Passive House + Magazine issue 3 | SMET LiteFlo®
Passive House + Eco Build & upgrade magazine – UK 3rd issue, features SMET LiteFlo® in an editorial and full-page advertisement focusing on the lower embodied carbon emissions naturally found with SMET LiteFlo® lightweight flowing screed.
The article in full:
Selecting the right floor screed can play a key role in a building’s sustainability, a leading screed supplier has said.
According to Joris Smet, director of Smet Building Products Ltd, the company’s recently launched German-made, CE marked SMET LiteFlo® floor screed combines improved thermal performance with reduced environmental impact, making it possible to install underfloor heating in applications where it may have been ruled out, such as retrofits and multi-storey timber frame buildings.
‘SMET LiteFlo® is unique, in that it’s the first pumpable lightweight flowing screed available,’ Joris Smet said. ‘It’s made from specially selected aggregates, which makes it 30% lighter than conventional flowing screeds and 70% lighter than sand and cement, meaning less material is required per m2.
‘Lightweight flowing screed can be placed in reduced thicknesses, delivering improved floor U-values, and naturally has substantially lower embodied carbon emissions than a sand & cement screed’, he said.
A lightweight alpha hemihydrate screed, SMET LiteFlo® is a self-levelling screed based on calcium sulphate. The company said because it is pump-applied, it is ideal for timber frame builds, suspended timber floors, tower buildings, balconies, renovation projects, and over acoustic thermal insulation. SMET said that LiteFlo’s low weight enabled underfloor heating to be installed in multi-storey timber frame buildings, and that its reduced thicknesses meant underfloor heating could be retro-fitted without substantially raising floor levels.
SMET LiteFlo® may be applied as a levelling screed directly onto a load-bearing floor, unbonded on a separating barrier (polythene), or as a floating floor, and is particularly suited in conjunction with underfloor heating or cavity floors. SMET LiteFlo® should be covered with a floor finish such as tiles, linoleum, parquet, cork or carpet. If a cement-based adhesive or smoothing compound is required the surface of the screed must first be sealed, using an appropriate acrylic primer/sealer.
SMET LiteFlo® is supplied to site in pre-mixed bag or site silos and is designed for application at thicknesses of between 20 and 90mm. SMET LiteFlo® complies with EN 13813:2002 and is CE marked.
SMET has a pool of professional installers who supply the product across the UK and Ireland.