Schöck Isokorbs for Bouygues UK sustainable design and build projects
Two large new affordable housing developments in Brent, North West London, incorporate Schöck Isokorb® modules throughout to prevent any risk of thermal bridging problems and help optimise the sustainable nature of the buildings. The two design and build developments are part of a major new scheme being delivered throughout the borough for the Brent Private Finance Initiative (PFI) housing project by Bouygues UK in partnership with Hyde Housing. It is a scheme that will help Brent Council address the shortage of suitable housing for homeless families, reduce reliance on bed and breakfast accommodation and modernise residential care services for people with learning difficulties.
The two sites, which are about a mile apart, are located in The Mall and Brook Avenue. The Mall is the larger of the two units and will see the construction of 88 Flats and Maisonettes over four floors. Brook Avenue involves the demolition of existing flats and construction of 44 flats over nine floors.
Bouygues UK liaised closely with the Schöck sales and technical team throughout the installation, leaving cut outs in the shear walls to take the Isokorb® thermal break units. The specific type of Isokorb® used is the KS 14 Isokorb®, which is a load-bearing, thermal insulating element for connecting cantilevered steel components to reinforced concrete.
Loic Menard, Project Director for Bouygues UK, Brent Social Housing & Regeneration PFI comments: "Schöck Isokorbs provide energy efficient thermal breaks that comply with our design and build sustainability requirements. The product's functionality meets our objectives in achieving high performance buildings whilst reducing CO2 emissions during production and for the end user".
This latest generation KS 14 module now has around 20 percent more load-bearing capacity in the bending moment, which means that the number of components required for use on site can potentially be reduced, saving on expensive structural steel and valuable installation time. In addition to the higher load-bearing capacity, the insulation performance has also been improved. The thermal conductivity of the insulation body is now 0.031 W/(mK) from 0.035 W/(mK). This is due to the insulating element being made of Neopor® (a foamable EPS polystyrene material) with added graphite from BASF.
The Schöck Isokorb® range of modules offer exceptional thermal performance ratings and are the only products of their type to allow connectivity between concrete-to-concrete, concrete-to-steel and steel-to-steel – and also provide BBA Certification and LABC Registration.
Schöck Isokorb® modules offer designers and engineers complete peace of mind, as all units meet full compliance with the relevant UK building regulations. The requirement described in BRE IP1/06 – a document cited in Building Regulations Approved Documents Part L1 and L2 and Section 6 in Scotland – that the temperature factor used to indicate condensation risk (fRSI) must be greater than, or equal to, 0.75 for dwellings and residential buildings, is easily met by incorporating the Isokorb®.
There is also compliance with the Government Standard Assessment Procedure, SAP 2009, concerning CO2 emissions from buildings, and respectively heat losses through non-repeating thermal bridges. Here, the lambda values of the Schöck Isokorb® enables energy loss through balconies, canopies and other cantilever parts of buildings to be reduced by as much as 84% to 91%.
A 20 page ‘Specifiers Handbook‘ is available which provides an overview and introduction to the Schöck Isokorb®, and there is a comprehensive 236 page ‘Technical Guide’ which displays in detail the complete range of thermal break applications for all construction types – concrete-to-concrete, concrete-to-steel, steel-to-steel and concrete-to-timber.
