Construction market warms to woodfibre insulation
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November 1, 2018
Woodfibre insulation specialist, NBT, is on target for a 50% growth in sales volumes for 2018, which is said to indicate that specifiers are increasingly selecting woodfibre for its thermal performance, year-round comfort and moisture dispersion properties.
Woodfibre insulation currently accounts for less than 1% of the UK insulation market, but supply problems in the mineral wool segment of the insulation market, coupled with fire risk concerns for poly-iso insulation products, has reportedly encouraged specifiers to re-examine how they are insulating buildings.
Andrew Mitchell from NBT explained: “Woodfibre insulation, like the Pavatex range that we supply, is often the system of choice for timber and CLT projects, and well as the environmentally-focused projects for which you’d expect it to be the solution of choice due to the low embodied carbon thermal performance benefits.
“Pavadry woodfibre insulation, developed as part of the Pavatex range specifically for refurbishment projects, has also proved a popular choice for raising the thermal performance of ‘solid wall’ structures without compromising their building physics or external appearance.
“Current market conditions affecting other types of insulation are now prompting specifiers to look more closely at the benefits woodfibre can offer in terms of performance, ease of installation, technical support and cost, which is taking woodfibre beyond the realms of ‘eco’ and ‘heritage’ to meet the needs of any project.”
The increased sales volumes NBT has achieved over the course of this year, combined with exponential growth in enquiries for forthcoming schemes, is said to reflect a varied project portfolio across the residential, office, culture and hospitality sectors, including both newbuilds and refurbishments.
Andrew added: “The natural properties of woodfibre mean that it combines reduced heat loss with improved building comfort and low combustibility for a temperate year-round environment and low risk installation.
“It’s a sustainable choice made from renewable materials that delivers carbon lock up of 10 tonnes for the average newbuild dwelling, but current market conditions are prompting specifiers to focus on woodfibre’s buildability and performance credentials too, which is great news for us, the construction sector and building occupiers.”
