Published on : Saturday, March 1, 2014
Energy savings of 63% have been achieved following the installation of multiple Saint-Gobain systems in a world-first retrofit research project.
Saint-Gobain worked with the Energy House at Salford University and leading academics from Leeds Metropolitan University to prove that whole-house, fabric first retrofitting of homes can deliver significantly reduced energy costs, lower CO2 emissions and remove 50% of air leakage, leading to benefits in the overall comfort and well-being of occupants.
The project included Saint-Gobain systems from British Gypsum, Glassolutions, Isover and Weber to bring high levels of thermal efficiency to the building fabric. The project was carried out with extensive input from the Group’s global research and development team, Saint-Gobain Recherché.
The solid walls were insulated internally on one wall and externally on two walls (a so-called hybrid approach’), the suspended timber floor insulated and incorporated an airtightness membrane, the loft was topped-up to current standards and the glazing units upgraded to ‘A’ standard.
Saint-Gobain’s technical, training and on-site support teams, which are central to the Saint-Gobain Technical Academy network, worked closely with installers to ensure that all products were fitted as they would be by any competent installer, so that the “as built” performance was in line with the design predictions.
The approach of the project was to measure the whole-house performance post-installation using off-the-shelf Saint-Gobain systems and standard installation techniques, making the results repeatable across the UK’s hard-to-treat housing stock.
The impressive results strongly indicate that payback on projects using a Green Deal Assessment could be significantly shorter than currently predicted if Saint-Gobain whole-house solutions were installed in typical retrofit properties.
Richard Fitton, Technical Manager at the University of Salford Energy House Test Facility, said: “The University of Salford recognises this project as the largest and most comprehensive piece of research carried out into the performance of a domestic retrofit solution in the world to date. This is vital data, as the construction industry at large is currently experiencing issues with how to deal with the gap between solution design and the as-built performance. This research has direct impact on those vulnerable families currently living in fuel poverty.”
Tags: British Gypsum, Green Deal Assessment, research project, Richard Fitton, Saint- Gobain, Salford University
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