SIPS Help Win Sustainability Awards

Published by Angela May for McVeigh Insulations in Education

Use of unique structural insulated panels (SIPs) developed by McVeigh Insulations is helping a new school project achieve excellence and become possibly the most sustainable school in the country………

Hope Academy, a joint Catholic and Church of England and Hope University secondary school to accommodate 1650 pupils in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, has already won the trophy for Innovation in Sustainability at the Excellence in Building Schools for the Future Awards, is on target to achieve an ‘outstanding’ rating under BREEAM, and, when complete, will provide an improved environment for both pupils and the wider community.

The £30m, three-storey scheme with a floor area of 13,758m² is being built by Willmott Dixon, primarily using some 6000m² of large format SIPs manufactured by McVeigh Insulations. Each measuring up to 7m x 3.8m, the SIPs were delivered to site with window and door openings pre-formed. As a result, supplementary support for those penetrations was eliminated, whilst creating an envelope with enhanced structural integrity and thermal performance- as low as 0.1W/m²K- against conventional construction techniques.

Alistair Brymer, Construction Manager at Willmott Dixon, elaborated, “Using SIPS gave us excellent insulation values, good continuity of insulation, avoidance of cold bridging and inherent airtightness, which automatically leads to a very thermally efficient building envelope. The use of timber, a renewable resource, for the main structure of the panels, speed of installation of the panels and the ease of fixing to the face of the panel were additional advantages to the building programme.

“We have worked with McVeigh previously, and established a standard set of criteria for the design of SIPs buildings, which we applied to Hope Academy, and have continued to work closely with McVeigh throughout the design and build process. We intend the finished Academy to become  one of the most sustainable schools in the country!”

In addition to using SIPs for its main structure, the Academy features some 20% by value of recycled materials in its building, with 70% by value of the external landscaping also from recycle materials. Once complete, the scheme will have 100% of its off-peak electricity and 100% of heating and hot water generated by renewable sources on site. The two-phase project is due for completion in December 2011, phase I being construction of the new Academy, phase II demolition of the existing Newton Community High School and construction of new sports pitches. The new Academy replaces both Newton Community High School and St Aelred’s Catholic Technology College, to provide the best opportunities for pupils and a role in the regeneration of the wider community.

McVeigh Insulations has over 40 years’ experience in creation of insulated structures with low air leakage. The company has worked for organisations including retailers Tesco and Sainsbury’s, hotel chains including Travelodge,  leisure companies such as Xscape- building all of its indoor real snow ski slopes in the UK, and most major contractors. Its projects range from one of the first 1million ft² cold stores in the UK through schools to housing, where its latest work has included the engineering of SIPs for three blocks of student accommodation, each 20 storeys high.