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The Company Useful Information:
- NBT Seminars and Demonstrations at Ecobuild
- NBT Demonstrates Passivhaus Solutions at Ecobuild
- High Performance Homes Benefit From Sustainable Construction
- Severn Gorge Puts Trust in NBT
- NBT insulates ‘English building’ museum
- NBT insulates multi award winning Waingels College
- NBT insulates luxury Scottish countryside home
- NBT insulates award winning recyclable school building
- NBT insulates ‘Outstanding’ SusCon
- NBT insulates the UK’s first affordable certified Passivhaus
- NBT envelope succeeds at Expo
- NBT meets ‘Excellent’ criteria for One Brighton
Social Housing Naturally Healthier
Natural Building Technologies’ (NBT) Diffutherm and Pavatherm Plus wood fibre insulation boards, used to insulate the external walls of timber frame homes in a mixed social housing development in Dundee, are delivering the twin benefits of lower energy usage and a healthy living environment for the homes’ residents. Equally impressive is the fact that the build cost for these properties was just £1,142/m2.
Specified by architects, Wellwood Leslie, for Abertay Housing Association, which owns and manages the development, the Diffutherm and Pavatherm Plus insulation boards were selected for their ability to deliver ultra high levels of thermal performance combined with the products’ sustainability credentials and their inherent breathability, which helps to protect both the building fabric and the internal living environment.
Named ‘Best Affordable Housing Project’ at the Dundee Institute of Architects Design Awards, the development comprises 14 two-storey semi-detached houses to satisfy general needs, two bungalows dedicated for wheelchairs users, and five cottages featuring smart technology and benefiting from staff support for clients with severe learning difficulties.
Constructed on a recently cleared brownfield site in a deprived area of the city, a key design parameter for the scheme – in addition to high levels of energy efficiency and use of materials that are sustainable, natural and non-toxic – was the requirement for the homes’ external appearance to be sympathetic with the surrounding environment.
As such all of the timber frame homes are finished externally with a combination of NBT render and larch timber cladding. The timber clad sections of the walls are insulated with 60mm thick Pavatherm Plus woodfibre boards externally, with additional insulation installed between the 140mm timber studs, delivering a U-value of just 0.18 W/m2K. The rendered areas, where the render is applied directly onto the 100mm thick Diffutherm boards, deliver a U-value of 0.15 W/m2K.
These systems also have minimal thermal bridging, with y-values of 0.03W/m2K. The simple construction also ensures high levels of airtightness are achieved and maintained throughout the building’s life, thereby vastly improving energy performance and comfort.
Both Diffutherm and Pavatherm Plus easily fulfill the sustainability requirement for the scheme, being manufactured from over 95% recycled timber. Being inherently breathable means that the wood fibre boards have the ability to ensure that any moisture that gets into the wall structure is dealt with safely, so that it is does not condense within the insulation itself, but it expelled harmlessly to the external atmosphere. Without this capability the formation of interstitial and internal condensation can result, leading to degradation of the building structure and/or mould growth that is a proven health hazard.
The boards also provide high thermal mass, which helps to regulate overheating during the summer months.
The homes’ roofs feature a tile finish and also accommodate solar panels for hot water heating. Off-peak electricity is used to satisfy the homes’ entire space heating needs.
According to Abertay Housing Association’s Development Director, Ron McArthur: “In providing housing for, often, vulnerable individuals, health promotion and the elimination of fuel poverty are primary factors. The combination of mechanical ventilation with the breathable insulation solutions promotes a healthy internal environment by regulating moisture and air. By installing insulation far beyond current minimum building standards, we have delivered the ability for our residents to drastically reduce their heating demand, thereby minimising their heating bills.”
