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Podcast: Anewgo of New Home Sales | Host: Anya Chrisanthon | Co-Host: Beth Byrd, VP of Sales, Anewgo | Guest: P. Allen Smith

In this episode of the Anewgo of New Home Sales podcast, host Anya Chrisanthon and Anewgo VP of Sales Beth Byrd sit down with P. Allen Smith — PBS television host, garden and community designer, and owner of Extreme Panel Technologies - to explore how structurally insulated panels (SIPs), sustainable materials, and intentional design are reshaping residential construction. The conversation covers Moss Mountain Farm, the Extreme Gatehouse Cottages, real-world build cost and waste comparisons, and the future of energy-efficient, net-zero home building for builders, developers, and build-to-rent communities.

Guest | P. Allen Smith - PBS host, garden & community designer, owner of Extreme Panel Technologies
Host | Anya Chrisanthon, Anewgo
Co-Host | Beth Byrd, VP of Sales, Anewgo
Key Topics | SIP panels, net-zero building, Moss Mountain Farm, sustainable construction, build-to-rent
Guest Website | pallensmith.com
Extreme Panel | extremepanel.com

About P. Allen Smith

P. Allen Smith is a nationally recognized PBS television host, garden and community designer, and sustainable living advocate. As the creator of Moss Mountain Farm - a 550-acre working farmstead in central Arkansas on the banks of the Arkansas River - and owner of Extreme Panel Technologies, one of America's leading manufacturers of structurally insulated panels (SIPs), Smith is on a mission to make net-zero, energy-efficient home building the new industry standard. He previously appeared at the International Builders' Show (IBS) alongside Anewgo VP of Sales Beth Byrd.

What We Cover in This Episode

1. What Are Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs)?

Structurally insulated panels (SIPs) consist of a dense polystyrene foam core sandwiched between two layers of oriented strand board (OSB). Extreme Panel Technologies uses zinc-boray-infused OSB, which provides resistance to insects and mold. Key advantages for home builders:

• Superior energy efficiency with high R-values across 4.5", 6", 8", 10", and 12" panel thicknesses
• Faster build times - the Extreme Gatehouse Cottages took just 47 minutes to unload and four workers five days to fully close in
• Factory precision: panels arrive pre-numbered and pre-cut for doors and windows, with laminated construction drawings
• Dramatically less job site waste - a Birmingham, AL build-to-rent project showed all SIP waste fit in a couple of wheelbarrows vs. a full dumpster for a comparable stick-built house
• Straighter, truer walls than typically achievable with today's dimensional lumber

2. Moss Mountain Farm — A Model for Sustainable, High-Performance Building

Moss Mountain Farm, located in central Arkansas on a farmstead dating back to 1840, is the original set for P. Allen Smith's PBS series Garden Home. The main farmhouse was designed in the Greek Revival style - with proportions drawn from historic properties within a 175-mile radius - while integrating high-performance building technologies 20 years before they became industry buzzwords:

• Insulated concrete forms (ICFs) for the basement
• Soybean-oil-based spray foam insulation between wall studs
• Shredded denim recycled from a blue jean factory as batting insulation
• Passive solar design with PEX tubing under standing seam metal roof panels circulating heated glycol to a radiant brick floor
• Standing seam me