Glidevale Protecting Compliance in New Homes
Use of advanced construction membrane technology, Glidevale is helping a developer surpass new, stricter standards of airtightness in new homes.
Lite Homes is creating 10no £150,000+ properties on a site in Honiton, formerly used as a plant hire depot and petrol station. The homes are specifically designed to be as eco-friendly as possible, and exceed standard specification for the price range. As a result, the company has turned to the Protect range to provide a ‘one stop shop’ solution
Thermal performance equivalent to at least Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes has been attained, by using Protect VC Foil highly reflective vapour control layer in the floors, walls and roofs of the timber frame homes and TF200 Thermo low emissivity breather membrane on the sheathing board. To prevent any possible penetration by gas contamination or ground moisture, Protect GDB10 gas and damp barrier membrane has also been laid and tape sealed across the block floors.
Nick Harris of Lite Homes explained, “We had decided to go the timber frame route as the most efficient way of achieving energy efficient homes for a sensible price. We worked closely with Allwood Timber Frame, and determined that using Protect membranes would achieve U values in excess of the Code for Sustainable Homes’ Level 3- the baseline target under the new (2010) Approved Document L. Adding Protect GDB10 enabled us to ensure any possible risk of contamination from the site’s previous uses was eliminated as far as possible.”
Supplier of the Protect structural membranes, Glidevale, maintains that in a wall with a 20mm unventilated airspace, Glidevale Protect VC Foil highly reflective vapour control layer yields a 333% improvement in heat flow resistance against an unventilated airspace without Protect VC Foil. In roofs and ceilings with a 13mm airspace, a 233% improvement is achieved, and in floors with a 50mm airspace, a 571% improvement can be achieved. IN addition, Protect VC Foil can also give cost savings between 10-15% on the insulation material (structure dependant).
Glidevale Protect TF200 Thermo low emissivity breather membrane provides 0.77m2/KW thermal resistance, a 327% thermal resistance improvement over a standard unventilated airspace of 20mm or more. As well as complementing the wall’s thermal performance, TF200 Thermo has a water vapour resistance of 0.55MNs/g, which meets the requirements of NHBC, TRADA and BS5250. It also provides a second line of defence against water penetration during the construction phase.
Z-Led Protect GDB10 Barrier is independently certified as a complete universal barrier for protection of buildings against both gas and damp, preventing methane, carbon dioxide and radon, and ground moisture from penetrating the structure.
Glidevale and Z-Led belong to the Building Product Design Group. The Protect membranes are just part of their comprehensive range of innovative yet practical solutions to enable today’s building industry to meet, and surpass, current Regulations and Codes of Practice.
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Notes To Editors
Article supplied by and for further information:
Angela May
AFPR, Tilley Farm Barn, Tilley, Wem SY4 5HE
Tel/fax: 01939232510
e-mail: afpr@btconnect.com