Knauf Insulation has provided solid evidence that its Supafil Party Wall glass mineral wool blowing insulation is a reliable way of eliminating party wall bypass and so City West Housing Trust - a Salford based housing association - has installed the product as part of a pilot scheme to a number of its properties.
When completed, the trials will measure the extent of customers’ energy bill savings – estimated to be up to £90 a year – as well as the amount of carbon emissions that could be reduced.
The boundary between adjoining properties has always been assumed to be an area of neutral heat loss, however research undertaken by Leeds Metropolitan University, MIMA (the Mineral Wool Manufacturers’ Trade Association), BRE (Building Research Establishment) and Knauf Insulation has revealed that a significant amount of heat is actually lost through uninsulated cavity party walls. This heat is lost to the outside of the building and is not heat shared with the property on the other side of the party wall.
Garry Vaughan, Head of Supply Chain and Sustainability at City West, said: “Working alongside Bridgewater Surveyors and others to improve the energy efficiency of our customers’ properties, we are continually looking for other ways to reduce energy costs and consumption. After discovering the research of party wall bypass, we knew that by insulating the cavity party walls of properties we could achieve lower energy bills for our customers and so we embarked on a trial project – with the aim of a possible roll out across other areas in the North West.”
After approaching Knauf Insulation for advice, City West and Bridgewater Surveyors settled on a reliable solution: Knauf Insulation’s Supafil Party Wall insulation.
Matthew Prowse, Application Development Manager for Knauf Insulation commented: “Supafil Party Wall prevents heat loss through party separating cavity walls and when used in conjunction with effective edge sealing – fully filling the cavity – the solution allows a zero effective U-value to be used within SAP calculations for new dwellings. It is an in-situ formed unbonded, non-combustible glass mineral wool that is suitable for new-build or retrofit projects.
“As well as being an excellent thermal insulant, Supafil Party Wall insulation also has good sound absorption characteristics which helps to ensure that when a party wall is upgraded, it complies with the requirements of Approved Document Part E of the Building Regulations - which is designed to protect occupants from noise in adjoining rooms or buildings.”
Garry Vaughan continued: “We tested the houses before and after the installation took place. The reduction in the heat loss was equivalent to an improvement in the effective U-value of the party wall of at least 0.5 W/m2K. This shows there is a significant beneficial impact for tenants in fully filling cavity party walls with Supafil Party Wall Insulation.
“We are committed to ensuring our properties are as energy efficient as possible and along with Supafil Party Wall insulation we have installed cavity and loft insulation to our portfolio of properties.”
Supafil Party Wall insulation fitted into City West’s obligation to maintain a greener environment as the product conserves energy and reduces the emissions of the major greenhouse gas, CO2. The energy and CO2 emissions saved by the product in use vastly outweighs those generated in its manufacture. Supafil Party Wall represents no known threat to the environment and has zero Ozone Depletion Potential and zero Global Warming Potential.