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Recent Press Releases Excel Brings Viscocel to Hillhead: 28 March 2007
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EVT Specified for Luxury Eco Homes Excel Building Solutions' EVT structures have been specified by Yorkshire-based environmentally-friendly builders, Ecobuild, for the construction of ten luxury, timber framed 'eco homes'. Set in 50 acres of woodlands and pastures on the outskirts of Richmond, the eco homes have been constructed within the natural contours of the hillside, offering dramatic views of rolling Yorkshire Dales countryside. The EVT walls of the 90m2 buildings comprise a 150mm deep stud framework, which is sheathed externally with Panelvent sheathing board and internally with Paneline. The complete 150mm depth of the walls is insulated with ultra-high performance Warmcel 500 insulation, which is manufactured from recycled newspaper and has the lowest embodied energy of all insulation materials. This construction offers extremely high levels of thermal insulation, delivering a U value of 0.2 W/m2K (far superior to building regulations' requirements). In addition, the carefully balanced combination of component materials ensures that any moisture that gets into the structure (which happens in any inhabited building) always migrates to the external side of the structure where it is harmlessly expelled to the atmosphere. This action, known as Enhance Vapour Transfer or 'EVT', ensures that interstitial condensation does not occur, thereby protecting the timber structure throughout the lifetime of the building. All of the component products in the EVT structure are free from CFCs, VOCs or other harmful substances and are all manufactured from recycled or sustainable raw materials – in addition to Warmcel 500 being manufactured from recycled newspaper, the timber used to create the structural frame is FSC certified, while the sheathing boards are produced from wood waste and forest thinnings. Warmcel 500, itself, is treated with a small addition of non-hazardous compounds to provide extreme resistance to fire. The south and west facing elevations of the homes' main living areas feature floor to ceiling low-e double-glazing, optimising the views over the countryside, as well as maximising natural light. Natural light for the three bedrooms and two bathrooms of each home is achieved through the use of architecturally interesting porthole windows. The roofs of the buildings feature dramatic sweeping curve profiles from front to back and utilise living green sedum roof coverings. The timber frame walls are finished externally in Cedar cladding. Other environmentally friendly benefits built into the homes include the use of natural spring water collected and purified on site, reed bed waste water treatment, electricity sourced from green suppliers and state-of-the-art, high efficiency eco boilers. Excel Building Solutions is a division of Excel Industries Limited, based in Rhymney, Gwent and is the UK’s leading supplier of innovative building solutions. The company manufactures high performance insulation products, Warmcel 500 for walls and Warmcel 300 for lofts; along with high performance sheathing boards: Panelvent and Paneline; and Sarket roof sarking. Together, these components combine to form the high performance EVT Technology Solution for walls, floors and roofs and the factory-produced TRADIS range of wall panels, floor cassettes and roof plates. In addition to building solutions, Excel manufactures a range of speciality fibres for road making and diverse industrial applications. |
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