Unity Lime Products at Build It – Bicester!
Unity Lime are delighted to have displayed at Build It Live, Bicester 2024 as part of an alliance with Breathaplasta, Hemp Block Company and Sheepwool Insulation. This tradeshow is special in our hearts as it’s purpose is the core of what our business was set up to achieve; help environmentally conscious homeowners who want the best for both themselves and future generations to achieve their dream.
Build It Live events were set up to inspire prospective buyers to create a property that they will never want to leave. It gives us a chance to speak directly with those planning their project and to advise them on the benefits of using sustainable, natural materials when building their dream home. These materials not only provide exceptional thermal performance, but contribute to significant improvement of comfort through their high thermal mass, humidity regulating properties and their notable lack of VOCs compared to conventional building products. With Bicester being on our doorstep, we are delighted to help those in our local community who are looking build a dream home they can be proud of.
Our Managing Director, James King, was on site for an extremely busy Saturday where conversations with people included:
- Using hemp blocks and wood fibre insulation to upgrade shipping containers for use
- Insulating a local historic Cotswold stone Barn that is being converted into a dream wedding venue.
- Homeowners wanting to upgrade their existing properties, but are not attracted to using high CO2 building products such as polyiso insulation or stone wool
- New build timber frame constructions that avoid the use of vapour barriers bu using wood fibre, denim, sheeps wool or hemp based insulations.
One of the most common questions we are asked is – ‘which insulation should we use for our build?’ This is an excellent question, but there is not a one size fits all answer. You want to be using insulations that are not only appropriate for your build but fit your ethos, for example, on a new build timber frame home the following would be an excellent choice.
- External thermal envelope (Stud walls and rafters)
- External walls = Woodfibre or cork insulation boards – hemp blocks are also an excellent option to add thermal mass to the construction further protecting against summertime overheating.
- Roof = Woodfibre insulation board
- Between timbers = Flexible wood fibre, high density sheepwool, or flexible hemp.
- Partition walls
- Between timbers = Lower density insulations such as denim or sheepwool are best here, it keeps the costs down, provides some zonal heat control and provides excellent acoustics.
- Over timbers, you should consider using Fibrolith wood wool boards as a render carrier. Not only are they a sustainable alternative to plasterboard, they serve as an excellent acoustic board.
- Floor options
- Suspended timber floors should be treated as part of the thermal envelope and higher density boards should be considered.
- Intermediate boards should be partially filled with low density acoustic insulations to aid in zonal heat control and prevent noise from travelling between floors.
- Over the floors you should consider Pavanatur as an insulating, acoustic underlay to further protect against airborne and impact noise.
When trying to decide between which insulation you should use there are a few things we like to identify:
- Are carbon locking materials important to you? If so, wood fibre and hemp are the best considerations.
- Are you trying to eliminate plastics from the build entirely? If so wood fibre, hemp, cork and Sheepwool are the best options.
- Are you trying to support local products? If so using hemp or Thermafleece sheep wool insulation utilising British resources.
- Is it important that the products have a 10 year warranty? if so using PAVATEX wood fibre, denim or similar PAVATEX insulations provide that security.
For more information on systems for every type of construction please visit our SYSTEMS PAGE
Do remember that if you are in doubt and want free advice on how which products are most suitable for your build then you can contact us for guidance – [email protected]
🗓️ Event Details:
📅 Date: 8-9 June 2024
📍 Location: Bicester Heritage Event Centre (ex RAF Bicester), Buckingham Road, Bicester – OX26 5HA