Renfrewshire Council Social Housing
Case Study: Social Housing Retrofit
Reducing fuel poverty and improving the energy performance and comfort for residents in social housing
Location
Renfrewshire, Scotland
Project Summary
This controlled study demonstrated that natural hemp insulation outperformed glasswool insulation due to the additional feature of superior volumetric heat capacity and a superior friction fit to reduce gaps and thermal bridging. Two identical social housing flats were retrofitted, one with glasswool as the control and one with IndiNature's IndiTherm hemp insulation both at the same thickness. Flats were data logged by an independent body over one year for temperature and humidity variations. Additional thermal imaging was used, which showed the glasswool leaving clear cold bridges on the ceiling which would be vulnerable to condensation and mould growth.
In the IndiTherm flat, the average temperature range over the ceiling surface was 2.2°C, from 21-18.8°C; whereas the temperature range over the ceiling in the control flat was 5.6°C, from 20-14.4°C. This means there was greater thermal comfort in the flat with the hemp insulation, with the temperature varying less.
The temperature factor (fRsi) was also measured for both the IndiTherm and control flat, with Inditherm at 0.91-0.96 and the glasswool flat at 0.81-0.83. While both are better than the minimum fRsi target of 0.75 for PAS 2035, the hemp wool product was the higher performer.
Installers praised how soft the materials felt compared to the skin irritation of mineral wools, which meant they didn't have to wear the usual gloves and white PPE suits which are very hot in loft spaces. They also appreciated the absence of the usual dust when cutting and installing.
IndiNature Product Details
IndiTherm flexi insulation.
