A building’s thermal performance is now as important an aspect of the building’s design and construction as its structure. Energy prices and climate change are often cited as the principal reasons for the increased energy and CO2 reduction standards required of our built environment. Less known is the fact that insulation can also play a major role in our health, safety, comfort and wellbeing.
When higher levels of thermal performance are required, this has a significant impact on building physics and other dynamic elements of a building’s performance.
Woodfibre insulation has a number of properties that enables it to provide a multifunctional role within the construction of a home. When specified and installed correctly, woodfibre provides protection against summertime overheating, enhanced acoustic performance and moisture control. The latter provides a building fabric with additional insurance against potential moisture problems that could otherwise undermine the integrity of the building and the health of the occupants.
Woodfibre is highly sustainable, locking up considerably more CO2 than is produced in manufacture. It can therefore play an essential part of a strategy for mitigating climate change.
This document provides information for specifiers and procurement specialists working on social housing projects. It is designed to help with the specification of wood fibre insulation within a social housing context. It provides performance criteria and indicates what needs to be considered when specifying woodfibre insulation.
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Retrofit
Timber Cladding—Specification Guidance for Social Housing
Timber cladding has become increasingly popular, mainly for its sustainability credentials and low environmental impact: It has a low carbon footprint as it requires less energy to produce than any other construction material and helps lock carbon into the building fabric. It is made from renewable material – wood – and can be reused, recycled or used as fuel at the end of its service life. Timber cladding is widely available from sustainably managed forests and can be sourced locally.
With correct detailing, proper installation and appropriate materials, timber cladding will provide a long lasting decorative and functional façade to any type of development, new build or existing stock.
This document provides information for specifiers and procurement specialists working on social housing projects. It is designed to help with the strategic selection of timber cladding as an external rainscreen in a social housing context. It provides performance criteria for specifying timber cladding and indicates what needs to be considered to achieve these in practice. The document highlights performance benefits across a range of intended design outcomes and is designed to help ensure that timber cladding is used appropriately. Timber cladding should not be viewed in isolation and should be considered very early on in the design process when specifying details and deciding on what build system to use.
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