Creating sustainable buildings for our future, together

Hemsec and SIP Build UK announce their partnership with the aim of providing a cost-effective, end-to-end solution for the creation of energy-efficient building systems. With energy prices soaring and millions of UK households living in fuel poverty, we must consider the ways we construct now more than ever.

Many house builders are driving energy savings through a combination of materials and technology; however, we believe that a fabric-first approach delivers huge benefits for the homeowner and the environment. In addition, as building regulations change, a fabric-first approach will increase thermal efficiency to futureproof the build by considering the entire building envelope, with construction materials sitting at the heart of this.

Building with SIPs can significantly contribute to meeting Future Home Standards and Passivhaus standards, resulting in reduced days that require heating, significantly reducing energy bills. Additionally, when building with SIPs, homes are airtight, resulting in cooler homes during the warmer weather.

Through the partnership, Hemsec and SIP Build UK aim to build on existing synergies to provide high-quality sustainable building systems, with a focus on taking responsibility in today’s environment for the generations of tomorrow.

Sarah Gazzola, sales and marketing Director at Hemsec commented:

“At Hemsec, we are on an exciting journey to become a B-Corp certified company and therefore it is extremely important for us to build relationships with organisations where there is a synergy in our values and purpose. With a strong alignment in the direction we’re heading, we are looking forward to building on the relationship we have with SIP Build UK and hope to make a real difference in the construction industry through providing high-quality panels that contribute to an energyefficient future for homeowners.”

Chris Duckworth, managing director at SBUK Group, added:

“The future direction allows us to make the most of being a market leader with Nationwide Coverage, SIPs are regularly featured on Grand

Designs and other property programmes, we have seen demand soar in this marketplace. Energy efficiency is harder to achieve using traditional methods and the short supply of brick layers is moving many developers and builders towards Offsite Manufacture. Our partnership with Hemsec and our dedicated teams and systems enables us to continue our passion for better products and processes which aim to increase efficiency, quality, resident satisfaction, environmental performance and sustainability.”

About Hemsec

Hemsec is the UK’s leading independent and longest-standing composite insulated panel manufacturers. With over 90 years of experience in the industry, Hemsec has played a key role in shaping the use of insulated panels across many industries.

About SIP Build UK

SIP Build UK is part of the market leading SBUK Group. For over a decade SIP Build UK take great pride in the design and manufacture of high performance, thermally efficient buildings delivered and installed within budget on site on time. With extensive knowledge and years of experience they cover the length and breadth of England and Wales. Offering SIP, Timber Frame, Cladding and Light Steel Frame Systems they pride themselves on a consultative approach.”

More at  www.sipbuilduk.co.uk  www.hemsec.com

For specifiers looking to adopt a SIPS approach – what are the key strengths and benefits of the panels – both from a commercial perspective and for self-build housing options?

Can you say a little about the way that SIPS cladding can provide both insulation and aid structural integrity and achieve high whole wall U–values?

SIPs cladding which can be a structural member as part of a system, wraps around a structural frame be it steel, oak, concrete or glulam. Wrapping around these frames with SIPs allows for extremely low u values to be achieved while minimising overall construction depths and thermal bridging in comparison to more traditional SFS style systems. A SIPs cladding wrap also removes the external finish from the critical path.

What key projects have you been working on over the last 18 months? Is there one in particular where you have really made a difference?

The specification of correctly accredited SIPs systems provides the specifier with an extremely predictable system removing variables from the project. Engaging with a company like SBUK group at the earliest stage allows for a predictability in thermal performance, cost and program time from the outset.

The increasingly stringent building regulation changes can still be achieved with an “of the shelf approach” guaranteeing thermal performance targets, while the offsite manufacture of systems allow for fast and predictable program times on site, reducing variables and therefore risk for the project overall.

The construction industry is under huge pressure to provide zero carbon design and adopt a more circular approach to material use – how are you ensuring high levels of sustainability, certification and streamlined offsite production processes?

Timber being Carbon Neutral and fantastic for Carbon capture allows the systems to be utilised to help future generations. All of our timber comes from sustainable sources and is PEFC marked.

The panelised SIPs are optimised for cutting using clever planning software, offcuts used for jointing splines and we try and utilise offcuts and trimmings from most of our manufacturing processes to further minimise waste.

Our QA process and system that we run for every item within the business allows us to regularly review and check the impact that that each element has.

We have recently featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs – The Derbyshire Longhouse.

This was an extremely challenging project that required the meticulous design, manufacture and install of our SIPs to a complex Steel Frame. The Roof panels particularly as all angles were different on each roof plane, providing no square side as a starting point. This was a deliberate feature to create more interesting detailing and architectural flare.

This was achieved and excelled through our highly skilled and collaborative approach as without an exceptional understanding of SIPs and building systems this project would not have worked!