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TRADIS Chosen For Speculative Build Project
9 January 2004

Excel Building Solutions' TRADIS range of factory-produced wall panels and roof plates have been specified for a development of four luxury, low energy timber frame homes at Cliburn, near Penrith.  The development, named Leith Close, represents the first speculative build for Cumbrian-based timber frame manufacturers, Eden Frame.

Renowned for sustainable developments that provide inhabitants with warm, low energy homes, Eden Frame chose the TRADIS system to provide a sustainable, highly insulated structure for the exclusive properties.

The houses benefit from the superior levels of insulation provided by the TRADIS system, which comprises: Engineered I Beams, Warmcel 500 insulation, Panelvent external sheathing and Paneline internal sheathing. TRADIS has been used to construct the floors, walls and roofs of all four homes, to provide levels of insulation twice those required by the Building Regulations.

Using the TRADIS system enabled the structure of each house to be fully erected within three days, and created a fully wind and water tight environment for work to begin on the interior of the property immediately afterwards.

The 200mm insulated floor cassettes, 240mm deep wall panels and 400mm roof plates provide excellent insulation with U values of 0.16 W/m2K, 0.14 W/m2K and 0.09 W/m2K respectively.

The use of TRADIS throughout the development has enabled the three, four bedroom properties and one three bedroom property to benefit from an automatic 'room-in-the-roof'.  The 'room-in-the-roof' provides more space than a traditional house with a trussed roof, and creates a gallery area for one of the bedrooms, and also storage space for the mechanical heat recovery system and the invertor for the photovoltaics.

Complementing the energy efficiency provided by the TRADIS system, Eden Frame has also specified photo-voltaic cells for both houses, creating up to 50 per cent of the electricity requirements of the household, together with solar panels which are able to provide 50 per cent of the household's hot water needs. In addition, a heat exchanger cleverly utilises the heat of the household to warm fresh filtered air coming into the property.

Commenting on the development, Trevor Lowis, partner at Eden Frame said: "Our aim with Leith Close has been to create a development of luxury homes which have a minimal impact on the environment, to showcase what can be achieved through the use of sustainable building materials.

"TRADIS has helped us meet this aim, due to the sustainable nature of the components, which are manufactured from recycled or sustainable materials, and also by providing extremely high levels of insulation."

Previously, Eden Frame has used the full TRADIS system in a number of other developments, including Monnow Court in Monmouth and the Hallhill Healthy Living Centre in Dunbar.