Insulation boards reduce overheating

Unlike mineral fibre or plastic insulation products, NBT's Woodfibre building insulation boards add thermal mass to a lightweight construction, preventing or reducing overheating in summer.

Insulation is designed to prevent heat loss from a building, but it can do more than this.

Unlike mineral fibre or plastic insulation products, NBT's Woodfibre building insulation boards add considerable thermal mass to a lightweight construction, preventing or reducing overheating in summer.

They do this by acting as a thermal sink that absorbs heat and and prevents overheating on warm days.

Overheating is often considered a problem for lightweight buildings (ie timber-frame or lightweight steel) - especially for buildings with rooms in their roofs.

NBT has designed three new ecologically sustainable systems to deal with this - "New Wall I" (NW1), "New Wall 2", (NW2) and "New Roof 1" (NR1).which boost the of thermal mass and can lower peak internal temperature by up to 4C.

NW1 is based on a timber frame with external insulation and a rendered finish, NW2 is a timber frame with a brick or other suitable cladding and NR1 features insulation between and over rafters.

The systems use Pavatherm Plus, Isolair or Diffutherm interlocking woodfibre insulation building boards that are natural, sustainable, recyclable and easy to install.

These boards offer high thermal insulation, and despite being part of a "lightweight" style construction, they provide significant thermal mass to the building.

The boards also provide moisture control and regulation due to their vapour permeability, hygroscopic and capillary qualities.

This means that building membranes can often be avoided and a robust construction assured.

Condensation problems are significantly reduced and, due to the high mass, excellent acoustic performance is also achieved.

The Diffutherm boards are said to be ideal for providing a base for render.

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