Hanson Structherm helps to reduce fuel poverty

Many of the energy companies have increased their prices by an average of 10 per cent, so it is more important than ever that homes are properly insulated to help prevent more people from falling into fuel poverty.
 
Hanson Structherm offers the perfect solution through its External Wall Insulation (EWI) system.

The company has recently provided 3,062 square metres of EWI to refurbish 35 homes in Pinkie Braes, Musselburgh, as part of East Lothian Council’s (ELC) ongoing refurbishment programme.

The homes had been constructed using Wimpy No Fines concrete, which has inherently poor thermal performance. The use of the EWI system in their refurbishment has provided an efficient and cost effective way of improving the thermal performance, resulting in reduced CO2 emissions and lower energy bills.

Hanson Structherm marketing executive Damian Haigh, said: “East Lothian Council is committed to bringing all its homes up to Scottish Quality Housing Standards and our EWI system offered the ideal solution, improving the condition of the homes both inside and out.

“The performance of the homes on the estate has greatly improved with the U-value of the walls dropping from 1.66W/m2K to 0.19W/m2K and the homes now need less fuel to heat them to a comfortable temperature, helping to tackle fuel poverty.”

The system used consisted of a layer of high performance PIR insulation boards 120mm thick as the council was trying to ‘future proof’ thermal performance of the properties and exceed current Building Regulation requirements.

The insulation boards were attached to the no fines concrete using specially selected fixings to ensure there would be no failure of the system in years to come. Stainless steel expanded reinforcing mesh was installed with a basecoat render over the top. To complete the system Structherm dash receiver was applied followed by a decorative dash aggregate which greatly improved the appearance of the properties.