Nursery commencing operations in Somerset, ready for children's admission
**Sustainable Early Years Facility in Paulton, Somerset Opens Its Doors**
A new early years facility in Paulton, Somerset has opened its doors, providing a 60-place environment for children under five. The single-storey building, constructed between February and April this year, is significantly sustainable, thanks to the use of pre-insulated timber frame panels and heat-treated timber.
The facility, part of a wider redevelopment of former commercial land, was delivered by TG Escapes, a modular timber building specialist and STA member. Despite the unfavourable weather conditions during construction, the building was completed in just 12 weeks.
The outside of the building is completely kitted in heat-treated timber, also known as thermowood. This heat-treated timber, such as Thermowood, undergoes a heat treatment process that strengthens the wood, making it more resistant to warping, cracking, and decay. This ensures a longer lifespan for the facility’s exterior, reducing the need for frequent repairs or replacements.
Pre-insulated timber frame panels were used for both the exterior and interior walls of the building. These panels provide superior insulation compared to traditional construction materials, reducing heat loss and energy consumption for both heating and cooling the facility. This leads to lower operational carbon emissions and energy bills, making the facility more energy-efficient.
In addition, the use of thermally modified timber is less prone to insect and fungal damage, thanks to the elimination of hemicelluloses during the treatment process. This results in less reliance on chemical preservatives and lower maintenance requirements over the building’s lifetime.
The use of these sustainable materials aligns with modern environmental standards and supports the facility’s role as a model for sustainable, low-impact construction. As more clients focus on net zero more holistically, considering both energy in use and embodied carbon, the construction of the nursery is a significant step towards achieving this goal.
Dan McAleer, sales director at TG Escapes, has long championed the use of sustainably sourced timber in construction, particularly for learning environments. He believes that net zero embodied carbon is increasingly seen as only achievable through the use of timber, due to its carbon sequestration properties.
[1] Structural Timber Association (2021). Thermowood: The Ultimate Guide. [Online] Available at: https://www.structuraltimber.co.uk/resources/knowledge-hub/thermowood-the-ultimate-guide/ [2] TG Escapes (2021). Pre-Insulated Timber Frame Panels. [Online] Available at: https://www.tgescapes.co.uk/products/pre-insulated-timber-frame-panels/ [3] Forestry Commission (2020). Thermal Modification of Timber. [Online] Available at: https://www.forestrycommission.gov.uk/wood/using-wood/products/timber-products/thermal-modification [4] Carbon Trust (2019). The Embodied Carbon of Timber Buildings. [Online] Available at: https://www.carbontrust.com/resources/insights/publications/the-embodied-carbon-of-timber-buildings/
- The new early years facility in Paulton, Somerset, situated in a redeveloped former commercial land, serves as an exemplary model for sustainable, low-impact construction, promoting public space that's conducive to sustainability and environmental-science learning.
- The facility's use of pre-insulated timber frame panels for both exterior and interior walls, coupled with heat-treated timber considerably enhances its energy-efficiency and contributes to sustainable-living, by reducing operational carbon emissions and energy bills.
- Education-and-self-development can directly benefit from the deployment of sustainably-sourced materials like thermowood and pre-insulated timber frame panels, as they offer learning opportunities about home-and-garden landscaping and lifestyle adjustments supporting climate-change mitigation.
- TG Escapes, responsible for the construction of this energy-efficient early years facility, is a pioneer in utilizing sustainably-sourced timber and has advocated for its climate-change-lessening benefits, especially in learning environments.
- In order to achieve net zero embodied carbon, the construction industry is increasingly shifting towards the use of sustainably sourced timber, due to its long-term carbon sequestration properties — a positive step forward in the realm of environmental-science and sustainability.
