Thermal Performance

GENERAL

The Kingspan TEK Building System provides excellent thermal performance and vastly reduces thermal defects. This means low running costs and impressive quality for the lifetime of the building.

The 110 mm rigid urethane insulation core in combination with its OSB 3 shell make for unrivalled insulation performance.

WALLS

Complete walls can easily provide extremely low U-values as shown in the table below.

* Values shown are for both the proportional area method and the combined method of U-value calculation.

To put this in context the current U-value for walls in dwellings required by the Elemental Method in the UK and Ireland is 0.45 W/m²K.

In England, Wales, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland this is likely to change to 0.27 – 0.35 W/m²K during 2001/2.

0.25 W/m²K is the best U-value being proposed for walls in current consultations for changes to the Building Regulations / Standards, and this value is only proposed for 2008 in England & Wales.

Kingspan TEK is clearly bringing 2010+ building standards home today.

ROOFS

Complete roofs can easily provide extremely low U-values as shown in the table below.

* Values shown are for both the proportional area method and the combined method of U-value calculation.

To put this in context, for roofs in dwellings with insulation in the slope of the roof (room in roof constructions) 0.35 W/m²K is the current U-value required by the Building Regulations / Standards in the UK and Ireland.

The next changes in England, Wales and Scotland (2001/2) will call for a U-value of 0.18 - 0.25 W/m²K.

0.16 W/m²K is the best U-value being proposed in current consultations for changes to the Building Regulations / Standards. This value is proposed for changes in 2008 in England & Wales and the next changes (2001/2) in the Republic of Ireland.

Kingspan TEK can clearly meet these requirements.

These superb insulating values can reduce heating costs and improve the overall efficiency of the building substantially.

LIMITED COLD BRIDGING

The only cold bridges are around openings where timbers are fixed into channels routed out of the insulation core of the Kingspan TEK Structural Insulated Panels. These timbers are used for the fixing of door and window frames. Similarly, 110 x 110 mm timbers are occasionally used at the junctions between panels for structural reasons.

This amounts to 4% of bridging timber for a typical domestic building wall (15-30% with a traditional timber frame wall) and 1% of bridging timber for a typical domestic building roof (6% in a typical domestic roof with insulation between joists or rafters).

The Kingspan TEK Building System does not suffer from:

• sagging insulation;
• wet insulation due to exposure on site which could reduce thermal performance;or
• gaps and voids in insulation coverage left by poor site workmanship.

AIR TIGHTNESS

The Kingspan TEK Building System is ideal for the construction of an airtight building envelope. The Kingspan TEK Building System tongue and groove sealed jointing system provides an effective air seal. The Kingspan TEK Building System does not suffer from the problems associated with other common construction techniques:

• air leakage through poorly sealed sockets, switches etc.;
• air leakage at floor zones through wet plastered masonry cavity walls;
• air leakage under skirting boards and through poorly sealed sockets, switches etc. in dry lined masonry cavity walls; and
• air leakage through poorly sealed loft hatches and top storey ceiling light fittings.

The Kingspan TEK Building System achieves excellent results in blower door tests e.g. 0.08 air changes per hour (approximately 1 m³/hr/m² ).

To put this in context, there is no current requirement for air tightness in Building Regulations / Standards in the UK and Ireland.

The next changes in England & Wales (2001/2) will call for an air leakage rate of 10 m³/hr/m² for dwellings, with this becoming mandatory in 2004/5.

3 m³/hr/m² is the best air leakage rate being proposed for dwellings in current consultations for changes to the Building Regulations, and this value is only proposed for 20013/14 in England & Wales.

Kingspan TEK is again clearly bringing 2010+ building standards home today.

0.08 air changes per hour constitutes an extremely tight envelope. At this level of air tightness a strategy for providing adequate ventilation must be considered. It is normally considered that 0.5 air changes per hour is required for a comfortable and healthy living environment. Passive ventilation or mechanical ventilation with heat recovery and humidity control are widely accepted as being suitable ventilation strategies for extremely air tight buildings.

It is perfectly possible to design a building using the Kingspan TEK Building System that will normally require no heating system. What heat is lost from the building through the fabric of the building or through unintentional bulk air movement can be more than compensated for by incidental gains and the operation of a heat recovery system in association with mechanical ventilation.

The addition of humidity control to the mechanical ventilation system can provide for an environment in which dust mites cannot thrive.
This may be of benefit to some asthma sufferers.

CONDENSATION

Free condensation risk calculations for specific projects are available upon request (click here). These calculations are performed to BS5250: 1989 (1995) and BS6229: 1982.