Knauf Insulation Fulfulls Zero Carbon Potential
01 May 2007
Knauf Insulation, the UK’s leading manufacturer of insulation
products, and the only producer of four types of insulation: glass
and rock mineral wool, extruded polystyrene (XPS) and extruded
polyethylene (XPE), can announce that Crown DriTherm full fill
cavity insulation is the only insulation solution able to achieve a
U-value of 0.27 (the minimum permitted in 2006’s revised Building
Regulations) in a 100mm cavity in a dense block construction. Crown
DriTherm full fill cavity insulation, which is EcoHomes and The
Code For Sustainable Homes compatible, is the only range of
products which can be used within all block constructions – dense,
medium dense, standard aircrete and lightweight aircrete.
Crown DriTherm Cavity Slab 32 has a thermal conductivity of 0.032
and when installed in a full fill application can achieve a U value
of 0.27 with a 100mm cavity. Because the product can be installed
in full fill there is no wasted space in the cavity. Products with
lower thermal conductivities than Crown DriTherm 32 are available,
such as rigid PIR and Phenolic boards, but these require a
thickness of 60mm or 55mm respectively alongside a 50mm
unventilated airspace to match or exceed this performance which
obviously adds up to more than the 100mm required for Crown
Dritherm Cavity Slab.
Rigid Boards cannot be installed in a full fill application and
require a clear residual cavity to ensure that the insulation will
not allow liquid water to bridge the cavity from the outer to inner
leaf. Approved Document C (Site preparation and resistance to
contaminants and moisture) 2004 and NHBC Standards require that
this clear residual cavity is a minimum of 50mm in all but very
severe exposure zones where the requirement is for a 75mm if fair
face masonry is used. All Crown DriTherm Cavity Slab products are
treated with silicone to ensure that the product will not allow the
passage of liquid water when the product is used in full fill.
Approved Document C will allow full fill to be used in very severe
exposure zones with fair faced masonry provided the cavity (and
insulation) is a minimum of 150mm thick, however NHBC standards
will not allow full fill in these circumstances.
Crown DriTherm Cavity Slab is also extremely competitively priced
and offers a range of solutions to meet most people’s requirements
and pocket. Using calculations based on a standard domestic
dwelling (based on an average of 100m² of opaque wall area with
100mm cavity and U-value of 0.27) Knauf Insulation’s Crown DriTherm
Cavity Slab full fill insulation systems can save on average £1.79
per m² compared to PU/PIR part fill cavity boards. Add this to
installation costs (it is generally accepted that installing part
fill cavity boards takes longer and costs more than installing full
fill mineral wool cavity batts), using Crown DriTherm can save
approximately £280 per standard dwelling built with lightweight
aircrete blocks with a 100mm cavity.
Cost is further reduced using Knauf Insulation’s innovative
Supakube delivery system which uses advanced compression technology
and strong packaging materials, which ensures the product is not
only easy to store but can be delivered more efficiently saving
time and reducing carbon emissions from delivery vehicles as more
product can be loaded onto each lorry.
Furthermore, the entire Crown DriTherm full fill range is
classified as Zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) and Zero Global
Warming Potential (GWP) as outlined in The Code for Sustainable
Homes and EcoHomes, which means that they are suitable for the
production of zero carbon homes. Crown DriTherm, as supplied by
retailers such as Travis Perkins, offers an environmentally sound
solution to carbon emissions in line with the Government’s Energy
White Paper ‘Our Energy Future – Creating a Low Carbon Economy’,
which highlighted the need to reduce carbon emissions by 60 per
cent from their levels in 2003, by 2050.
Phil Rigby, Insulation Academy Manager at Knauf Insulation, said: “
Crown DriTherm Full fill cavity insulation not only saves money and
labouring costs during installation, but it also provides fire
resistance to the building unlike other cavity insulation products
available on the market. Crown DriTherm offers an insulation
solution for every type of construction, which is something no
other manufacturer can boast!”
Crown DriTherm Cavity Slabs are semi-rigid or rigid slabs of
non-combustible, glass mineral wool with a water-repellent
additive. They are 455mm wide to suit standard vertical wall tie
spacings, ensuring a closed joint with adjacent slabs.
Editor's Notes:
Customer Contact Tel: 08700 668 660
(ref: CR13007) Fax: 0870 400 5797 Email: info@knaufinsulation.com
Notes to editors: Knauf Insulation is the UK’s leading manufacturer
of insulation products, and the only producer of four types of
insulation: glass and rock mineral wool, extruded polystyrene (XPS)
and extruded polyethylene (XPE) in the UK under the brand names;
Crown®, Rocksilk® and Polyfoam®. In the UK, the company employs
around 500 people at its four manufacturing plants at St Helens,
Queensferry, Cwmbran and Hartlepool. Knauf Insulation is part of
the Knauf Group – a global corporation delivering products and
services including: building materials and systems based on gypsum
and gypsum-related products, thermal insulation, sound insulation
and fire protection materials, limestone and lime products, chalk
and cement related products and plant engineering. Press enquiries
to: Malin Cunningham or Emma Campbell at Tangerine PR &
Coaching e: Malin@tangerinepr.com emma@tangerinepr.com t: 0161 817
6600 m: 07799 874 817 Product enquiries to: Kelly Hawker, Direct
Marketing Support Ltd Unit 1a, Wirral Business Park, Arrowe Brook
Road, Upton, Wirral, CH49 1QZ t: 08700 668660 f: 0870
4005797