Building solid internal and external walls with excellent thermal and acoustic insulation properties is now even easier with the arrival of four new eco-friendly wall form units from Durisol UK. Manufactured from a unique combination of 80% recycled wood fibre bonded with Portland cement, the hollow units include internal and party wall forms, and two sizes of external wall form with integrated Rockwool mineral fibre insulation. Durisol wall form units are simply stacked dry – then filled with concrete to create solid walls with U-values better than 0.23 and a noise reduction coefficient for sound absorption as high as 0.95.

John Flower, Durisol’s National Sales Manager comments, “These units offer considerable benefits over traditional masonry components. They incorporate 80% recycled wood fibre, have very low embedded energy, are fully recyclable, and even their insulation is green, as a result of our strategic alliance with Rockwool. Our units can be used above and below ground, and their light weight means that individual wall form units can be quite large and still be easily handled by one person. This means that fewer units are used per wall than with traditional masonry components, which further reduces the construction time.”

To build a wall, the interlocking Durisol wall form units are simply dry-stacked with no need for bricklaying skills or mortar. Reinforcing bars are placed as required and concrete is poured into the built-in voids. High slump concrete can be used for rapid void filling without the need for any support or risk of blow-out.

Once the wall is complete, dry-lining and fittings are simply attached with nails or screws, and the open surface texture provides an ideal substrate for plaster. And not only are they inherently green, their excellent thermal insulation properties (with no cold bridging) and high thermal mass make them ideal for low carbon footprint buildings.

The Durisol wall system offers exceptional thermal performance – up to twice that of a conventional wall – and the high thermal mass reduces the need for cooling in summer and heating in winter. And as the in-built Rockwool insulation lies against the exterior face of the wall, the majority of the thermal mass of the structure is on the inner face, where it provides the greatest benefit.

Strong, light and very durable, Durisol wall form units have been used worldwide for over 50 years and have demonstrated their ability to stand up to extremes of temperature and humidity, as well as surviving fires, hurricanes and earthquakes without any damage or loss in performance. Each unit is inert, dimensionally stable, non-combustible and also inhibits growth of fungus and mould.