Resilience Rising: Alternative Structural Systems

Lumber volatility may push more builders toward faster, more insulating wall systems that require fewer labor hours.

Framing lumber costs are high, and may go sky high in coming months, if Canadian tariffs take effect. Several alternative structural systems are on price parity or approaching that threshold against wood framing. 

According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), as of April 2025, framing lumber prices have risen to $483 per 1,000 board feet, marking a 23.5 percent increase over the past year. Concurrently, Canadian softwood lumber, which supplies approximately 30 percent of the U.S. market, is subject to a 14.54 percent tariff. Potential increases could raise this to 27 percent or more by late 2025.

That huge price hike has closed the gap between lumber and structural systems such as insulating concrete forms (ICFs), structural insulated panels (SIPs), hempcrete, and panelized concrete walls. 

The installation costs for alternative systems have risen more steadily:
•    ICFs: ~$180/square foot
•    SIPs: ~$160/square foot
•    Hempcrete: ~$190/square foot
•    Panelized Concrete Walls: ~$210/square foot

We've seen a lot of interest lately in hempcrete construction. To learn more about it, visit the Natural Building Alliance.

ICFs offer excellent insulating properties, and they stand up well to climate disasters. CREDIT: Nudura

For clarity, here’s a price comparison of popular alternative envelope systems with wood framing at current levels of inflation. If more tariffs come into play, other alternative systems could achieve price parity with lumber.

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs): Installed at about $160/square foot, SIPs are now cheaper than lumber framing on a total cost basis. Faster build times and tighter energy envelopes offer even more savings long term.

Insulating Concrete Forms (ICFs): At about $180/square foot, ICFs are running neck-and-neck with lumber costs, but like SIPs, they have an ace up their sleeve. They come with energy efficiency advantages that can cut HVAC demand by up to 60 percent annually over stick-framed equivalent homes.

Hempcrete Systems: At roughly $190/square foot, hempcrete remains a premium product, but offers major carbon footprint and indoor air quality benefits. It costs a bit more to use as a structural material because it needs additional reinforcement for load bearing.

Panelized Concrete Walls: At $210/square foot, panelized concrete walls are the highest-cost option—but they deliver resilience, durability and rapid installation times that could pay off in specific markets.

Each of the alternative systems listed offers a bump up in wall performance over conventional stick-framed walls with code-minimum insulating batts.

For builders in the high-performance space, these estimates may be familiar. But the dramatically shifting costs of softwood lumber make them more relevant than ever. Lumber volatility from tariffs over the long term, combined with threats to the industry’s hard-working immigrant labor force, is likely to push more builders toward faster, more insulating wall systems that require fewer labor hours.