The Hemclad timber-based and low carbon offsite panellised building system from Hemcrete Projects – part of the Lime Technology Group – is continuing to receive acclaim from across the UK construction industry.
Having played a pivotal role in helping Marks & Spencer and the Science Museum Group enjoy success at the recent Greenbuild Awards, the Science Museum Group’s archive storage facility project at Wroughton has gone on to achieve further recognition at the annual Museum & Heritage Awards for Excellence.
Scooping top spot in the Sustainability category, the Wroughton facility - seen as the blueprint for all of the Science Museum Group’s future storage facilities – was acknowledged for its scope in demonstrating the commercial viability of renewable materials, such as the Hemclad system, within mainstream construction.
Celebrating the very best within museums, galleries and heritage visitor attractions for over 10 years, the awards were presented by BAFTA winner, Sue Perkins at a ceremony held at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London.
Standing as a building within a building, the new archive facility at Wroughton has been built inside an existing WW2 hanger using the Hemclad wall panel system. The new structure will be used to store 3-D objects, paper and works of art. It has been designed to deliver stable temperature and relative humidity parameters that preserve the collections. The initial key performance data that has been recorded in the post-occupancy monitoring period so far is proving to be particularly pleasing. As well as both humidity and temperature levels having remained within the projected ranges – which provide the perfect condition for objects in storage – electrical consumption is also below expectations and predicted to continue to fall over the spring, summer and autumn. Combined with the solar array at the facility, it is anticipated that the building should be neutral in terms of energy use.
Commenting on this latest awards success, Hemcrete Projects’ Technical Director and Vice Chairman, Ian Pritchett said: “We have now built quite a few Hembuild and Hemclad buildings that are delivering reduced energy bills – on average a third to a quarter of the running cost of a conventional new building. To receive recognition in one award ceremony is pleasing enough, but to see the Science Museum Group go on to win another award so soon after is testimony to their drive to embrace new and sustainable technologies that are already proving themselves in terms of the performance data that is available. The Wroughton Project has also been shortlisted for this month’s Constructing Excellence and LABC Awards, so it would be fantastic for all concerned if it continued its winning streak.”
The Hemclad system is based around a bio-composite building material made from hemp shiv (the woody core of industrial hemp) mixed with a lime-based binder – Tradical Hemcrete. This product, when used in conjunction with hemp fibre insulation quilt, Breathe, delivers a ground-breaking blend of insulation and thermal inertia.
In addition to exceeding expectations based on conventional steady state U-values and standard thermal modelling, the panelised system is a negative embodied carbon products. This arises due to hemp capturing carbon dioxide during its rapid growth, whilst releasing oxygen back into the atmosphere. The carbon is then locked up within the walls of the building to give a carbon negative solution. Hemcrete Projects is the construction arm of the Lime Technology Group.
