BASF insulation meets U values in glazed building

Walltite spray foam insulation from BASF Polyurethane has been used in the refurbishment and construction of a glazed hillside dwelling to achieve a low U-value.

Tyn Y Ddol in North Wales sits in an area of natural beauty overlooking the Clywdian Hills.

The building featured a large amount of glazing and the installation of Walltite offset this, achieving a U-value of 0.1 W/mk.

The house consists of two stone buildings connected together by a structure of mainly glass walls with the interior split over six levels combined to take advantage of the view.

Contractor James Carroll Builders knew that in order to achieve the target emission rate, the insulation standard of the rest of the building fabric needed to be improved.

The contractor decided to specify a spray foam system from BASF Polyurethane.

Once applied, Walltite cures to provide a seamless finish resulting in an airtight envelope of low permeability without the need for supplementary material and significantly lower U-values than conventional insulation systems.

Following a site survey, the product was installed by BASF Polyurethanes' approved spray foam contractor, Total Insulations.

For the solid stone walls, Walltite was sprayed between timber studwork, fixed slightly off the wall in order to eliminate any potential for cold bridging.

Very little preparation was required, not even a primer, the stonework was dusted off prior to application of the foam and a target U-value of 0.25 W/mk was achieved.

The pitched roof still contained some original oak beams and trusses which the client not only wanted to retain, but remain on view and provide a feature to the rooms.

This was achieved by insulating with Walltite spray foam insulation between 200mm deep rafters then fixing composite insulated plasterboard to the faces.

This combination kept the depth of the insulation to a minimum thickness of 190mm while accommodating more head room, keeping the timberwork exposed and meeting the target u-value 0.1W/mK.

More than 400m of spray foam was installed within three days, and they felt that the job would have taken around eight days to complete if they had used more conventional insulation materials.

Less labour was required as well and the site was left clean and tidy with no waste materials to remove.

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