Eco-Liner - the insulated plasterboard from EcoTherm - made fast work of upgrading the energy efficiency of a Victorian school building in Essex to 21st century standards. Eco-Liner was used to insulate and dry line existing external walls in a ‘one board’ application at Eastbury Primary School in Barking as part of a £7 million redevelopment project by May Gurney. EcoTherm’s plasterboard faced PIR insulation offers an all-in-one solution to achieving Part L compliance, and provides an interior wall surface ready for decoration - saving time and labour on site.
Around 2,000m2 of 82.5mm thick Eco-Liner insulated plasterboard with an ‘R’ value of 2.66W/m2K was installed on site by Suffolk-based Vale Interiors. Colin Crome, Contracts Manager for Vale Interiors, says EcoTherm’s insulated dry lining board was quick and easy to work with. He comments: “We’re used the Eco-Liner Dab version, designed for fixing to masonry with plaster adhesive dabs, and to coin a phrase it does what it says on the tin! Once the board is dab bonded to the wall, the surface just has to be skim plastered and the job’s done. Using a single board solution like Eco-Liner saves valuable internal space, without compromising insulation values.”
By factory bonding PIR insulation to plasterboard, EcoTherm has halved the time needed to insulate and dry line solid masonry walls. Eco-Liner boards are easy to handle, with the PIR adding only slightly to the weight of the plasterboard. In addition to the tissue-faced Eco-Liner Dab specified for Eastbury School, EcoTherm offers Eco-Liner Fix, a foil-faced PIR for mechanical fixing to masonry and steel or timber studs. Both versions are based on 1,200mm wide boards in various thicknesses of insulation with a 12.5mm tapered edge plasterboard. Once installed, the tapered edge boards are taped and jointed in the normal manner.
Eco-Liner PIR insulated dry lining board may be specified in new build projects, and is ideal for upgrading older buildings to comply with energy targets: it can be used for walls, loft conversions and ceilings. Depending on the design detailing, the boards could be used for all or part of the target U-value performance requirement for walls, whilst keeping construction thickness to a minimum. In EcoTherm Eco-Liner the PIR insulation element provides a ‘green’ solution, being CFC and HCFC free, and having zero ozone depletion potential; while the plasterboard element of the Eco-Liner range is increasingly made from recycled waste material and synthetic gypsum, which is itself a recycled material.
Renewable technology and low-carbon building materials like Eco-Liner are playing a key role in the redevelopment of the Eastbury School site. In addition to refurbishing and improving the thermal efficiency of the existing school building, the project includes installation of a ground source heat pump and photovoltaic panels on south facing roofs.
With production facilities across Europe, and a brand new high-capacity line at its plant in Essex, EcoTherm supplies its product range in the UK through insulation distributors and builders’ merchants nationwide.