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Wetherby Building Systems Ltd has taken on some sensational new schemes which will ultimately help to reduce negative environmental impact.
These Kirklees properties are of a post-war prefabricated steel framed structure, produced by the British Iron and Steel Federation. The temporary homes were constructed in the 1950’s are still standing securely today, but lacked adequate insulation. The properties were not only unattractive, but are also extremely difficult to heat due to the poor thermal properties of the structure.
This was something Wetherby successfully overcame with one of their external wall insulation (EWI) systems. The collaboration with Kirklees Council and contractors Keepmoat and Skyline saw the sustainable refurbishment of 99 BISF properties, completed in September 2012.
The insulation specified for the project was 60mm EPS and 60mm Phenolic and the thickness of insulation will help reduce the ‘U’ values substantially. Prior to the project, homes were losing heat and costly to run. The U values were calculated to establish the release of energy through the properties before and after EWI was installed. The bottom floor alone has seen the existing U values go from 1.48 Wm²K to 0.19 Wm²K, while the top floor decreased from 1.68 Wm²K to 0.27 Wm²K.
To date, the 99 properties that have had EWI installed should enable homeowners to make a forecasted saving of £475 on their energy bills. The households will also have a reduced CO2 saving each year of 1.9 tonnes. With an anticipated lifespan of the system being in excess of 30 years, they will continue to make savings year-on-year.
Other components that supported the sustainability of the project were the installation of solar panels by Photon Energy. These would help savings at an average of £290 per year and 610kg of Carbon Dioxide savings.
For the project Wetherby also partnered with insulation supplier Kingspan, for an innovative waste management initiative, devised and implemented by Wetherby, to recycle all phenolic board ‘off cuts’ that would have previously been wasted. This scheme has evidently saved nearly 1 tonne of waste from land fill.
