CPD Specifier May 2015 issue September 2014 | Page 14

Walls

DuPont™ Tyvek®
advanced breather membranes
help waste products to perform
in unexpected ways
in a new building
experiment

Architect Duncan Baker-Brown and the University of Brighton’s Faculty
of Art have undertaken a new ‘living experiment’ in sustainable building.
­
The Brighton Waste house is an ongoing project involving students of the
University, Brighton & Hove City Council and wide ranging support from
industry and the community, and is designed to explore ways in which
to build as ecologically as possible. DuPont Building Innovations has
donated two advanced breather membranes to assist with the project.

For example, making the structure as wind and watertight as possible,
while also capable of diffusing interstitial vapour to the exterior, was
crucial to the success of the experiment, and it became clear to the team
that the ideal membrane solution to protect the build was the renowned
reliability and performance DuPont™ Tyvek®. In total, 400 square metres
of DuPont™ Tyvek® Housewrap has been used to seal the building
envelope and a similar amount of the specialised DuPont™ Tyvek® UV
Facade membrane has been installed directly behind the second-hand
carpet tiles that act as rain screen cladding to the external walls.

The project aims to use as much reclaimed and recycled material
as available or appropriate - but where a certain type of product or
technology proves to be the best solution in terms of optimum efficiency,
then new materials or equipment have been specified (and in most cases,
donated). Both the finished building itself, and what has been learned
from the construction process, will serve as an ‘accessible laboratory’,
in conjunction with the Building Research Establishment (BRE) and the
university, aiming to demonstrate ways to combat the 45% contribution to
CO2 emissions in the UK that can be attributed to architectural structures.

Architect and project leader Duncan Baker-Brown of BBM Sustainable
Design Ltd comments, “We were very happy to specify DuPont™
Tyvek® Housewrap and DuPont™ Tyvek® UV Facade for The Brighton
Waste House, as the products guarantee the proper performance of our
rather unusual walls made of reclaimed and surplus material from the
construction industry, as well as from household waste. DuPont™ Tyvek®
Housewrap ensures that our carbon neutral building manages moisture
sensibly, while DuPont™ Tyvek® UV Facade forms a highly effective
weather seal for the building, sitting just behind our unusual external rain
screen, which is of course, also made of waste.

The timber framed structure is made largely of timber off-cuts with
salvaged play and is insulated in a variety of ways, from donated
KoolthermK15 boards to internal wall ‘cassettes’ filled with old VHS tapes
and compact disc cases, discarded wallpaper and 19,800 disposable
airline toothbrushes! In excess of 85% of the building product has been
sourced through reclamation of some kind, but certain new products and
hi tech solutions have been added where needed.

DUPONT

TEL: [phone]

WWW.TYVEK.CO.UK
14

READER ENQUIRY NO: 21