D&Z was involved in development of concrete SIPs (structural insulated panels) and provided structural design for various design options, including one- and two-story single family residences, two-story multi-family residences, and small model structures for display and for laboratory testing, as well as shop drawings for panel fabrication.

While conventional SIPs are constructed with the core insulation layer sandwiched between two sheets of OSB, the product D&Z helped the client develop utilizes cementitious skins in place of OSB panels. The product was designed with the global market in mind:  the client was interested in using this product for building prefabricated modular homes in Mexico.

Illustrated below is an example of small model structures that we designed using Autodesk Revit, a 3D building information modeling (BIM) program. The client requested small model structures to be designed for the purpose of seismic testing on a shake table and to display at the client's facility. Although the structure had a very small footprint and a simplistic floor plan, extensive design work was necessary to address all structural connections. D&Z provided a connection detail for each unique condition, such as between vertical (wall) panels, corner of wall, between horizontal (floor and roof) panels, header support over a window/door opening, and parapet wall connection.