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Icynene selected by Dragonboard to Insulate Its Future Homes Project

29 Jun 2011
News
Icynene’s green and sustainable soft foam insulation has been selected by Dragonboard as the best product to use in the insulation of its new three bedroom Welsh Future Homes project house.  The Dragon House is designed to meet level 5 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Having developed its own unique construction technology, Dragonboard, which manufactures high quality magnesium oxide building board, was looking for a suitable eco-friendly expanding foam insulation that was stable, long lasting, water resistant yet both air tight and breathable. Icynene’s air barrier qualities has enabled the Dragon House to exceed Passiv Haus standards in terms of air tightness and the product, which does not slump or deteriorate over time, was the perfect solution.

“Home owners will benefit from the affordability of our homes and subsequently the low running costs,” said Greg Barton, managing director of Dragonboard. “One of the key requirements was that the insulation had to be open cell and breathable which Icynene is.  In the event of flooding, should water get into the fabric then it will quickly drain out of Icynene and once dry it will perform as originally designed.”

Steel frame houses can be difficult to insulate with conventional insulations, especially when air change requirements are low.  Icynene is a proven and effective air barrier and meets target specifications for thermal insulation and air tightness. It also reduces draughts, external noise and promotes better indoor air quality as it has a long experience of being used in homes for people with asthma and other respiratory problems. 

We believe Dragonboard technology has a straightforward and sound concept to build high performance homes that are both rapid and economical to construct and have the ability to greatly reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions,” said Icynene’s Vice-President Jeff Hood. “We are delighted our licensed distributor Airseal Insulation has partnered with Dragonboard on this and future projects.   
Mick Morris, managing director of Airseal Insulation said, “Icynene’s water blown foam is applied on site by trained operatives using a totally self contained mobile manufacturing rig.  Four barrels of material, which is one pallet load, was sufficient to insulate the entire house which avoids damage to the environment caused by large lorries transporting the more bulky conventional insulation products to site. The equivalent conventional insulation would have required two large trucks.  Our soft foam insulation adheres tenaciously to most substrates, seals around wiring and plumbing perfectly and moves with the thermal expansion and contraction of the building.”
Dragonboard is manufactured from naturally occurring mineral components mixed to a unique formula. It does not contain any organic solvents, oils, toxic substances or metal salts and can be used both externally and internally.
Externally, Dragonboard is used as a sheathing layer as it is intrinsically weather proof and will never decay overtime. The board can receive a variety of weathering finishes such as paint or painted rendered systems as well as fastened systems like weather boarding or tiles.
Internally Dragonboard can be used on wall, floors and ceilings. The boards are pre-finished ready for decoration and do not require application of skim finishes, thus saving time and labour on the finishing trades. As the board is breathable, there is no requirement for vapour barriers in the construction which leads to further savings.
The Dragon board technology and The Icynene Insulation System, together with other components were successfully combined to create the Dragon House