In fact installing and finishing skylights for enhanced daylighting is easier in foam-core roof panels than in a conventional truss roof. An AFM R-Control home built in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area. Using foam-core panels to match the look of appealing local architectural forms turns out to be rather commonplace. Attractive models of foam-core panel homes are regularly turning up in regional and national home shows these days. Energy Savings and Performance Ask foam-core panel manufacturers about performance and they will wax eloquently about the energy efficiency of their products.
Some anecdotes are impressive.
A Pennsylvania manufacturer told of a local utility that twice replaced meters on a new foam panel home because it believed the meters were faulty. Based on utility bills, foam-core panel houses do seem to significantly outperform their conventionally framed counterparts. Furthermore, recent and ongoing detailed testing by national laboratories and other third parties is helping to quantify this energy-efficiency advantage. In most cases, the answer still appears to be yes, according to most builders and owner-builders contacted for their input. At the same time, university-based housing researchers who have studied panels in homes they have built say there are ways of reducing or eliminating the cost difference.