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Rigit Ltd - Award-winning building system used for Plymouth Homes
AN award-winning building system is being used for an
exciting new environmentally-sustainable housing development in
Plymouth.
Rivers End, a development of four semi-detached four-bedroomed
executive town houses, is being built in two pairs in Billacombe
Road, Plymstock, for property developers Rigit Ltd from Kent.
They are the first in the South West to use the award-winning
Mantle® Building System©, which uses only environmentally
sustainable components and contains neither CFCs nor
formaldehydes. The homes are intended to qualify for the
Chancellor’s recently announced zero stamp duty incentive for
carbon neutral houses.
The Mantle system is a patented, simple and cost-effective
building solution for walls and roofs, which is manufactured
off-site for fast construction on-site by semi-skilled labour.
The system greatly exceeds current and anticipated building
regulations and its high thermal insulation provides unrivalled
energy and CO2 savings.
Rigit Ltd director, Richard Sexton, said: “The Mantle® Building
System© has been fully tested to rigorous national and
international standards. It has been proven to be as strong as
traditional brick and block constructed houses and at least four
times stronger than engineered timber houses. In addition,
current regulations call for a 30-minute fire resistance rating.
All Mantle houses offer at least a one-hour fire protection.”
The system won Shell Springboard regional and national awards in
2006 for new and emerging technologies that will do most to
reduce carbon emissions. It was used for a commercial and
residential development in St Helier in Jersey and won the 2007
Jersey Construction Council ‘Best Use of Innovation and
Environmental’ awards. It has also featured on BBC2 and Channel
TV programmes.
Mr Sexton added: “Each Mantle house will be fully recyclable at
the end of its estimated 300-year life span. It will also help
to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions, as living in a Mantle house
is much more efficient than traditionally-built houses.”
Each of the properties will be fitted with heating, ventilation
and air conditioning systems containing hypo-allergenic filters
to remove dust and pollen spores from the air. This should
benefit asthmatics and hay-fever sufferers.
Such are the thermal insulation qualities of the system that Mr
Sexton expects the homes to reduce heating and air conditioning
costs by at least 60 per cent compared to traditionally-built
houses. This benefit will be supported by installed heat
recovery systems in the kitchen and bathrooms to make them even
warmer.
If the owners wish, Rigit Ltd will fit energy generation
technology, such as solar power cells to the properties so that
they could actually return energy to the national electricity
grid.
Email:
richard@mantlepanel.com