Insulation

Home X has insulation placed on its exterior wall. One side of the insulation is covered with adhesive and then stuck to the sheathing – the insulation is then secured into place with fixings, this is the stage that Home X is at now. What then would happen is the insulation would be covered in reinforcing mesh, then a the final layer of the façade would be placed on top such as render or an alternative cladding.

Home X has a solid concrete wall and by insulating the exterior layer of the building adds multiple benefits such as not loosing internal floor space, having less drafts and more weatherproofing, more sound resistance. All these have been taken into consideration in the design aspect of the apartments because Brighton is a cold and windy place with regular rain so increased weatherproofing is essential. Also, the increased sound resistance is a must as Home X is located on Lewes Road – the one of the most busiest, therefore one of the noisiest roads.

Externally insulating the walls reduces the occupants heating bills, thus reducing carbon emissions by up to 1900kg per year (Zing Energy Ltd., 2022).

Suggested u-value for a wall in a new dwelling, given by Approved Document L1: Conservation of fuel and power, should be no more than 0.26 W/(m2·K) (HM Government, 2010).

However, by having exterior wall insulation it can cause issues by the windows (eaves and sills) as exterior wall insulation is very thick. There is also an issue of condensation which can cause damp – a prevalent issue within Brighton as its by the coast. There could be condensation penetration from the outside elements or from the occupants partaking in activities like cooking. Internal condensation can be combatted by installing adequate ventilation in areas such as the kitchen and bathroom – kitchen must have an intermittent extraction rate of 30 I/s if extracting to the outside and 60 I/s if not and a 13 I/s extraction rate if its continuous (HM Government, 2021). The bathroom must have a intermittent extraction rate of 15 I/s and 8 I/s if its continuous ventilation (HM Government, 2021).

A sensible choice was made from selecting external wall insulation and by incorporating this into the design of Home X allows for an acceptable dwelling.