24

Jan

2021

Amvic Ireland, long-known for its dual-insulated concrete formwork (ICF), has thrown down the gauntlet to other construction methods, whether blockwork or light frame, by introducing a new, ultra-energy-efficient wall system.

Building Regulations Requirements

According to Pat Martin, Director, Amvic Ireland, “The building regulations require you to achieve the NZEB-standard for thermal performance, and we’ve been achieving that without any difficulty for the past three years, using our existing Amvic 300 system.”

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Amvic Ireland

“We’ve been operating for the last 15 years, supplying both self-builder and developers with our ICF system. Our current main product, Amvic 300, has 75mm of insulation on the outside, a 150mm concrete core and 75 more mm of insulation on the inside,” Pat Martin continues.

Amvic Ireland’s systems have been used in the construction of many housing schemes, both private and social, as well as apartment developments and care homes, and numerous one-off private homes all over Ireland and the UK.

Amvic Ireland’s systems deliver great energy-consumption benefits due to their use of expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation, both internally and externally.

Amvic 350 Passive

Now the company has gone one further. Amvic 350 Passive is an ICF system aimed squarely at passive house development.

“We’ve just launched a new product that takes the insulation to the next level. We call it Amvic 350 Passive, comprising 100mm of insulation on either side of the 150mm concrete core, all in high-density enhanced EPS,” Pat Martin adds.

Apart from the energy performance — the U-value is 0.15W/m²K — on-site work is significantly aided by reducing the need for wet trades, among other benefits. These include programme certainty, less drying times, minimal micro-cracking on finishes and almost no snagging, all due to the solid concrete core of the structure. Amvic 350 Passive also delivers virtually zero thermal bridging, as well as inherent airtightness, which makes compliance with the building regulations easy to achieve.

“It forms the basis for a passive building. Any chosen finish, such as render, brick or stone cladding, timber or metal, can be applied – whatever is called for by the architect,” he says.

Insulated concrete formwork

Pat Martin comments that the demand for higher-performance construction is growing and that it beats light frame systems due to its flexibility and the lack of long lead times.

“Our ICF is very simple to build and is available with very short lead times, meaning there is no waiting around for design and manufacture, plus it has all of the other benefits of Amvic Ireland ICF, including fire resistance, structural strength, acoustic performance and rapid build and simplicity. It is the ultimate, proven Modern Method of Construction.”

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