INSULATING WALLS FROM THE INSIDE
Knauf Insulation has successfully completed a low energy
whole house refurbishment to a mid Victorian terrace in Doncaster,
which included the use of their innovative and easy to
install Knauf InsulationInternal
Wall Insulation (IWI) System. The system has
helped deliver a reduction of 52 per cent in CO2
emissions, energy savings of approximately £400 per year, as well
as increased thermal comfort for the homeowner.
The aim of the low energy upgrade was to
develop a system that could be easily installed by a competent
builder, to achieve a ‘whole house – low energy’ refurbishment at a
reasonable cost over a normal refurbishment.
Knauf Insulation’s IWI System provided the
ideal solution, as it is a highly cost effective method for
achieving increased energy efficiency for any type of dwelling,
with no specialist skills or equipment required to install the
system and it is simple to maintain. The system can upgrade a
property to current Building Regulation thermal standards and
beyond, consisting of composite thermally engineered studs
(EcoStuds) and insulation slabs (Earthwool® EcoBatt),
which can be combined to provide greater thicknesses of thermal
insulation than achievable by using a single thickness.
What’s more, by internally insulating a wall, the heating time for
rooms is significantly reduced allowing comfort levels to be
quickly reached.
The added challenge was to install a system in
a mid terrace house, where the attractive brick frontage proved
unsuitable for external wall insulation (EWI). Darren Wedlock, the
landlord of the property said he specified Knauf Insulation’s IWI
System, as it simplified the process of upgrading solid masonry
walls internally, so there was no scaffolding required and the
external appearance of the building was maintained.
Along with the IWI System, suspended wooden
floor and loft insulation were installed as well as incandescent
lighting replaced with low energy bulbs throughout the
property. In total Paul Dent, project builder, installed
73m2 of IWI to the property to deliver exceptional
energy performance results of SAP 82B with a CO2
emission rate of 1.80 tonnes per annum, compared with SAP 63D with
a CO2 emission rate of 3.80 tonnes per annum prior to
the low energy refurbishment.
The IWI System comprises EcoStuds – extruded
polystyrene laminated to Oriented Strand Board (OSB), which are
mechanically fixed to the internal wall. The system uses 75mm
thick Earthwool EcoBatt, water repellent, high performance, glass
mineral wool slabs friction fitted between the EcoStuds and faced
with a vapour check plasterboard sheet. Earthwool EcoBatts fully
fill the insulation zone and are in intimate contact with the
EcoStuds and plasterboard, thereby preventing any air or draught
movement through the system.
Cold bridging and surface condensation is then
minimised by fitting 27mm of Polyfoam Linerboard, a laminate of
17.5mm extruded polystyrene and 9.5mm plasterboard around all
window and door reveals. Polyfoam Linerboard (27mm) is also
installed at all party wall junctions to a minimum width of 400mm
and the full height of the rooms, in order to prevent heat loss and
the potential for condensation and mould growth in internal
corners.
“The Knauf Insulation IWI system provided the
most effective solution to this ‘whole house – low energy’
refurbishment,” comments Darren Wedlock. “The whole project
has delivered exceptional energy performance and thermal comfort
through a very simple and easy to use installation. We have also
agreed to allow Knauf Insulation and University College London to
install monitoring equipment to enable the measuring of the
conditions at the junction of the insulation and the internal face
of the solid wall. After five months of monitoring the relative
humidity we are pleased to be informed that the results are as
predicted in the Knauf Insulation calculation
analysis.”
For more information on Knauf Insulation’s
Internal Wall Insulation System please visit http://www.knaufinsulation.co.uk/
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