Knauf, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of lightweight building materials and systems, offers a range of proven flooring systems that meet the specific design challenges associated with load bearing, thermal performance, acoustic characteristics and durability of materials. Particular systems of note include GIFAfloor and Brio Dry Floor Screed.
Immensely strong and versatile, Knauf GIFAfloor systems are ideal for raised floor areas requiring continuous or hard finishes, such as stone or large format porcelain. A perfect substitute for screed, they also remove a wet trade from site, and so save time in the construction programme.
Manufactured from calcium sulphate, this robust partial-access raised floor system makes it easy to run services under the floor, while its tongue and groove design means that it is flat and smooth once installed, with the further advantage that joints will not track through the applied finish. As a result, finishes can be applied directly without having to screw fix panels to the pedestals and then fixing plywood – a necessity with traditional raised access flooring installations.
Designed to span pedestals at maximum 600mm centres and over voids up to 1200mm high, GIFAfloor creates strong and dimensionally stable floors that can take even greater loads if pedestals are added at reduced centres or an extra layer of panels is installed. The result is a light but robust monolithic floor, suitable for airport lobbies and lightweight floors in high rise buildings.
Non-combustible with an A1 fire rating, Knauf GIFAfloor’s high thermal conductivity makes the panels ideal for underfloor heating systems and optimises the benefit of air and ground source heat pumps over timber or cement base floors, reducing CO2 emissions as a result.
The floor system is also sustainable in terms of its manufacture and in the construction process. The panels are manufactured using fibres from wholly recycled paper that are blended with a mix of natural and flue gas desulphurised gypsum. In construction, the panels score two water management points in the Code for Sustainable Homes, reduce the cement content of the building and cut the load on tower blocks, so reducing foundation and steelwork requirements.
Suitable for new-build or refurbished residential and commercial buildings, Knauf Brio Dry Screed Panel offers many real advantages over traditional wet screeds and timber decks, such as better stability, the speed and ease of installation, and higher quality. It creates a robust and monolithic floor with excellent loading.
This gypsum fibreboard has an excellent thermal conductivity, so it works well with underfloor heating systems – offering responsive heating at low running costs and with lower CO2 emissions – and, as a consequence, there’s no premium to pay for heating up a mass of concrete before the environment starts to feel warm. Knauf Brio has an impressive thermal conductivity of 0.38 W/mK.
The panel is also ideal for refurbishments because of its low profile (as little as 18mm thick), keeping the loss in room height to a minimum. Knauf Brio is also much lighter than traditional wet screeds, significantly reducing loads and costly structural requirements in multi-storey buildings. Installation is both simple and fast, with no special skills required.
For further information, telephone 0179 542 4499, e-mail info@knauf.co.uk or visit the website at www.knauf.co.uk
