Eco-makeover for Crawley Borough Council

Published by Davina Langley for Anglian Building Products in Housing and also in Environment, Local Government

Anglian has installed Wetherby’s NanoPore & Phenolic external wall insulation as part of an extreme eco-makeover for Crawley Borough Council’s retrofit project.

Wates appointed Anglian Building Products to undertake the insulation works to 33 Warnham Road; one of four properties in Crawley which were awarded funding by the Technology Strategy Board as part of a national competition ‘Retrofit for the Future’.

Retrofit for the Future was created to monitor how a range of low carbon refits undertaken on existing social housing properties can help to meet the UK’s target for reducing greenhouse emissions of 80% by 2050.

33 Warnham Road in Furnace Green, Crawley was a non-traditional property built in the 1960’s which incorporated a timber frame.

Anglian installed the NanoPore VIPS (vacuum insulated panels) to the external walls by carefully sandwiching them between 25mm thick phenolic battens.

The setting out, calculating the varying width of the battens, and their fixing, was carefully managed to avoid puncturing the VIPS panels and to maximise their efficiency. A cover layer of 25mm phenolic boards was then installed over the entire assembly, carefully fixed through the battens and completed with the application of a thin coat render system with silicone finish.

This advanced insulation material addresses heat loss through its unique pore structure of silica, titania and carbon which provides an excellent thermal performance of 7-8 times greater thermal resistance value than conventional foam insulation materials.

‘Being involved with such a ground-breaking project was very exciting for Anglian Building Products commented Stephen Preece, Insulation and Renewable Technologies Director. ‘The Wetherby NanoPore VIPS system was selected for its unique energy-saving features which fitted the client’s requirements perfectly. As one of the first EWI companies to install the NanoPore system in the UK, we look forward to reviewing how the system performs at Warnham Road.’

The insulation of the NanoPore VIPS system has since delivered a U-value of 0.13 W/M2/K to the home.

A range of innovative building materials which include MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation and Heat recovery), combined heat and power, photovoltaics and high performance windows were also installed in conjunction with the NanoPore VIPS insulation.