Falkirks BISF Residents Benefit From Structherm Insulation

B.I.S.F PROPERTIES IN FALKIRK RECEIVE STRUCTURAL EXTERNAL WALL INSULATION FOR WARMER HOMES

Falkirk Council has focused its sights on alleviating the causes and affects of fuel poverty by addressing inequalities. Their social housing investment fund of £89m includes a proportion of funding that has been set aside for energy efficiency upgrades toward it’s non-traditional housing stock which includes the fitting of external wall insulation to number of British Iron & steel federation (BISF) properties in an attempt to help reduce fuel poverty.

Having previously used Structherms Structural  external wall insulation system on previous refurbishment projects, the council once again specified the same system for 21 non-traditional BISF properties in the Slamannan area of Falkirk.

Problems Faced:
These BISF properties were built in the 1940’s using rolled steel channels, angles and joists to form the main load bearing frame. The ground floor external walls were constructed using rendered expanded metal lathing and the first floor walls from vertically profiled steel sheets. A single sheet of plasterboard was used for the inner leaf and in the cavity a small amount of glass fibre insulation was installed.

BISF houses, if not well maintained can bring certain problems including stanchion corrosion, lathing corrosion, failure of the external render leading to loss of water tightness. The existing insulation has a  poor thermal performance of 1.29W/m2K leading to higher fuel running costs for the residents.

Falkirk Council wanted a cost effective external refurbishment solution that would:
• Overcome the problem of fixing into the weak and failing outer leaf.

• Bring the houses up to current Part L Building Regulation standards in relation to thermal efficiency requirements.

• Improve the external appearance of the houses.

Falkirk Council appointed Ailsa Building Contracting Ltd as the specialist installer for this project and specified Structherm’s unique Structural External Wall Insulation (SEWI) system

The Structural External Wall Insulation system is based on the performance of a lightweight stainless steel wire space frame with a 105mm Phenolic insulation core. Each SEWI panel measured 1200 x 2400mm and due to their spanning capability were able to be fixed into the steel frame, through the existing cladding, without requiring any fixings going into the weak outer leaf.

The panels were fixed to the steel frame using specially selected fixings and washer plates before being mechanically clipped together to provide a rigid, continuous envelope around the houses.

To complete the system Structherm Fibre Reinforced basecoat render 14-16mm thick was applied followed by 8-10mm of dash receiver and a decorative dashing aggregate.

For more information regarding the Structherm system, contact : Structherm Ltd, Bent Ley Road, Meltham, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, HD9 4AP
t: 01484 850098 f: 01484 851388 e: in**@st********.uk www.structherm.co.uk