Natural Building Technologies News

This news section contains case studies, updates and news about NBT and our products.  You can receive a regular update by email, please contact NBT Head Office if you wish to receive the newsletter.

All press enquiries should be directed to the Sales Manager at NBT.

Specialist suppliers of high performance, sustainable building solutions, Natural Building Technologies provided a valuable demonstration of the construction of environmentally sound housing at BRE’s INSITE 09 event.

NBT’s ThermoPlan fired clay blocks were specified for use within The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment’s Natural House, which is currently under construction at BRE’s Innovation Park in Watford. The NBT team gave INSITE 09 visitors daily live demonstrations of the ThermoPlan wall block system to show its ease of use and speed of construction.

Read more about NBT at INSITE 09...’

A comprehensive range of high performance and sustainable building products from NBT will be showcased by The Prince’s Foundation’s ‘Natural House’ at the BRE Innovation Park.

The Natural House is an alternative response to environmental efficiency in sustainable homebuilding from The Prince's Foundation for the Built Environment. The Prince’s Foundation expects The Natural House to deliver significant energy savings right from manufacture to daily use, to offer good indoor air quality, to be simple and quick to construct and to appeal to the increasingly eco-aware homebuyer.

Read more about The Prince’s Foundation’s ‘Natural House...’

Pavaclad, NBT’s high performance woodfibre board insulation system has been certified by BBA, the UK’s major approval body for new construction products. The approval guarantees Pavaclad’s compliance to Building Regulations and longevity of in-use performance. This is the second NBT system to receive BBA certification, with NBT’s Pavaroof receiving the independent accreditation in 2007.

Read more about the BBA Seal of Approval for Pavaclad...

Natural Building Technologies (NBT) launched its range of HempWood Batt insulation at Ecobuild. New to the UK market, the hemp/wood combination is the latest in semi-rigid batt insulation, offering the highest levels of thermal efficiency, breathability and environmental credentials.

NBT HempWood Batts are ideally suited for use within timber frame structures, in loft spaces, between rafters and in walls and floors in new build and renovation/conservation projects. When properly installed, NBT HempWood will retain its performance for the life of the building.

Read more about NBT HempWood Batts...

NBT (Natural Building Technologies) and Ibstock Brick are to announce an agreement for the UK manufacture, marketing and distribution of the ThermoPlan range of fired clay insulating blocks, at Ecobuild. Previously manufactured solely within Germany by NBT partners, ZWK, the sustainable block-based building system will now also be produced by the UK’s leading clay facing brick manufacturer, Ibstock, with sales and marketing to be managed exclusively by NBT.

A comprehensive collection of sustainable, high performance building materials from Natural Building Technologies has been specified in the development of two replacement primary school buildings in Tameside, Manchester. Designed by Aedas Architects Limited, with an emphasis on providing a 'green'; and healthy building fabric, both schools have been constructed to provide an entirely breathable building fabric and offer high levels of energy efficiency.

A comprehensive collection of high performance insulation products from Natural Building Technologies (NBT) has been used in the construction of Berwick Workspace, a new flagship managed business centre in the heart of Berwick upon Tweed.

A key element of the design was to use environmentally friendly, natural materials wherever possible

High performance insulation products from Natural Building Technologies have been specified for use in a major refurbishment and regeneration project in the picturesque All Saints Passage area in the heart of Cambridge. The project included a comprehensive redevelopment of a series of period buildings opposite the city's renowned Round Church.

Products supplied by NBT included Hemp Batts, as well as the Pavaroof and Diffutherm insulation systems, and lime-based render. Simple to install, all of NBT's insulation systems deliver excellent thermal performance and are highly breathable to regulate the level of moisture in a building. This reduces the occurrence of damp and mould, contributing to a healthier living environment.

Sustainable building products specialist, Natural Building Technologies (NBT) has extended its ThermoPlan range of innovative thin bed, solid wall building solutions to include the most thermally efficient system to date. Like the systems in NBT’s existing ThermoPlan range, it is fully breathable and offers faster build times than any other block-based building system on the market.

The latest addition to the ThermoPlan range offers improved levels of thermal efficiency with a K-value of just 0.09 and U-values as low as 0.20 W/m2K at 425mm depth. As with other ThermoPlan systems, the new block also offers an exceptionally low Y-value for non-repeating thermal bridges of just 0.04W/m2K. more

Natural Building Technologies has announced the appointment of Olin Bartlomé as Technical Manager. With extensive experience across a range of building products, Olin has relocated from Pavatex in Switzerland to take up the role at the company’s Buckinghamshire base

Olin joins NBT from their key partner, Pavatex, the leading European manufacturer of sustainable woodfibre insulation boards, where he worked for two and a half years as project leader in Switzerland. This experience is particularly advantageous to NBT, which supplies Pavatex products to the UK market. more

Natural Building Technologies is working to raise awareness of the importance of specifying the most appropriate paint finish in an age where the highest levels of air-tightness and breathability are being achieved. Developers run the risk of reducing the breathability of the building fabric if a vapour-closed paint is applied either internally or externally.

The NBT Eco Trade range includes emulsion, gloss, eggshell, primers and undercoats as well as exterior timber paints. Easy to use, its ‘sprayable,’ quick-drying formula achieves excellent coverage and is safer to handle because of its very low VOC content (as low as 0.01), compared with other modern paints.