152 - Thermal & Structural Loads: Insulation, Wood, and Concrete

How much load can insulation actually carry—and are we over-engineering residential buildings without realizing it?

This episode goes deep into the structural and thermal realities behind common building materials. The crew breaks down compressive loading on rigid insulation, long-term creep behavior, and how these factors influence slab and foundation design. From there, the conversation expands into thermal bridging challenges in wood and concrete assemblies, and how innovative framing systems like EcoSmart and Tolko aim to improve performance.

Along the way, they question a core assumption in residential construction: are we solving problems that don’t actually exist? The discussion highlights where engineering matters—and where it may be overkill.

And in true UnBuild It fashion, Steve closes things out with an unexpected design tangent involving beehives.

Pete’s Resources:

• Compressive Creep Behavior of EPS Geofoam
• BSI-059: Slab Happy
• BSI-118: Concrete Solutions
• EcoSmart Studs
• Tolko Wall Framing