NBT creates healthy learning environments

A comprehensive collection of sustainable, high performance building materials from Natural Building Technologies has been specified in the development of two replacement primary school buildings in Tameside, Manchester. Designed by Aedas Architects Limited, with an emphasis on providing a 'green'; and healthy building fabric, both schools have been constructed to provide an entirely breathable building fabric and offer high levels of energy efficiency.

Funded by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council to provide children at Aldwyn and Lyndhurst primary schools with improved learning environments, the combined project value totalled almost £9 million. Aldwyn benefited from a contemporary, single-storey development to accommodate both Aldwyn and Hawthorn primary schools, while Lyndhurst's new two-storey building has merged previously separated infant and junior departments.

Aedas Architects designed both schools to demonstrate ‘green building’ techniques by implementing natural and sustainable materials wherever possible. Aware that all NBT systems are environmentally sound and fully breathable, Aedas consulted NBT throughout the specification process. As a result NBT’s ThermoPlan clay-fired masonry block system, Hemp Batt insulation and woodfibre board insulation systems, including Diffutherm, Pavatex and Pavatherm Plus, were specified for both projects. For a wholly breathable building shell, all systems were finished using NBT’s lime-based render and Eco-Trade paint.

Adrian Bailey, project architect at Aedas Architects Limited, comments: “For both projects, the aim was to create sustainable and healthy buildings. The NBT systems were specified for their ability to maximise the breathability and energy efficiency of the building fabric as well as the added mass they provide to prevent overheating. NBT advised us throughout the specification process and held informative product demonstrations, supporting product use on-site.”

Well insulated on both external and internal walls, the schools have achieved high levels of energy efficiency. The naturally vapour-open and hygroscopic properties of the Hemp Batt and woodfibre board insulation systems deliver excellent thermal performance and provide effective regulation of internal moisture levels. This will protect the buildings from damp and help create healthy indoor air quality for both schools.

The solid wall panels constructed with NBT’s ThermoPlan will also contribute to the overall efficiency and breathability of the school buildings. The advanced structure of these blocks deliver excellent acoustic properties and fire resistance, with the complementary lime plaster finish ensuring that the buildings achieve high levels of air-tightness.

Finishing the NBT systems with vapour permeable lime-based render and Eco-Trade paint has guaranteed the long-term breathability of the schools. The ability of the building shells to ‘breathe’ could have otherwise been jeopardised by applying some other mainstream products, many of which are vapour-closed and thereby risk trapping moisture at the wall surface. The added benefit of non-toxic and zero solvent paints has also contributed towards the creation of a healthier internal atmosphere for both schools.

Tony Pensom, Sales and Marketing Director of Natural Building Technologies concludes: “NBT’s building systems are sustainable in every sense. As well as allowing buildings to be completely breathable and thermally efficient, they are manufactured from natural, renewable resources and have a very low embodied energy compared with many other mainstream products. Furthermore, all systems are simple to install, saving vital time both during the initial planning stages and on-site.”