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[March 2009]
NBT Announces UK Manufacture of ThermoPlan Clay Blocks
NBT (Natural Building Technologies) and Ibstock Brick announced an agreement for the UK manufacture, marketing and distribution of the ThermoPlan range of fired clay insulating blocks at Ecobuild. Previously manufactured solely within Germany by NBT partners, ZWK, the sustainable block-based building system will now also be produced by the UK’s leading clay facing brick manufacturer, Ibstock, with sales and marketing to be managed exclusively by NBT.
ZWK has granted Ibstock a licence to manufacture the ThermoPlan blocks and will facilitate production by sharing its technical and production expertise. With the ThermoPlan system already forming an integral part of NBT’s existing product portfolio, NBT has been appointed as the exclusive sales and marketing agent for all of the UK production.
As a result, ThermoPlan will be more widely available within the UK and customers will benefit from reduced transport costs. This will make the price of UK-produced systems substantially lower than the previously imported product. The reduction in transportation will also further reduce the product’s carbon footprint, which already boasts 30% less embodied carbon than standard UK-made concrete block systems
Tony Pensom, Sales and Marketing Director at NBT, said: “This new partnership represents our commitment to increase the availability and penetration of a high quality product, bringing genuine innovation to the mainstream UK construction market. ThermoPlan offers both a cost-effective and time-efficient alternative to traditional masonry systems and allows developers to construct a robust and highly energy efficient building shell with proven technology. Additionally, the fully breathable ThermoPlan system helps to create a healthier internal atmosphere for occupants and provides long-term protection for the building fabric”.
The ThermoPlan range is based on high performance, environmentally sound blocks that are manufactured using a clay-based raw material, specially formulated to produce a strong microporous structure. Suitable for almost any residential or non-residential building type of up to six storeys, the load-bearing system can be used to construct internal and external walls with a variety of finishes including render, cladding or even brick or stonework. It can be used as infill panels in steel or concrete frame buildings.
The advanced structure of the ThermoPlan blocks, combined with the vertical perforations extruded during the manufacturing process, makes these systems very thermally efficient and minimises cold bridging. The robust detailing and use of complementary plasters ensure that buildings constructed using these systems can be very airtight as well as offer excellent acoustic properties and fire resistance. In addition, the systems are fully breathable, which helps manage humidity levels within the building, improving health standards by limiting the risk of moulds. This also ensures that moisture does not get trapped in the building’s fabric, eliminating the risk of internal and interstitial condensation.
Recognised by the Housing Corporation as a Modern Method of Construction, this thin bed solid wall solution requires only 1mm bed joints and features dry interlocking vertical joints, meaning that it offers a considerably faster and cleaner construction process than many other modern block-based systems.
The first stage of production will concentrate on the heavier, internal acoustic ThermoPlan blocks, for partition and party walls. The second stage will be to produce the external wall insulation blocks, eventually leading to the manufacture of further products and systems in the ThermoPlan range.
ENDS