This blog was written by MEDITE SMARTPLY

Even in normal circumstances, we spend about 90% of our time indoors. During the most recent Covid-19 pandemic, which has spurred a global lockdown, this has increased even further, with many not leaving their homes at all for months.

Our surrounding built environment has a tangible impact on our quality of life, and more so as the amount of time we spend indoors increases. A significant consideration is the indoor air quality inside our buildings, which is determined in part by the building materials used.

If building owners were under pressure to compete in both the sustainability and the emerging wellbeing market, now they most definitely are.

Now, it’s not only an attractive plus for a potential tenant (be they a company looking for office space or a family searching for a home) to read the sustainability and wellbeing credentials of the building owner or developer—it’s the key factor that might just tip the balance. This makes it essential that all building products specified be aligned with the occupants’ health and wellbeing. All major environmental building standards such as BREEAM, LEED and The WELL Standard now recognise this.

Advances in technology have allowed timber construction panel manufacturers, including MEDITE SMARTPLY, to crucially prioritise the health, safety and wellbeing of both contractors and building occupants.

MEDITE SMARTPLY’s range of innovative products not only meet but exceed emissions standards and are able to contribute to healthy environments both indoors and outdoors post lockdown.

Addressing challenges with innovative solutions

MEDITE CLEAR MDF was developed especially for the most sensitive interior applications such as hospitals and care homes, which have been crucial environments during the pandemic. However, there is no reason why it should not be specified by residential and commercial architects to consciously manage the level of formaldehyde emitted by building products in any project.

Manufactured with no added formaldehyde, MEDITE CLEAR has been shown to reflect less than 1.0mg of formaldehyde present per 100g: the equivalent to that of natural wood—but it still brings with it all the versality of MDF.

Other selected specialist MEDITE products that are manufactured with no added formaldehyde which are ideal for interior fit outs include: MEDITE FR CLEAR, for sensitive applications that also require a Euroclass B or C fire rating; MEDITE MR, for moisture resistance; and MEDITE TRICOYA EXTREME (MTX), for water resistance.

An acetylated wood product, which means it is organically treated to be supremely resistant to water and fungal decay, MTX can be used indoors or outdoors and is guaranteed for up to 50 years above ground. Aside from its external uses, MTX has historically been used to fit out wet rooms and showers as a sustainable, easily machined alternative to plastic.

The entire MEDITE MDF product range exceeds CARB2 certification, one of the world’s most stringent tests for emission of formaldehyde.

All the SMARTPLY OSB range is manufactured with absolutely no added formaldehyde as standard, providing low VOC peace of mind that a developer or architect can pass on to tenants, as well as enabling the building to achieve or maintain it’s all important BREEAM rating or similar.

SMARTPLY PATTRESS PLUS can contribute in exactly this way, as a pre-rebated, pre-sized engineered OSB3 panel can enable contractors to install reliable, heavy weightbearing pattressing at speed.

As office employees seek to feel more secure in their understandably daunting environment on returning to the office, it’s possible that more enclosed, specialised office designs will return, and with them the need for partition walls strong enough to hang monitors or equipment from.

Despite its weightbearing strength, PATTRESS PLUS can be lifted by a single person, helping dryliners to work independently when necessary, for example when observing social distancing at work.

Other interior SMARTPLY products are SMARTPLY MAX FR, for applications that call for regulation fire rated materials used along fire escape routes or within floors and ceilings; and SMARTPLY ULTIMA for the ultimate in weightbearing OSB which can be used for both interiors and exteriors.

Finally, all MEDITE SMARTPLY’s timber panels are responsibly sourced from its own FSC® certified forests in Ireland, guaranteeing a clear supply chain.