Sustainable Building
Sustainability in Timber Buildings
Green Buildings
Sustainable building is high on the agenda, and our clients need to know that their new green building is environmentally sensitive throughout its life. Cabinco eco buildings are an evolution of traditional methods for constructing in solid wood, and, combined with innovative design, ensure a fully recyclable building envelope.
Learn about carbon footprint of log buildings
Not only is your timber eco building sourced from sustainable materials, but it will also be energy efficient during use and largely recyclable at the end of its life.
Timber
The main component of all our sustainable buildings is timber: the only construction material which is fully renewable, and recyclable. All timber components are responsibly sourced from well managed forests as standard, and can be supplied FSC or PEFC certified if required. Cabinco Ltd carry both PEFC and FSC Chain of Custody Certification. Timber provides a permanent carbon lock when used in construction. These properties provide an excellent basis for today’s modern eco buildings. Learn more why purchase FSC timbers
Larch Cladding
Our standard specification uses Siberian Larch (laxis sibirica) for the external cladding: a species which is naturally weather resistant, and does not require ongoing preservative treatment. It can be allowed to gradually “weather” to an attractive silver-grey hue without any detriment to performance. This reduces maintenance costs and negates use of preservatives on site. An additional benefit of Cabinco Larch Cladding is that the edges are designed to meet flush and therefore provide a contemporary, “streamlined”, finish in keeping with modern premises.
For full details on Larch properties see Siberian Larch Cladding
Insulation
Our buildings are extremely well insulated as standard, using high quality, proprietary products such as Kingspan. Sustainability and “eco” credentials can be further enhanced by switching to alternative insulants; such as hemp based boards or sheep’s wool where this is preferred.
U Values
U values describe the thermal performance of a material. The lower the U Value, the better the material performs.
Standard U Values based on our minimum specification:
- Floor 0.21 W/m²K
- Walls 0.19 W/m²K
- Roof 0.16 W/m²K
These can be reduced still further through increased insulation or wall log thickness.
Timber Windows & Doors
Timber windows and doors are all factory pre-finished to a very high standard to reduce maintenance costs. They are all double glazed as standard with toughened or laminated glass used throughout. Options exist for B’ rated energy windows which are “Secure by Design”.
FSC window and doors can be supplied where required.
- 1.49 W/m²K overall transmittance (U value) for standard window units
- Argon filled 4/18/4 low E glazing units with U value of 1.1 W/m²K
- Triple glazed window units can be brought down as low as 0.6 W/m²K
Roofing
Our standard roofing material is Metrotile which is 60% recyclable and comes with a 40 year manufacturer’s guarantee.
Popular options include; cedar shingles or sedum amongst others.
Pressure
On past constructions Cabinco buildings have passed pressure tests with less than 5 m³/hm² @50Pa. lost from the finished buildings. However we are continually striving to improve our buildings’ performance
Sustainable Options in our Eco Buildings
A wider selection of sustainable options are available including:
- Ground Source Heat Pumps
- Rainwater Harvesting
- Roof lights
- Sun-tunnels
Other issues which may be of interest to clients looking for sustainable buildings include the on-site management of waste. For details of our work here please see the blog post below:
Sustainable Value of Materials During Building Use
