The Egan report exhorts best practice within the building industry, with
the promise of real savings in costs and time bringing benefits that could be enjoyed by all.
One material which conforms to the key issues of innovation, productivity and waste reduction is
Aircrete, a material for generic building blocks in all senses of the word that is both versatile
and easy to use, and which is widely available in universal sizes from a number of manufacturers. Whilst
its use in walls is well established, and indeed for this reason satisfies known customer preferences for
a 'solid' construction, there are a number of innovative developments that underline its great versatility.
Its combination of strength, frost-resistance and light weight makes it ideal for use in foundations,
and large format blocks are now available from several manufacturers for this purpose, yielding time and
cost savings and providing a very functional alternative to poured concrete where access is restricted.
A further innovation that is now showing a rapid uptake in the UK, and which has been widely used on the
continent for a number of years, is the 'thin-joint' system in which large or traditional size aircrete
blocks are used with a specially formulated mortar to construct joints of just 1 - 3mm. The result is a
rapid-setting bond that means there's no limit to the height that can be built in one day. This allows
greater productivity on site and minimal wastage - housebuilders report around 100m2 of blockwork per
man in a single day with roofs on large detached houses sealed in just 5 days.
Greater productivity and time savings are just two of the attributes of aircrete. In many cases it offers
considerable whole-of-project cost savings, whilst being lightweight and easy to cut or chase with
ordinary hand tools makes it very quick and simple to build with. Unlike many prefabricated building
systems it does not require specialist installers, allowing costs to be reduced further and simplifying
the supply chain management - a key issue within construction best practice.
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