Article Date: 5th January 2012

Dow Building Solutions - A ‘Giant’ Undertaking For Styrofoam

Wall Insulation - Floor Insulation - Roof Insulation - Insulation Products

Work is well underway on the construction of a new visitors’ centre at the world-famous Giant’s Causeway – and 2,200m2 of 200mm thick STYROFOAM material ROOFMATE SL-A is playing a crucial role.

The material – manufactured by Dow Building Solutions and supplied by Tennants Building Products in Northern Ireland – has been installed on the flat roof of the heneghan.peng.architects-designed building, not only to provide insulation but to support a wildflower meadow being planted as a vast, green roof.

It was the first time 200mm thick ROOFMATE SL-A has been installed on a job site in Ireland. The enhanced ‘A-foam’ insulation – recently introduced to the Irish market - is blown with CO2, giving it a Global Warning Potential (GWP) of less than five.

The Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Centre has been designed to merge into the landscape. Locally-quarried black basalt will clad exterior walls to echo the beauty of the Causeway and the green roof will help ensure it’s the landscape itself that will catch the eye.

ROOFMATE SL-A is ideally suited to such green roof developments. Along with excellent insulating properties, low water absorption and ease of installation, it offers good compressive strength, rot resistance and long term durability, and is unaffected by wide fluctuations in temperature and repeated freeze/thaw cycles.

The insulation protects waterproof coverings from penetration of roots, UV damage and mechanical damage during construction, use and maintenance and also offers support for the weight of soil necessary for the planted layer.

“This job is very much in the public eye and it was important that we could offer insulation that would not only meet energy efficiency and environmental targets but also perform effectively in tough, external conditions,” said Paul Mullan of Tennants, which supplied roofing contractor Grainger Building Services with the STYROFOAM-A material.

“With an EU Directive that all public sector buildings should be ‘nearly zero’ energy by the end of 2018, we believe offering a range of CO2-blown insulation in different thicknesses will help architects meet such increasingly stringent thermal efficiency targets without compromising on the creativity of their designs.”

Work began on the Giant’s Causeway Visitors’ Centre in November 2010. The building is due to open this summer, twelve years after the original building burned down. Funded by the National Trust, along with assistance from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Heritage Lottery Fund, the £18.5 million development was given planning approval in January 2009. The main contractor is Gilbert-Ash and it was designed by heneghan.peng.architects.

For STYROFOAM-A product sales in Northern Ireland, email Tennants Building Products below. Visit www.styrofoam.co.uk for product information and news on recent improvements to thermal conductivity across the STYROFOAM-A product range.

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