VIEWPOINT
WHY YOUR CUSTOMERS SHOULD START BUILDING WITH 150MM CAVITIES
Matt Neary, National Sales Manager at Knauf Insulation
WITH THE FUTURE Homes Standard (FHS) on the horizon, a change in government and a market whose needs are shifting, merchants must be able to advise their customers on how to build homes that work today and perform in the future. Standard practices are changing across the industry, including the move towards building wider wall cavities. 41% of housebuilders have already adopted the 150mm cavity and this number is likely to increase .
In this month’s column, we will explore the reasons behind this change, the benefits and what merchants can do to support customers looking to make the switch.
Flexibility
One of the biggest advantages of building a wider cavity is that it simply gives you more options. As recent years have shown, the supply of common insulation products can be volatile, with prices increasing dramatically or products becoming unavailable. If this comes at the wrong time, it can cause project delays or an increase in costs. A 150mm cavity gives your customers a much greater range of alternatives to choose from without compromising on performance or slowing up the construction process.
Flexibility also extends to the whole house recipe. Building a 150mm wall cavity and filling it with high performance insulation gives housebuilders the freedom to meet requirements for energy efficiency using a ‘fabric first’ approach that reduces the need for low or zero carbon technologies.
Performance scrutiny Increasingly, the industry and regulations are moving towards the idea of ‘real performance’, which means closing the gap
assurance that the insulation will not contribute to a fire, regardless of the building’s height or use. Demand is also rising for materials with low embodied carbon – the emissions released over a product’s lifecycle.
between how buildings are expected to perform and how they do once construction is complete.
Some of these changes, such as the Building Regulations England Part L (BREL) report have been incorporated into SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) 10.3 to help verify the quality of insulation installations. But as- built data will likely be followed by requirements for in-use measurement.
Although the final details of the FHS are yet to be confirmed, it’s clear that homes will need to use materials that ensure thermal
August 2024
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
performance. 150mm cavities allow your customers to use insulation such as mineral wool that’s easy to install correctly, is flexible enough to move with the construction and is less prone to air gaps, effectively de-risking the real performance of the building.
Rising demand for non-combustible, low carbon insulation The 2017 Grenfell tragedy has heightened awareness of fire safety issues and increased demand for non-combustible insulation. Insurers, local authorities, and customers want
Switching to 150mm cavities allows the use of insulation that is non-combustible and low carbon while still meeting thermal performance requirements. DriTherm® Cavity Slab 32, for example, has the best possible Euroclass A1 reaction to fire classification and is made from glass mineral wool, which has the lowest embodied carbon of any mainstream insulation material.
Making the switch Switching to 150mm cavities is a necessary evolution in building practices that will help buildings stand up to real performance scrutiny and meet sustainability targets. They give your customers flexibility in the whole-house recipe and make it easier to use non- combustible, low-carbon materials. Understanding these needs is key for merchants looking to help their customers meet the demands of a changing market that needs energy-efficient, low-carbon and comfortable homes. BMJ
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