Kobe: In January 1993, a severe earthquake – hitting 7.2 on the Richter scale – devastated Kobe, a Japanese city of 1.5 million people located southwest of Tokyo, So-called “quake-proof” elevated highways toppled, railways were destroyed, and entire blocks of houses leveled. More than 5,000 died and hundreds of thousands were left homeless.

Since SIPs developed a reputation as an unusually strong building system, during the 1990s a growing number of Japanese purchased homes with SIPs built by US manufacturers.
It was documented that six three-story homes, all built with SIP panels, were located between 10 and 20 miles from the quake’s epicenter. All six homes survived with no structural damage, and their brick and stucco facades remained intact; but several neighboring homes were reported to have suffered either serious structural or cosmetic damage.

Upon learning how well these homes survived the Kobe quake, Taisei Corporation’s housing division decided to contract for SIPs from the US. Yasuhiro Morita, general manager of Taisci’s housing division, was quoted in early 1998 as follows: “Even the newer homes in the area built to much more strict standards failed miserably when compared to the panel homes. We decided the time was right to bring [SIP] panels to Japan.”

Guam: On August 8, 1993, an earthquake that measure 8.1 on the Richter scale – the world’s strongest earthquake in four years – struck Guam. According to Donald Dickens (ThermaSteel Corporation), there was “quite a bit of structural damage to all high-rise buildings on the island”; two hotels were mostly down and a number of bridges were destroyed. Damage to homes was more limited. Dickens reported that the only damage to housing stock built with their Thermastructure system was a number of hairline cracks in the stucco exterior finishes.

After this same earthquake, Fred Prinz inspected many of the units he had built with SIPs from Moensy International. His report confirmed the damage reported by Dickens; Prinz added: “I found no evidence of any damage to any (SIP) structure at all. The buildings rode the earthquake so well that I could not even find hairline cracks in the drywall taping.”

Sakhalin Island (Russia): During 1996, Sakhalin Island suffered an extremely damaging earthquake. That quake stimulated more studies of building strength. The Russians studied their panels in great detail. The outcome: the Russian engineers said [SIP] panels would survive a zone-8 earthquake.

Michigan: While the winds most damaging to buildings tend to be tied to extreme weather events such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and typhoons, even strong “straight-line” winds, can tear off roofs and knock down walls. Such a wind struck the Midwest during the summer of 1998, damaging or destroying hundreds of structures and leaving 400,000 homes without power.
Near Coopersville, Michigan, Larry and Valerie VanZomeren’s home endured winds that ranged between 80 and 130 mph. The VanZomerens lost hundreds of mature trees on their property. But the big worry was five trees, all over 80 feet tall with diameters between 12 and 16 inches that fell directly on the house. Despite over 10 tons of trees having fallen on their house – built with SIPs – the home suffered no structural damage. While the home required repairs to some siding and shingles, plus a new set of French doors, the VanZomerens were amazed the house didn’t even have any drywall cracked. “I’m certain that a stick-frame house wouldn’t have (withstood) that kind of force,” said VanZomeren.

Homestead, Florida: In August 1992, Andrew – the most destructive hurricane in US history – tore into Homestead a suburb and Air Force base southwest of Miami. It flattened thousands of structures. Yet on 125th Street, a church and parsonage built with SIP panels survived without structural damage. Because it was one of the few large buildings in the area to come through virtually unscathed, it was used as a distribution center for food and other supplies. A ranger station in Homestead – another structure built with SIP panels also suffered no structural damage.

Franklin, Louisiana: After Andrew ravaged south Florida, it moved back out over the Gulf of Mexico, regained its category-5 wind speeds, moved northwest, and slammed into the Mississippi Delta on August 26, 1992. The town of Franklin was hit by 160+ mph winds for five hours. (The storm destroyed the wind gauge before comments about 200-mph gusts could be verified.) A home built with SIPl panels – 4-inch walls and 6-inch ceilings – survived with minor damage to the ceiling of the attached porch but no structural damage. Some wind-driven rain blew up through holes in the porch ceiling and collected in the attic on top of the ceiling panels beneath a conventionally framed roof above). One home owner was pleased that the water didn’t soak down through the panels: in fact, the ceiling drywall was unmarred. By comparison, he reported that several garages and one house on his block were destroyed, and within a half-mile of his home numerous houses were destroyed.

Charleston, South Carolina: A category-4 hurricane (Hugo) struck Charleston in 1989 with a vengeance, causing over a billion dollars worth of damage to buildings, roads, and other infrastructure. Three cottages built with floor, wall, and ceiling panels from SIPs withstood the hurricane with no structural damage, while adjacent homes suffered serious structural damage, including loss of roofs and walls. The cottages had been completed just a few months earlier through the Mayor’s Council on the Homeless project for low-income residents. The fact that they suffered nothing more than minor shingle loss led to an order for seven additional cottages.

Hampstead, North Carolina: In August 1998, for 24 straight hours Hurricane Bonnie delivered sustained winds over 100 mph along the North Carolina coast. A home being built with SIP panels was framed, sided, shingled, and dry walled, but not yet finished. Through it all, the only loss the house experienced was a broken bathroom window and minor water damage. The 1,300sf ranch, made with SIP floors, walls and cathedral ceiling, didn’t suffer any drywall cracking. The home next door lost siding, facia and 80% of its shingles.

Homosassa Springs, Florida: Having spent part of his life out on petroleum drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico, Douglas Elvers wanted a home that would withstand a 175-mph wind without forcing him to evacuate. He chose wall and ceiling panels from Enercept, then connected them to a steel/concrete floor and pier system with steel pins and cables. Due to the high water that can hit houses in the area, the Elvers house is up on 10-foot stilts. The bay where the Elvers live on Florida’s west coast gets hit routinely with 80 to 90-mph winds and storm surges every few years; in fact, the Elvers were hit three times with hurricanes during their first year in the home. While they lost seven trees during one hurricane and they saw a few nearby trailers tipped over, the house itself sustained no damage. “Even when it’s blowing like crazy outside, we don’t feel any shivering or motion".