UK Construction professionals can now benefit from a comprehensive set of enhanced construction details for EPS insulation which have been endorsed by the Energy Savings Trust and developed with the support of BRE.
The EST enhanced details are now becoming available from accredited EPS industry group members listed on the group’s web site www.eps.co.uk and are designed to ensure building professionals are able to achieve the highest levels of insulation performance as well as full compliance with Building Regulations when specifying EPS insulation in masonry build projects.
EPS Group members are the trusted source for EPS insulation in any building project. They represent 70% of the expandable polystyrene manufacturing industry in the UK and work to provide authoritative, reliable information to companies and individuals, seeking independent facts about the performance of the material. David Emes, Chairman of the EPS Group, said “This launch comes after more than a year of working alongside the Energy Saving Trust and BRE to create construction details specifically tailored to EPS applications. The details cover standard white EPS and the enhanced thermal conductivity grade – known as grey EPS – which uses advanced graphite formulations to give outstanding thermal bridging performance.”
The details give architects, building design and construction companies the guidance needed to determine optimum installation and thickness specifications to achieve the highest insulation levels. BRE ‘A-plus’ rating means EPS is the perfect choice for use in under-floor, between-floor, walling and roofing applications where it is able to give a constant insulation value across the full service life of the building. This constant insulation value across the full life of a building – means thermal performance for grey EPS as low as 0.03 W/m2K and 0.38 W/m2K for white.
EPS boasts ECO points projected over a 60-year life of only 0.043. This acts as a clear assurance to specifiers of the eco-credentials of EPS and its significant benefits when it comes to environmental impact assessment. Stephen Passmore of the Energy Saving Trust said, “EPS is a long-established, high-performance insulating material. This comprehensive set of enhanced details is an important contribution towards helping UK construction projects achieve even higher levels of thermal resistance in building design and construction. The CO²-savings are potentially substantial.”
BRE’s Oliver Novakovic (Director Housing Futures) supported the launch, “The EPS group have shown leadership and taken responsibility around thermal bridging in developing these details. We urge architects and constructors to utilise these construction details not least because they offer a safe route to regulatory compliance.”
The EPS enhanced details are being promoted across the UK in a campaign aimed at UK architectural practices, local authority property professionals and construction company specifiers. They complement a series of technical briefings and a 20 page specifier guide on EPS relating to sustainability and durability across a wide range of applications from floor, wall and roofing insulation to sub-structures and void fill for civil engineering projects, foundation systems and clay heave protection.
David Emes said, “EPS has been in use for more than half a century and received BBA approval thirty four years ago. Studies of the earliest EPS installations show that it is just as strong and effective today as when it was first used. It is the closest of any modern building materials to fulfilling the 60 year life set as a performance target by the UK Building Regulations.”
News of the launch was also welcomed by architects, “The EPS/ Energy Saving Trust enhanced construction details demonstrate how thermal bridging can be reduced, thermal performance improved and good standards of long term air-tightness can be achieved” said Mark Siddall, Sustainability Champion at Devereux Architects.
