CARRICK'S newest employer believes its product could become the material of choice for an increasing eco-conscious construction industry.
Sipframe, whose workshop at Carrickfergus Industrial Centre was officially opened last week, says its structural insulated panels (SIPs) are quicker and easier to assemble and offer significantly better heat retention than conventional building metho
ds.
With regulations for the energy efficiency of new buildings set to become progressively tighter from 2010 - and a possible requirement for zero carbon emissions after 2016 - the company’s managing director predicts it will also soon be cheaper to build using SIPs rather than by adding more and more insulating measures to conventional designs.
“They are very, very strong, highly insulated and allow a lot what would otherwise be on-site work to be done in the factory. They will be a little bit more expensive than traditional forms of building, but there are savings in terms of construction time and in running costs for the end user,” Mike Megaw told the TIMES.
“There is also the issue of new regulations requiring much higher standards of insulation: we can easily meet those standards, whereas some of the more traditional forms of construction are struggling.
Mr Megaw hopes a significant chunk of the firm’s business will come from housing associations seeking to provide well insulated, affordable and social housing fast.
However, the technology can be applied to larger scale buildings than houses - Sipframe has won a £390,000 contract to supply SIPs for the Scottish Environmental protection Agency’s new headquarters in Aberdeen.
The new factory was officially opened last Wednesday (June 24) by the Mayor, Alderman Patricia McKinney, and East Antrim MLA Ken Robinson.
Alderman McKinney told guests: “It gives me great pleasure to hear of the creation of new jobs, particularly with proposals for an increased workforce. It is a tremendous achievement for this firm to be at the cutting edge of technology and be the first to provide this kind of facility in Northern Ireland.”
Mr Robinson said: “The drive at Stormont at the moment is to increase the amount of social housing units we can produce. If SIPs can help speed that up and make them more energy efficient, reducing the carbon footprint of those houses, we would welcome it.”
SIPs, developed in the United States in the 1950s but only now coming into widespread use, consist of slabs of polyurethene foam sandwiched between two boards.
Those supplied by Sipframe are built in Liverpool by Hemsec. Staff in Carrick cut the panels to the size and shape required before transportation to the site - the building can be weatherproof and ready for internal work within five days of the arrival of the SIPs.
A facade of the builder - or planners’ - choice can then be added to give the desired appearance.
Sipframe currently employs five full time staff plus a handful of part timers at its Carrickfergus site and hopes to expand its workforce to at least 20 by the end of 2011.
