| CASE
STUDY |
Dickenson
Road, Manchester |
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“The refurbishment has been so
successful in terms of being a quick and simple process – with
minimal disruption to our daily lives, as well as helping to
significantly reduce the heat that was previously escaping through
the solid walls, the cold air coming up from the cellar and high
energy bills."
Rebecca Williams,
homeowner
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CHALLENGE
As key sponsors of the Great British Refurb campaign, Knauf
Insulation was presented with an opportunity to be involved in a
partial whole house low-carbon refurbishment of a Victorian house
in Manchester along with Dyson Insulations and Parity Projects.
The completion of the refurbishment was timed to coincide with
the Conservative Party Conference, which was held in Manchester in
October 2009. A short film of the installation process at Dickenson
Road was introduced by Kevin McCloud to showcase to party members
how significantly the carbon emissions from the UK’s existing
housing stock can be reduced if homeowners received financial
support from the government to install energy efficient
measures.
In order to achieve a reduction in carbon emissions from the
house by 1.07 tonnes per annum and financial savings through
reduced energy bills of around £235 per annum, Knauf Insulation
supplied a number of insulation solutions which included its new
Internal Wall Insulation (IWI) System, Loft Roll and Space
Blanket.
To complete the package the external doors, cellar door and
insulated loft hatch were draught proofed, all lighting was changed
to low energy bulbs, boiler controls were added and a future
refurbishment plan was provided to the homeowner highlighting the
next steps towards a low energy house. The overall costs were circa
£2,300.
It was important that the occupants experienced minimum
disruption whilst the work was carried out in what was generally
considered a hard to treat property.
SOLUTIONS
Knauf Insulation Internal Wall Insulation (IWI) System
EcoStud has an overall size of 50mm wide x 75mm deep
x 2400mm long to replace a typical size of timber stud. This
comprises Polyfoam XPS laminated to marine grade OSB. EcoStuds were
mechanically fixed to the wall with the OSB facing into the room
using 130mm screws and plugs (Fig 1). A minimum 40mm fixing
penetration into the wall is required.
75mm thick EcoBatt water repellent glass mineral wool
slab with a thermal conductivity of 0.033 W/mK was friction fitted
between the EcoStuds to ensure there was intimate contact between
the inside of the wall and the back of the plasterboard thereby
preventing unwanted air movement and draughts through the system
(Fig 2). EcoBatt is manufactured 555mm wide to friction fit between
600mm centres.- 27mm Polyfoam Linerboard, a laminate of Polyfoam XPS and 9.5mm
Knauf plasterboard was fitted around the window reveals to limit
cold bridging and surface condensation. This was also fitted at
party wall junctions to prevent heat loss and the potential for
condensation and mould growth in internal corners.
12.5mm Knauf vapour check plasterboard was attached
to the OSB of the EcoStuds using normal drywall screws with all
edges sealed with Knauf Multi Purpose Sealant to prevent air
movement behind the wall lining reducing the thermal performance of
the installed system (Fig 3). The Knauf Insulation IWI System using
the above components resulted in an improvement of the wall U -
value from approximately 2.00 W/m2K to 0.035 W/m2K, an
improvement in thermal performance of almost 80%. The plasterboard
was finished using normal dry lining techniques and did not require
an extra skim finish.
Loft Insulation
The existing 100mm thickness of insulation between the ceiling
joints was topped up with a second layer of 200mm Loft Roll.
Intermediate Floor
Insulation was also fitted between the timber floor joists and
the external wall to ensure continuity of insulation.
Suspended Timber Ground Floor
The front of the property had a cellar above which was the
timber floor of the front lounge and hallway. 200mm encapsulated
glasswool roll (Space Blanket) was friction fitted between the
timber floor joists and supported with plastic netting.
The Internal Wall Insulation System was installed on the kitchen
side wall and front wall of the main bedroom.