Safeguard to Present Discoveries on Insulation Protection to Industry Experts

Safeguard is delighted to announce that it will be presenting the results of its collaborative insulation research paper at the first International Conference on Moisture in Buildings. This online event is being hosted by the UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings on the 28th and 29th of June 2021 and it brings together the industry’s leading experts in the subject of moisture in buildings.

The number of insulation retrofit insulation installations has been increasing in recent years as part of the UK government’s efforts to reduce CO2 emissions to net-zero by the year 2050.

This increase in installations has also brought with it an increase in the number of cases of insulation failure due to moisture ingress.

In 2012, Safeguard Europe Ltd partnered with the Association for Environment Conscious Building and Simmonds Mills Architects to investigate the problem and test solutions to the matter by initiating a scientific study on the effects of rain penetration on the moisture content of internal wall insulation (IWI).

The study compared the performance of unprotected IWI against the performance of IWI that has been protected using an external coating of Stormdry Masonry Protection Cream on a traditional solid brick-wall semi-detached home. The moisture content of both the unprotected and protected IWI was monitored over a period of eight years using data loggers. The data showed that Stormdry Masonry Protection Cream significantly reduced the moisture content within the wall and insulation interface for the entirety of the study.

The results of the study were compiled and published in The Monitoring of Wall Moisture in a Property Retrofitted with Internal Wall Insulation research paper on the ScienceOpen research publishing network.

Clementine Walker, one of four authors of the paper and Development Laboratory Manager at Safeguard, will be summarising and analysing the results in a session at the ICMB21 conference.

“The International Conference on Moisture in Buildings is the first industry event to exclusively focus on the increasingly relevant topic of moisture management in buildings,” said Clementine Walker, “It’s an important event and I’m looking forward to presenting our findings and contributing to the development of sustainable and effective insulation retrofit methods.”

The International Conference on Moisture in Buildings takes place on the 28th and 29th of June 2021. It is an online event and tickets can be booked via the UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings’ website.