Kingspan helps put plan into Acton

Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation has been installed as part of a communal heating network on an ambitious mixed-tenure regeneration scheme in Acton, helping to minimise heat loss from pipework across the development.

Acton Gardens is an award-winning urban village spanning 52 acres in west London.

The Countryside and L&Q development forms part of a long-term regeneration designed to reshape the lives of residents by providing 3,400 new homes and establishing a thriving community hub which will incorporate expansive open green spaces, medical facilities and a public square.

The project team, which included Mendick Waring Limited, LJJ Building Services Contractors and Chase Insulations, was keen to ensure the homes were affordable to purchase and run over the long-term.

To achieve this, a communal heat distribution network has been used instead of installing individual boilers within each property.

To reduce heat distribution losses across this network, Mendick Waring Limited specified 27,000lm of Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation for heating and water service pipework. 

With an aged thermal conductivity as low as 0.025 W/m·K (at +10°C mean), Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation is one of the most thermally efficient pipe insulation products on the market.

This excellent performance allowed pipework to be effectively insulated with a slimmer insulation thickness than would otherwise have been possible.

The product was installed in a 50mm thickness on the heat distribution pipework, allowing it to achieve a level of performance exceeding the requirements within current industry standards in the UK.

Minimising the risk of summer overheating was also deemed a priority across the development, to ensure homes are adapted to climate change and remain comfortable to occupy in the future.

The specification of Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation supported this approach.

Research from AECOM has shown that by installing an Energy Technology List-recommended specification of Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation, it is possible to significantly reduce overheating hours in communal areas when compared with a BS 5422: 2009 pipe insulation specification with rubber lined pipe support brackets.

Samuel Hitch, MD of pipework insulation installers – Chase Insulations –  discussed the project: “On a scheme of this scale, it was important that we had products which could meet the energy performance criteria without hampering our work.

“The slimmer thickness of the Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation ensured we could quickly and efficiently lag pipework in even tight spaces, helping to keep the work on track.”

Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation is the first pipe insulation product to attain BDA Agrement^® certification under the scheme and it has also been awarded a best-in-class Eurofins Indoor Air Comfort Gold certificate, recognising it as outstanding material according to the VOC Indoor Air Quality emissions standards. 

The product is FM Approved per Approval Standard Class 4924 and has a European Reaction to Fire performance of B_L,s1,d0. A freely downloadable BIM object is available via the BIMStore. 

With Kingspan Technical Insulation’s free Pipeline Technical Advisory Service, which can be contacted on 0808 168 7363, clear advice and guidance can be accessed at every stage in a project.

They also have Premier and Premier Plus Services which support purchases of Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation and the Kooltherm Complete Pipe Insulation System (incorporating insulated pipe support inserts and fire sleeves).