Iso Chemie’s thermal insulating and load bearing bracket support system and sealing tapes have been specified for a new energy improvement initiative being carried out by a northern housing association.

The move sees Winframer units being retrofitted at three 1940s – 1960s built houses in Northallerton and Stokesley as part of Yorkshire-based Broadacre Housing Association’s (BHA) pilot project. This will eventually bring hundreds of poorly insulated properties up to zero carbon ready standards and provide improved housing for BHA customers along with long-term cost savings.

Passivhaus certified and fire rated to up to 30 minutes, Winframer is a prefabricated installation frame, manufactured to accommodate cavities up to 250mm that allows windows to be supported independently from the face of the wall regardless of any external cladding being in place.

Designed to be quick and easy to install, the product’s application at The Crescent, Northallerton has been integrated alongside Iso Chemie’s Iso Bloco One sealing tapes to achieve Passivhaus certified window perimeter sealing performance.

The flexible humidity variable sealing foil, Iso-Connect Vario SD and Iso-Top Flex tape, have also been chosen to deliver greater internal air tightness around wall, floor and ceiling joints. These products have also been used at a fourth property in Myton on Swale which will receive internal wall insulation.

The Broadacres project comes as a wider Government strategy aims to reduce carbon levels in housing that has single skin, cavity or non-cavity walls – buildings with a reputation for losing considerable amounts of energy, heat and sound.

The Iso Chemie products have reportedly contributed to ‘impressive’ results of 2.52 m³h-1m² during initial air testing at the pre-plaster stage, delivering improved levels of air tightness and thermal performance across the pilot properties.

Eddie Grant, project manager for Broadacres, said the housing association’s new sustainability strategy outlines a roadmap which will lead to all its homes and operations having net zero carbon emissions within the next 30 years.

He said: “With our sustainability programme in mind, we are currently retrofitting the four initial properties to help them achieve zero carbon ready standards, which will further inform our longer-term approach. This work is scheduled to complete later this year and the Iso Chemie products have already proven their value in delivering demonstrable energy efficiency improvements.”

Nick Thompson, ISO Chemie’s technical adviser, said: “As new building regulations continue to take effect, property owners and landlords are increasingly requiring smarter ways to deliver their refurb projects through sustainable technologies. Our tapes can support this activity, providing high performance airtight, acoustic and thermal sealing solutions.”