Durisol gets top marks for green school building

Durisol’s eco-friendly wall forming system is helping to cut the lifetime carbon footprint - and ensure superb sound insulation - of a new building at a Devon school built by construction company Morgan Ashurst. External and internal walls of a single-storey extension at Caen Community Primary School in the village of Braunton have been constructed using fully recyclable Durisol modular units - a cement-bonded building product manufactured from 80% recycled wood fibre. In addition to the units’ own low carbon footprint and low embedded energy, Durisol units come with mineral fibre insulation as standard - a green insulation material - that allows U-values as low as 0.19, without additional insulation, thereby enhancing a building’s overall energy efficiency rating.

Construction Phase - Durisol Eco-friendly Wall Forming Units

Durisol Wall Unit installation at Caen Community Primary School

Durisol units with Rockwool mineral fibre insulation were used for the extension’s external load bearing walls whilst Durisol’s 170mm units, without insulation, were used for internal walls.

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The Finshed Project

Durisol Wall Units finish project at Caen Community Primary School

Extended Case Study - Durisol Modular Units Caen Community Primary School

Devon County Council worked on the project with its property services partner NPS South West Ltd in Exeter - a subsidiary of NPS Property Consultants Ltd. Nicholas Johnson, Lead Architect at NPS South West managed the design and construction of the 300m2 extension at Caen Community Primary School, which provides pupils with three extra classrooms and a new toilet block. Durisol wall units were selected to complement the project’s sustainable specification, he says: “We first read about Durisol in a trade magazine and logged on to their website to find out more. The product’s green credentials are very impressive and the wall unit’s innovative tongue and grooved locating profile assists alignment and enables quick and easy wall forming on site - saving both build time and costs.” Durisol modular units are simply dry-stacked without mortar, and then filled with concrete to create solid walls with excellent thermal and sound insulation. In addition, the building’s square, single storey design is ensuring high tensile strength which has eliminated the need for reinforcing bars - further reducing construction time and costs.

NPS South West specified 365mm wide Durisol units with Rockwool mineral fibre insulation for the extension’s external load bearing walls. These are the largest units in the Durisol range with a sound reduction capability of 57dB. All units have a structural core thickness of 120mm. Durisol’s 170mm units, without insulation, were used for internal walls and have an acoustic rating of 55dB. According to the school’s Head Teacher, Karen Crutchfield, the sound insulation is “fabulous” and there is a noticeable positive difference when walking through to the new building. She comments: “There’s no echo, even in such a lofty, open area, which is particularly good for younger children’s classrooms as it adds to the comfort of the space and allows for calm and quiet as well as discussion and play.”

As Caen Community Primary School is located on a flood plain, materials used to build the extension must be able to withstand potential exposure to water. “Durisol units met this requirement as well,” says Nicholas Johnson, “as they don’t rot or decay and won’t support fungal or bacterial growth - making them a really durable, green building solution.”
Durisol and its licensees have been producing wood fibre and reinforced concrete products for over 50 years in Europe and also in North America, Australia, Russia and the Pacific Rim. In addition to wall form products for building, the company also has a portfolio of products and systems including noise barriers and retaining walls all of which are available from Burdens Environmental.

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