Insulation

As winter’s icy grip bites harder, the effective insulation and sealing of windows and doors is a priority, says Andy Swift, sales and operations manager for foam sealants specialist, ISO Chemie.As winter’s icy grip bites harder, the effective insulation and sealing of windows and doors is a priority, says Andy Swift, sales and operations manager for foam sealants specialist, ISO Chemie.
 
He says it’s not just the frames themselves that need attention when it comes to keeping out the cold this winter - it’s the entire installation which has to be addressed.
 
Most property owners probably don’t realise that they are among the majority with energy inefficient windows until they feel a cold draught from somewhere, or see their electric and gas bills rapidly escalate as they struggle to keep their properties warm.

Britain has an existing housing stock that is the oldest in Europe. And this means that many properties don’t have any insulation – in fact, only about 50% have cavity or solid wall insulation.
Heat loss in a house happens faster in poorly insulated homes. So with no insulation, the existing stock of houses aren’t as energy efficient as they could, and should, be.
It’s generally considered that about 35% of heat lost is through the walls, and 25% is through the roof. The lack of insulation means that cold, external walls are the chief culprit for heat loss because, without adequate insulation, they don’t keep heat inside the home, which makes it harder to maintain a comfortable temperature and causes energy bills to rise as thermostats are turned up higher and are left on for longer. And with the majority of heating systems being reliant upon fossil fuels, not only do energy bills increase but the impact on the planet is also significant.

Compared to pre-industrial times, average land temperatures have risen about 1.2 °C. By 2052, global temperatures will likely exceed pre-industrial levels by 1.5 °C. The Met Office is warning that heat waves will become more frequent and more intense, predicting prolonged heat waves every other year from 2050 onwards, with temperatures exceeding 40 °C. How will the UK housing stock fare in all this? Not well, as two major 2021 studies have shown.

Safeguard Europe, experts in waterproofing, have developed a series of Webinars that are completely free to attend. These offer both technical and practical advice on moisture management in buildings. One of these webinars is focused around the causes & treatment of penetrating damp, which will only become more prevalent in the coming years. With the help of the Association for Environment Conscious Building and Simmonds Mill Architects, they carried out a case study in a bid to develop an easy solution to help protect vulnerable homes from heavy rainfalls.

We’ve all seen the horror stories around retrofit cavity wall insulation. Every day, new reports of tenants suffering with mouldy walls hit the headlines. These stories often start the same way: “We never had a damp problem until we had new insulation put in…”

The good news is that this wave of penetrating damp in properties with retrofitted cavity wall insulation is entirely preventable. Upskill yourself with all the latest retrofit regulations and methods with Safeguard’s RIBA-approved PAS 2035 and Retrofit Insulation CPD Webinar. Join Product Development Chemist Michael at 1:00 PM on Tuesday 5th April for a masterclass on managing retrofit installation works.

A new name is emerging in the nascent spray foam insulation industry. Huntsman Building Solutions, part of the global chemicals giant, Huntsman Corporation, has been formed following the acquisition of three existing spray foam brands – Demilec, Lapolla and market leading UK and Republic of Ireland based system, Icynene.

The merging of these three brands under the Huntsman Building Solutions [HBS] title creates an organisation designed to bring innovative solutions to the market which had principally offered only traditional forms of building insulants such as mineral wool and rigid board-type products.

INCA, the Insulated Render and Cladding Association, is celebrating its 40th year and is now established as the leading organisation representing the external wall insulation industry. Technical standards and excellent workmanship are core to INCA’s values, with the annual INCA Awards event highlighting the best projects from the industry completed in the previous 12 months. The winning projects demonstrated a wide range of completed projects in both the refurbishment and new build sectors including many local authority and social housing schemes using a wide range of innovative finishes.