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MARCH 08 - NEW HOUSING WITH A HEALTHY TWIST



A new housing development on a former infirmary site is not only making use of redundant land, but incorporating advanced materials to make the new homes as healthy as possible for the occupants.

Webster Contracts is about to redevelop the location in Forfar in conjunction with Angus Housing Association, creating some 14 luxury homes for private sale, a further eight affordable homes for sale as party of Community Scotland’s Homestake shared equity scheme, and six amenity homes for AHA for the elderly and wheelchair users. All the homes are being constructed using Webster Contracts’ own timber frame engineering system, and progressive materials.

Central to the homes’ structure are membranes and accessories from Glidevale Ltd, used to help ensure excess moisture generated once the homes are occupied escapes and that the home maintains a fresh, dry, light and draught-free environment within.

Gordon Webster, managing director of Webster Contracts, observes, “Whether we are building a bespoke private home, a luxury home of the type we are building in Forfar, or affordable housing for a Housing Association, all the occupants deserve to have a quality home that is dry, light, draught- and damp-free, and that meets- or exceeds- statutory requirements. We now use the Glidevale products in all our homes as we believe they give performance advantages both during construction and for years after.”

Its Protect TF200 breather membrane for walls is proven to provide up to four times the vapour permeability recommended by BRE, TRADA and the NHBC, yet gives good strength, nail tear resistance, high resistance to water, snow and dust penetration into the building and high burst strength. This helps ensure the 24 pints of moisture people generate on average in their home each day can escape from the structure avoiding damp, condensation and potential health issues such as asthma and respiratory illness.

On the roof, Protect A1 non permeable (HR) roofing underlay is completely waterproof and- unlike many alternative products- has unrestricted use for wind uplift in all exposure conditions in the UK and Ireland. To help ensure the roofspace is properly ventilated, Glidevale SV soffit ventilators and RV rafter roll are incorporated at eaves to maintain a continuous ventilation path from the roof void to outside.

Between living space and roof, Webster Contracts is using Glidevale’s LA1 push-up loft trap. The trap features integral closed cell seals, reducing water vapour migration into the loftspace and exceeding the airtightness requirements of Scottish Technical Standards Part J. It also achieves a U value of 0.35W/m2K, the best available on the market.

The company is also looking to incorporate Glidevale Sunscoop tubular rooflights into its homes, to increase natural daylight into corridors, bathrooms and other poorly lit areas.

Glidevale is part of the Building Product Design Group, and specializes in developing and bringing to market innovative yet practical roofing and ventilation products in line with changing demands.

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