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Steve Thomas is the host of Planet Green's Renovation Nation, a program that focuses on making green renovations to homes across the country. In his regular column on PlanetGreen.com, Steve goes behind the scenes of the show and offers additional tips and insight on green renovation.
Structurally insulated panels are, of course, a foam sandwich. Typically, they are oriented strand board on the outside and foam in the middle. The particular panels in the Greenest House in America episode were made of fiber cement on the outside with EPS (expanded polystyrene) foam insulation in the middle.
The panels usually come with channels already cut in them in which you can run wiring. But if you want to run wires where there is no channel, then you turn to "hot-balling." Take a one-inch diameter ball bearing, heat it up so it's cherry red and drop it. Gravity will guide it absolutely straight, and it will melt its way through the Styrofoam core, giving you a place to run your wires.
In that particular segment, I thought, "Hey! Let's have a hot-ball race. It'll be fun." We actually had to go out and get another ball bearing, because we only had one. Then we had the big hot-ball race.
Don't miss the Greenest House in America Episode of Renovation Nation for more on hot balling.
More on Green Home Renovation:
11 High-Concept Ideas for Low-Tech Green Living
Convince Your Local Historic Commission to Go Green (Video)
Renovating a Historic Structure Comes with Constraints (Video)
