Kingspan chosen for affordable housing scheme

Leading housing provider Stonewater is taking full advantage of the excellent thermal efficiency of Kingspan Kooltherm K108 Cavity Board at its new affordable housing development The Bushels, in Mosterton, Dorset, creating homes that are cosy and cost-effective to heat.

Designed by main contractors Acheson Construction, in collaboration with Boon Brown Architects, The Bushels offers 36, much needed, one – four bedroomed homes to the village.

It has been carefully designed to fit seamlessly within the local architectural style, including the use of natural slate tiles, brick and reconstructed stone cladding.

In addition to ensuring the homes were priced reasonably, the project team also wanted to guarantee that the homes were energy efficient and would support the health and wellbeing of its residents.

This farsighted approach led to the specification of Kingspan Kooltherm K108 within the homes.

With a thermal conductivity of just 0.018 W/mK, the cavity board is able to achieve compliant external wall U-values with an insulation depth of just 75 mm.

The board’s reflective, low emissivity foil facing also increases the thermal resistance of the cavity, helping to retain heat during cooler months and reflect away solar radiation in the summer to guard against overheating.

As a result of the excellent thermal performance achieved by the cavity board, this has allowed Acheson Construction to keep external wall construction depths to a minimum and maximised living space in all the homes.

In addition to this, the window reveal depths have also been kept slimmer helping to increase natural levels within the homes, which would not have been possible with a lower performing insulant.

Patrick Chauvin, Executive Director of Assets at Stonewater, commented: “Mosterton sits within one of the most expensive rural areas in the country.

“As part of our mission of giving everyone the opportunity to have a place that they can call home, we also want to make sure that we are employing energy efficient and innovative solutions where possible across our schemes.

“By using technology like Kingspan’s not only are we able to reduce the carbon emissions emitted from our homes but it also makes it cost effective for our customers.

“Given that affordability is a main concern for areas like Mosterton, affordable homes like ours make it possible for local people and young families to remain in the community and close to their families, but also be proud of where they live and the place they call home.”

Under the NHBC and Zurich Building Insurance Technical Standards, the partial fill cavity board is acceptable for locations which will be exposed to very severe driven rain with a residual cavity width of 50 mm providing the outer leaf is fair faced masonry with tool flush joints. In more sheltered areas, this can be reduced to a minimum of 25 mm for wall heights under 12 metres.

Kingspan Kooltherm K108 produced at Kingspan Insulation’s Pembridge manufacturing facility is certified to BES 6001 (Framework Standard for the Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products) ‘Excellent’. The BRE has assigned the product a 2008 Green Guide Summary Rating of A+.