EcoTherm flies the flag at award winning George Wimpey development
EcoTherm insulation roofboard and PVC Membrane from Flag UK are part of an innovative housing scheme selected as a finalist in the prestigious Design for Manufacture Competition (DFM). Oxley Woods in Milton Keynes combines the design and build skills of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners and George Wimpey South Midlands and meets the competition’s challenge to build a high quality eco-home for a capital cost of £60,000.
Of the 145 dwellings at Oxley Woods, 56 are being constructed within the target figure.
The DFM competition was launched by the Government in April 2005 to improve construction efficiency and so help create more affordable homes. Given the budgetary constraints, all building materials specified for Oxley Woods had to satisfy strict cost performance criteria. John Green, Managing Director of Wood Newton, the project’s house building contractor, comments, “We considered various roof insulation and single-ply waterproofing systems and decided that EcoTherm and Flag UK offered the most cost-efficient solution without compromising performance or sustainability.” In addition, EcoTherm is also assisting speed of installation on site.
With a total roofing area of approximately 10,000m2 for the timber-framed homes, EcoTherm Pitched-Roof thermal roofboard is being installed in a warm roof construction, with the insulation above the rafters. This ensures high thermal values, and with all the timber on the ‘warm’ side of the insulation there is less risk of condensation in the roof-space and the problem of timber rot. The 100mm thick EcoTherm roofboard specified for Oxley Woods achieves a typical ‘R’ value of 4.35m2k/W and a ‘U’ value of 0.20W/m2k when installed in a single layer over rafters.
EcoTherm Pitched-Roof board has a polyurethane foam core with aluminium foil to both sides and is zero ODP. The foam’s high compressive strength, exceeding 140kPa at 10% compression, and superb rigid stability is assisting fast-track installation on site. Roofing contractor, ARC Industrial Roofing and Cladding, is able to apply the Flagon SR 1.5mm PVC membrane immediately on to the installed EcoTherm roofboard and a plot can be made weather-tight in just one and half days. “Although we hadn’t used EcoTherm roofboard with a Flag PVC membrane before it’s proving really quick and easy to install,” says ARC’s Director, Geoff Wallace.
The Flagon SR 1.5mm PVC membrane specified for Oxley Woods is a mechanically fastened exposed roof system and has been specified in three shades of red from the RAL colour chart to complement the development’s bold architectural design. The membrane has a polyester reinforced mat installed during manufacture and is highly resistant to weathering, UV rays and puncturing. The BBA Certificate gives the membrane a life expectancy in excess of 30 years.
As part of the sustainable design of Oxley Woods the houses also incorporate a steel lantern structure on the roof, called an ‘EcoHat’. This unusual feature assists with ventilation and allows solar heat to penetrate into the home and provides a source for solar assisted hot water, thereby reducing energy consumption.
In addition to being a finalist in the DFM Competition, the innovative design and construction methods used at Oxley Woods have won George Wimpey the title of Housebuilding Innovator - Large Sized Housebuilder in the House Builders’ Federation Awards. The company also came first in the category for Best Innovation in the Use of Materials and Products for the Oxley Woods scheme.
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