For 14 years Mr Drummee has had to turn the heating on at six o’clock in the morning at his home in Norwich but now, following the installation of the weber.therm external wall insulation system and render, there is no need. “We just have a little heat in the evening, that’s all we need. I am very, very pleased. It makes one hell of a difference. When my sons visit they say it is too hot!” says Mr Drummee.

The current phase of renovation and refurbishment being carried out on properties owned by Norwich City Council is designed to raise their thermal performance. Whilst the application of weber.therm external wall insulation and render is the core element of this renovation process, additional benefits are gained from replacement of windows, doors and roofline products.

The weber.therm XP system features lightweight insulation boards fixed to a sound substrate and a cementitious one-coat through-coloured render with a mesh-cloth inlay for enhanced impact resistance.

Main contractor for Norwich City Council is City Care (Which is the trading name of Morrison Veolia Limited) and specialist application experts, Cornerstone East Anglia, are carrying out the Weber installation. The propeties are mostly pre-war brick structure with roughcast pebbledash render. Kevin Wright, Major Projects Manager for City Care, is impressed with the retrofit process. “We check that the original render is sound before the 60mm of phenolic insulation boards are fitted with the fixings going right through the render into the brickwork for stability. Where we have an adequate run we are applying the render by machine pump and when correctly set the scrape-back gives a really excellent finish”.

Cornerstone’s Tom Eden is responsible for the current contract for 50 properties in Norwich. “The phenolic insulation of the weber.therm XP EWI system gives tremendous insulation. With 60mm of insulation and 12mm of render these properties are dramatically improved. Tennant’s feedback has been great; their utility bills are showing substantial savings in energy use and, quite simply, the homes are now comfortable, warmer, quieter and better looking.” The indicative U values of the properties will have fallen from 2.09 to 0.31W/m²k from using the weber.therm XP EWI system.