As violent storms increasingly become a feature of the UK’s weather patterns and published data indicates that 5.2 million properties are currently at risk of flooding in England alone, a new technical bulletin for the building trade from Kingspan Insulation couldn’t be more timely.

‘Flooding & Insulation: Steps to Improve the Flood Resilience of Buildings’, is a concise summary of the current independent guidance for improving a building’s recovery time from flood damage.

Flood resilience refers to measures which minimise damage to a building and allow it to recover as quickly as possible, and the new short guide outlines current wisdom on resilience measures for buildings in flood-affected areas.

A key issue for resilience is the ability of any insulation to recover from the effects of immersion in water and to return to the expected level of thermal performance as soon as possible after the event. The Department for Communities and Local Government’s (CLG’s) report: ‘Improving the Flood Performance of New Buildings’, recommends that cavity insulation should incorporate rigid closed cell materials, as these: “retain integrity and have low moisture take-up”.

Kingspan Insulation is the world’s largest manufacturer of premium and high performance rigid insulation materials. Its Kooltherm, Therma and Styrozone ranges are all closed-cell insulants, as recommended by the CLG.

The company’s Technical Manager, Tony Millichap commented “Our insulation materials are designed to withstand both moisture and water vapour ingress, problems which can result in reduced thermal performance, so it is no surprise to us that our products could reduce the impact of flooding and increase a building’s capacity for recovery following water damage. This technical bulletin offers specifiers information which will help them to assess the current guidance and to make informed decisions about insulation matters, in an era of increased flooding risk.”

Kingspan also supports all of its products with technical and design advice through its Technical Service Department. ‘Flooding & Insulation: Steps to Improve the Flood Resilience of Buildings’ is available to download from the Kingspan Insulation website: www.insulation.kingspan.co.uk/floodresilience