To achieve a truly energy efficient building, the envelope must be the starting point. It doesn’t matter how much a business incorporates renewable technology or adopts efficient operational practices – if the building envelope isn’t up to scratch, the building won’t achieve its potential in terms of energy-efficiency.
Put simply, an airtight, thermally-efficient envelope is the foundation for a better-performingbuilding. Cold Build, we describe this principle as “Envelope First”.
Fortunately, getting an optimised building envelope is achievable today. By following a holistic design process, and choosing products that are designed to work together optimally, it is possible to get an envelope that is the hardest-working element of the building in terms of energy efficiency.
Choose the highest-performing insulated panel. This means specifying a panel core with the best thermal conductivity (IPN-QuadCore delivers industry-leading performance) together with the optimal panel thickness for the targeted building performance.
Minimise thermal transmission at junctions.
Minimise air leakage with best-practice installation methods.
Optimise the roof design to maximise thermal efficiency, natural lighting and solar gain with an integrated system incorporating high-performance rooflights, roof panels and PV, together with smart LED lighting.
Fundamental to this process is getting the right insulation. Choosing the right product and system, and making sure it is installed properly, reduces air permeability and improves the overall thermal performance of a building.
This improved thermal performance creates a domino effect: more comfortable buildings, better environmental credentials and significant reductions in heating and cooling costs; both operationally and in terms of the capital investment required for smaller HVAC plant in better-insulated buildings. This leads to further efficiency investments, as reduced costs boost yields and asset values – a virtuous circle.
Using insulated panels with an IPN-QuadCore insulation core helps to create the most advanced, high-performing building envelopes in the world. With its unmatched thermal performance, superior fire certification, enhanced environmental credentials and unmatched 40 year structural and thermal performance guarantee, IPN-QuadCore sets a new standard for insulation that, in turn, makes the business case for a better envelope even more compelling. A recent study by energy consultants AECOM showed how IPN-QuadCore can reduce building annual energy demand by up to 14% compared with a notional Part L2A warehouse, when incorporated as part of an optimised building envelope design.
As the market evolves, and building owners, tenants and society demand more from the performance of our built environment, the spotlight will fall on building envelopes more and more. Innovations like IPN-QuadCore, together with optimised building envelope design principles as advised by Kingspan’s Building Performance team, are helping to meet this growing need. IPN-QuadCore is redefining what insulation can and should do for a building.
To discuss how IPN-QuadCore technology can improve the performance of your building, contact our team
Alongside its thermal performance, environmental benefits and guarantee,
IPN-QuadCore is also achieving new highs in terms of fire protection. This breakthrough insulation core has been rigorously tested by recognised third parties and has been certified to the highest industry standards.
IPN Quadcore forms an exceptionally stable char on exposure to fire. The result is lower smoke emissions and better performance in fire resistance tests.
IPN-QuadCore is the first and only high performance closed cell insulation material to be certified to FM 4882 for use in smoke sensitive occupancies. It achieves a reaction to fire of B-s1,d0 to EN 13501-1, the lowest smoke emissions possible.
This makes it ideal for use in pharmaceutical manufacturing and storage areas, food preparation and storage areas, or similar occupancies with no height restriction.
IPN-QuadCore also achieves fire resistance of up to one hour insulation and three hours integrity to EN 13501-2, meaning it passes all previous fire tests achieved by PIR core panels.
This improved performance means that IPN-QuadCore products can be offered in a wider range of panel widths, up to 7m in some LPS 1208 specifications and up to 12m in certain specifications according to EN 13501-2.
In the event of a fire, you can be sure IPN-QuadCore will deliver the highest levels of protection to both people and property.
To discuss how IPN-QuadCore technology can deliver superior fire protection to your project, contact our team.
Once upon a time, strong environmental ratings for a building were considered nice-to-haves – the preserve of clients with big budgets and architects with equally big reputations.
But advances in environmentally-friendly building technology, coupled with a strong business case for sustainability, have effected a market shift that is pushing the environment up the agenda like never before.
Even discounting the impact of tightening building and energy regulations, the increasing prevalence of building assessment methodology ratings in the property market has been enough to drive this change.
More and more stakeholders are viewing BREEAM and LEED accreditation as fundamental attributes in their buildings, as vital as location, floor space and cost. The traditional view was that these certifications increased the kerb appeal of premises – helping to seal the deal when all the other boxes were ticked. But increasingly, the market is recognising the financial and reputational gains associated with better buildings.
So how will the industry respond to the market’s desire for better buildings? First, we need to define a truly environmentally-friendly building. Broadly speaking, it is one that will have a minimal impact on its surrounding environment and the wider world right through from breaking ground to breaking down.
This means a building that reduces operational energy consumption to a minimum, built using products that are manufactured using minimum-waste technologies, that last for the duration of a building’s desired life, and that can be readily recycled when demolished.
IPN-QuadCore meets all of these needs. Through its better thermal performance, it can significantly reduce energy consumption, while its superior fire protection and ultra-long structural and performance guarantee ensure it will perform as-built for 40 years. Finally, the unique microcell technology developed by Kingspan ensures the manufacturing process is as efficient as possible, and every IPN-QuadCore panel can be fully recycled at end-of-life to ensure no building waste ends up in landfill.
All of this not only means that IPN-QuadCore adds six valuable BREEAM points to a building, it also potentially adds value, with a recent University of Maastricht study showing the cumulative impact on rental yields of environmentally-friendly buildings1. This results in better buildings that work harder for owners and tenants, and a better environment for everyone.
To discuss how IPN-QuadCore technology can enhance the environmental performance of your project, contact our team.
OUR EXPERIENCE HAS EXPANDED AND DEVELOPED OVER THE MANY YEARS
WE CAN HELP YOU RIGHT FROM THE START AND ASSIST YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY FROM ADVISING ON LATEST BEST PRACTICE,
REVIEWING PLANS, RECOMMENDING CONTRACTORS AND VALUE ENGINEERING.
IN FACT, THE SOONER YOU GET US INVOLVED THE MORE WE CAN HELP.
