time, money and labour costs. Unfortunately, some people think that SIPs are only useful for infill panels; however, those professionals who have worked with them for some time know they are far more flexible and are adaptable for many purposes – and are the obvious solution.”

James Lupton, Principal at Atom Consultants said:

“Atom has worked with Hemsec and its delivery partners on many different solutions based on the Hemsec SIPs, which adopt the MMC approach. This has included housing, commercial projects, hotel renovation and various schools projects. We believe in SIPs because they offer a number of benefits in construction: reduced operational costs, energy efficiency and a quicker build timeframe as well as a reliable and effective build process. I would strongly encourage other project commissioners to consider SIPs for their project.”

To assist the industry in increasing its knowledge and understanding of SIPs, Hemsec is publishing a series of blogs on its company website as well as articles in a range of industry publications.