Structural insulated panel manufacturer Insulspan has earned three Building Excellence awards from the Structural Insulated Panel Association.

The projects were judged on energy efficiency and design and/or structural engineering innovation. The manufacturer’s projects received the award for single family home under 3,000 square feet for the Blunk home, Batavia, Ill.; and the award for institutional, industrial and commercial structures for the Cherokee Nation Central School, Cherokee, N.C. The Cherokee School project was also the overall contest winner in a field that included agricultural, multi-family residential, institutional, industrial and commercial buildings.

The Blunk project was inspired by the “passive house” movement, which means homes that are so well insulated and energy efficient there’s no need for a conventional heating system. The SIP walls and roof were crucial to achieving the level of energy efficiency that results in the Blunks’ $40 per month gas bill.

The Cherokee Nation Central School project included more than a dozen buildings with a combined total of approximately 500,000 square-feet of space, and was built to LEED standards. Once certified, it will be the largest LEED-certified school project east of the Mississippi River.