Taking a ‘fabric first’ approach is all about building a highly insulated and airtight home. Put simply, it’s about wrapping your home in a ‘thermal blanket’ – and sealing up unwanted gaps in the fabric – to create a home that demands less heating, increases comfort levels and reduces energy bills.
“Insulation is an essential component of comfortable and efficient buildings. It not only reduces heat loss or heat gain by providing a barrier between inside and outside temperatures but its use can also support some of today’s biggest sustainability and development challenges, from energy consumption to noise pollution and fire resilience,” says James Francis, Product Manager GBI at ROCKWOOL® UK.
New homes must also meet minimum insulation levels under the Building Regs. “The latest edition of the Building Regulations (changes to Part L and new Part O) reflect these points,” says energy efficiency expert Tim Pullen (read more on page 134). “It certainly means you have the option to choose what will work best for your build project – from the walls to the floors and roof – and the set minimum standards in the Building Regulations do make decision making that little easier,” continues Tim.
That all said, there are a multitude of insulation types on the market (which we explain on page 135), and a key decision to be made is what material to specify, where. “The most familiar types of insulation are probably the big rolls of loft quilt you see in DIY stores,” says chartered surveyor and renovator Ian Rock. “But, there are many types of insulation, including stone wool, glass wool, sheep’s wool and wood wool,” explains James. “There are also plastic foam insulations such as polyisocyanurate (PIR) and spray foam. In addition, you may come across cellulose (recycled newspaper), hemp, polyethylene, cellular glass and ceramic fibre.”
So what should you know about insulation to ensure you choose the right type for your building project and can have constructive conversations with your designer and your build team before the project gets underway?
WHAT TO CONSIDER
“When choosing the right insulation for your project, there are two key considerations — the R-value (or thermal performance) you need to achieve, and the application (where you need to insulate),” begins James.
