weber.therm EWI Systems Renovate Edinburgh Housing

• Thermal Improvements in Wardieburn will cut fuel bills

Council tenants in north Edinburgh will be saving on their fuel bills thanks to a significant home improvement project.

The City of Edinburgh Council has recently completed the improvements in the Wardieburn area of the Capital. The project has improved both the insulation and the look of 48 Council homes by installing an external wall insulation (EWI) system to the exterior of the building.

The pilot project, involving 48 homes in three blocks, has shown the benefits to residents and the next step is to encourage owner-occupiers in the area to join the refurbishment programmes to enhance their property values and improve the whole area.

Stuart Baird, Council building surveyor for the pilot scheme, said: “This is part of an ongoing improvement plan for the whole area. It has been designed to improve the look of the area and also importantly to help insulate the houses and help residents save on heating bills. It will take some years for the whole estate to be finished but this is the right approach we believe.”

In total, the Wardieburn area has 42 residential blocks, 15% of which are still fully Council owned whilst the remainder are mixed tenure. The properties were built in the 1930s of cavity construction and the Council introduced cavity insulation ten to fifteen years ago. However, much improved thermal performance could be achieved using highly efficient external wall insulation which at the same time delivered improved appearance. The installation was carried out alongside new window and heating improvements.

Ryan Timpson, Council building surveyor who designed the scheme, points out the merits in the bold colour treatments used.

He said: “The scheme was designed to create visual impact within the area. Streets are being given different colour schemes to increase variety and to create identity. We also want easy maintenance and first floors and above are principally dry dashed for low, long-term maintenance whilst ground floors are mainly coloured with a textured acrylic finish for easy refurbishment. Bold squares of colours have been added to provide an attractive look. ”

Steven McNellis from A C Whyte & Co Ltd., the company undertaking the work said: “The results of our work for the Council are really pleasing to see; the properties are better insulated and the Weber render finish and the coloured feature panels really change the whole view of the area. It brings the streets back to life. It will be a new community when we are finished.”

Two variations of the weber.therm XM external wall insulation system have been used for Wardieburn. The first system incorporates 70mm of phenolic insulation, mesh reinforced lightweight render coat and a polymer topcoat render with a dry dash finish whilst the second version of the weber.therm XM system features on the lower sections of the buildings and has a textured acrylic finish instead.

Please call for more information about the range of weber.therm external wall insulation systems on telephone: 01525 722169, or visit www.netweber.co.uk and register to receive a copy of the Weber Render Solutions handbook in hard copy or CD.