Think outside the box.

Wildfire resilience is an important consideration in how Skeetchestn Dodeca-Homes are designed and built. From our distinctive 12-sided shape to our roofing, heavy timber structure and Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), our building system incorporates several features that can contribute to a more fire-resilient home.

A Shape That Works with the Wind

The aerodynamic nature of a round, 12-sided structure reduces the large flat surfaces and prominent corners found on conventional rectangular buildings. This can help wind flow more smoothly around the structure and may reduce areas where wind-driven embers and debris can accumulate.

Non-Combustible Metal Roofing

Every Skeetchestn Dodeca-Home package includes 29-gauge non-combustible metal roofing. Roofing is one of the most important considerations in wildfire-resilient construction because windborne embers can travel significant distances ahead of a wildfire.

Heavy Timber Construction

Our homes are constructed using substantial 8" × 8" and 6" × 8" Douglas-fir timbers, rather than relying solely on conventional dimensional lumber.

Heavy timber behaves differently when exposed to fire. Its larger cross-section allows the exterior of the timber to char while helping protect the structural wood beneath, which can allow heavy timber members to retain structural capacity during fire exposure.

Structural Insulated Panels

Our building envelope uses Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) consisting of Oriented Strand Board (OSB) bonded to an Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) core.

The SIP system provides several advantages when considering fire resilience:

• No conventional vented attic: Our design eliminates the traditional vented attic spaces that can provide entry points for wind-driven embers.

• Continuous, tightly sealed envelope: SIP construction creates a highly airtight building envelope with fewer gaps and penetrations than conventional framing.

• No open wall cavities: Unlike traditional stick framing, SIPs do not contain large hollow wall cavities where air movement can contribute to the spread of fire within the wall assembly.

• Flame-retardant EPS: The EPS used in our SIPs incorporates a flame-retardant treatment designed to limit continued burning once the direct ignition source is removed.

Fire performance ultimately depends on the complete tested wall or roof assembly, including interior and exterior finishes, installation details and penetrations—not simply one individual material.

Fire-Resistant Exterior Finishes

For finished homes, we recommend (but do not supply) exterior cladding systems such as fibre-cement siding, metal siding or other appropriate fire-resistant materials.

For projects seeking additional fire resilience, additional layers such as 5/8" gypsum sheathing may also be considered as part of the interior and/or exterior wall assembly, subject to the project's engineering, building-code requirements and approved construction details.

Continuing to Improve

Skeetchestn Dodeca-Homes continues to work with our engineering professionals to identify practical opportunities to improve the fire resilience of our building system while maintaining affordability, constructability and energy efficiency.

Fire-resilient construction is only one part of wildfire preparedness. No building can be considered wildfire-proof. Our design features do not replace appropriate FireSmart practices, including vegetation management, maintaining defensible space, reducing combustible materials around the home, protecting openings and following applicable local building and wildfire-prevention requirements.

Our goal is simple: build homes that are designed for the realities of the environments and communities they serve.