But is it appropriate for old buildings? In the UK, 1 in 4 of our homes has 'solid walls', around 45% of heat lost in an un-insulated solid walled building is through the walls. If everyone insulated their solid wall buildings in the UK, it would save a massive 16 million tonnes of CO2 - equivalent to the emissions of 2.7 million homes for a year.
So, yes, we believe it is important but, it is important to select a material that itself does not compromise the 'breathability' of the wall.
In the rush to make homes more energy efficient, we are also struggling with the wide range of materials on the market that not only compromise the breathability of the wall but also, often the higher performing materials, can in themselves add to environmental problems (high embodied energy, destined for landfill etc).
You don't have to compromise - you can improve energy efficiency (and achieve building regulations) whilst maintaining the breathability of your walls and with using environmentally-friendly materials!
At Ty-Mawr, we have been working with a wide range of vapour permeable, environmentally-friendly insulation products for over a decade and developed a number of systems (including the insulated limecrete floor, the warm roof and solid wall insulation) to give you a choice of appropriate solutions for your building.
Our information sheet on the Energy Efficiency Measures undertaken at Ty-Mawr may help you conside the options available.
Alternatively, you can make an appoitment to talk through the options with one of our product advisers or email us with details of your project, we will then be able to make suggestions, produce u-value calculations, undertake condensation risk analysis and produce quotations so that you have a range of options to consider.
The products we work with include::
Welsh Sheep's Wool Insulation
At Ty-Mawr, we believe in using local resources wherever possible. In Wales there are 4 sheep to every person, so sheep's wool insulation was an obvious choice and because sheep's wool insulation is made from the coarser wool of hill sheep, the Welsh wool is ideal!
We have therefore established a unique relationship with Second Nature Uk Ltd who manufacture the Thermfleece range of products, they produce, exclusively for Ty-Mawr, a Welsh wool product and a blended Wool and Recycled Polyester product (PB20) which uses the wool from the hills and farms around us here in Wales and so helps to develop a market for a local product and eventually puts money back into the local economy!
The wool insulation:
- helps to keep buildings cool in summer and warm in winter.
- can absorb and desorb water vapour without compromising its thermal efficiency. It is therefore ideal for use in roofs and timber framed walls designed to avoid a damaging build-up of moisture by allowing water vapour to migrate through the structure. (Many materials simply loose their thermal value when they get wet!).
- uses only 14% of the embodied energy that is used to manufacture glass fibre insulation, therefore paying back its manufacturing energy cost seven times faster than glassfibre.
- is harmless and can be installed without gloves or protective clothing.
- has a life expectancy similar to that of the construction in which it is installed.
- can be recycled for other environmentally friendly applications at the end of its useful life. It contains no permethrin, pyrethroids, pesticides or formaldehydes.
- it has a higher fire resistance than cellulose and cellular plastic insulants. It does not burn
but rather melts away from an ignition source and extinguishes itself.
- is protected against attack by moths and beetles using a borax treatment. Borax is a natural mineral salt that is used in a wide variety of applications.
- has excellent acoustic properties which means that it can now be specified as part of your noise control scheme 100mm between floors and partition walls will meet current Building Regulations Part E.
- has an excellent track record – as well as full British certification, it has been tried and
tested on thousands of square metres of loft, wall and floor applications.
There are many cheaper products on the market now but our expereience is that you pay for what you get - it is worth checking the origin, technical data, composition and performance claims!
Hemp Insulation
THERMAFLEECE Hemp is a plant fibre based insulation that is ideal for quick and easy installation. It contains 60% UK grown Hemp, 30% recycled polyester and 10% polyester binder with a high recycled content.
Hemp is fully renewable being plant and has many environmental benefits.
We stock the only British hemp insulation product - Thermafleece Hemp.
Insulation Boards
We also stock a wide range of boards that can either be used on their own or in combination with the other materials listed above to provide a solution for your thermal and/or acoustic insulation requirements. These materials are all compatible with 'breathing' buildings, they include :
- woodfibre boards for insulation walls, floors and rooves.
- wood wool boards ideal combined with sheep's wool insulation for insulating solid walls internally and or for timber-frame partions - please email tymawr@lime.org.uk for systems builds for both applications.
- calcium silicate boards - NEW in the UK, these boards do not require studding out etc but can simply be applied directly to an existing lime plaster internally and the plastered with lime to maintain the breathability and improve the insulation of solid wall contruction buildings.
Insulating Plaster
The hemp fibres in our lime hemp plaster improves the thermal properties of the plaster and as it can be directly applied to the walls (without the need for studding out etc) and removes any risk of cold bridging, it is an extremely popular product for this type of application. It will also help to achieve air tightness which can make a big difference to the energy efficiency of the wall. Importantly, it also maintains the thermal mass whilst allowing the wall to continue to breathe - see our information sheet for more detailed information.
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