EcoTherm®’s rigid PIR insulation board is playing a key role in the exacting specification and rapid build programme of a new Ramada Encore Hotel in Ipswich, built by main contractor Fitzpatrick. EcoTherm® polyisocyanurate (PIR) boards are being used to insulate cavity walls as part of the hotel’s high specification of thermal, fire and acoustic performance. The three-storey hotel is being constructed using a light steel framing solution from Metek Building Systems incorporating pre-engineered panels and with a brickwork and cedar cladding facade. Using Metek’s offsite construction technology rather than a traditional build is enabling faster build times for the three phase construction programme.
Specifying EcoTherm® insulation board is ensuring that the building design satisfies UK Building Regulations relating to energy efficiency and sustainability, whilst keeping wall elements as ‘thin’ as possible. “The required thermal standards were easily achieved using 50mm EcoTherm® PIR insulation board with our light steel framing system,” says Oliver Rogan, Director of Metek. EcoTherm® PIR foam boards are faced with a supported aluminium foil on both sides and have a Lambda value of 0.023 W/mK. “That is better per unit thickness than glass or mineral wool,” explains EcoTherm®’s Marketing Manager, Dale Kaszycki.
Complex site logistics required EcoTherm® and Metek to work together on a ‘just in time’ delivery schedule to minimise storage and achieve completion dates. “EcoTherm® board offers an excellent insulation solution that is easy to handle and quick to fix - major benefits when working to tight deadlines,” comments Oliver Rogan.
The stable and inert structure of EcoTherm®’s PIR boards gives them an almost indefinite service life, with no degradation in insulating properties over the complete life cycle of the building – so there is no reduction in the building’s low carbon performance, and no energy is required to make or install replacements.
EcoTherm® is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of PIR boards for floors, cavity walls, flat roofs and pitched roofs. These have become increasingly popular on commercial and industrial projects as they offer the ideal combination of exceptional insulating properties, high strength and light weight. This high strength-to-weight ratio makes them easy to handle and install, and allows light supporting structures. The boards are also extremely durable, which ensures that their energy-saving properties remain undiminished over the complete life of the building.
With production facilities across Europe, including a plant in Essex, EcoTherm® supplies its product range in the UK through insulation distributors and builders’ merchants nationwide.
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