A company has recycled its roof first used in the construction of a groundbreaking UK home to waterproof a new house made almost completely from used materials.
The Waste House has been built using nearly 20,000 toothbrushes, old video and music tapes, denim jeans and floppy discs among other items and materials destined for landfill.
AAC Waterproofing reused 65m2 of rubber roofing membrane it originally supplied for Channel 4’s Grand Designs programme, ‘The House That Kevin Built’, in which one of the UK’s first A+ energy-rated houses was built in just six days.
The company prefabricates single-ply Prelasti EPDM rubber membrane roofing at its North Wales factory, making the BREEAM A+ rated product fast and cost-efficient to install.
AAC Waterproofing Managing Director Ian Parry said: “Just like the original Grand Designs house build in London, this was a great project to be part of. It was amazing to see how so many different waste materials could be put to great use. I never thought I’d see toothbrushes used for insulation!
“The same architects from the Grand Designs programme worked on the Waste House, so they knew our product was green and durable enough to be reused. All we had to do was reinstall our material at the new site.”
At the Waste House, old vinyl advertising banners were used to create an internal vapour sheet and 1,300 waste carpet tiles for cladding.
Despite the building's negative carbon footprint and 85% use of recycled materials, it is one of the few homes in the UK to gain an A-rated Energy Performance Certificate.
Students, apprentices, local builders and school children have all been involved with the project, with the ambition to train young people around emerging green industries.
Similar in size to a detached house, the Waste House will now function as Brighton University’s sustainability learning centre and will be one of the venues for the forthcoming Brighton Festival.
