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You are here: Home Life in Lifestyle A premier! The recyclable caravan

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01/02/2009A premier! The recyclable caravan

A premier! The recyclable caravan A Dutch chalet builder (the modern caravan is now referred to as a 'chalet') has drastically changed the way caravans are constructed and is now selling a mobile bungalow which is five times more energy efficient than the kind used until today.

 It is also 90 percent recyclable.

Caravans have always been a disaster as far as the use of energy is concerned. They have wooden frames and thin walls so that they weigh as little as possible. The outside consists of a layer of planks or synthetic material only a few centimetres thick; the inner walls are usually made of hardboard.

There is often little if any isolation. Since campsites usually rent hundreds of these mobile homes, a lot of unnecessary carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere.

Erik Blanker is the director of Procaro chalets in Spijkenisse. He explains the difference between his chalet and the old-fashioned bungalow.

"This is the first chalet that has been built according to a new principle; we used EPS - polystyrene - for the outer walls and a steel frame for stability and structural strength. All the material that we used in building the chalet can be reused when it is taken apart."

The new recyclable caravan © RNW
The new recyclable caravan
RC value
The new chalets have fifteen-centimetre-thick polystyrene walls, which means they require very little energy. In technical terms that translates to an RC value of four instead of 0.8. In non-technical terms, it means they are five times better insulated than ordinary chalets. The thick walls also make the caravans look more like ordinary houses than a mobile bungalow.

In order to make a polystyrene mobile home structurally stable and strong, a thin steel frame is glued into the polystyrene. The hard outer walls are also glued to the polystyrene and the same goes for the inner walls. This results in a sandwich construction that is tough but light.

Recyclable?
But how can a mobile home made from so much artificial and high-tech material be recyclable? It is far simpler than one would think. Polystyrene can be shredded and reused as isolation material in cavity walls. All building suppliers have it in stock. Steel and glass have been among the most recyclable materials for years. Even the polyester used for the outer walls can be melted down and processed to make new plastics.

Who will buy one?
The low-energy chalet will cost about five percent more than the ordinary caravans that we now have. It may well be environmentally friendly, but who is going to buy an environmentally-friendly mobile home that looks more or less the same as the ones we have now for an extra 5,000 euros? And what kind of profits can those who own mobile home vacation parks expect?

Eric Blanker provides some answers: "Even though they have just come on the market, a number of caravan parks have already ordered these chalets. One of the main reasons is their efficient use of energy, which makes them profitable investments. The owners of the caravan parks are also aware that they will save a lot of money because the chalets need less heating."
polystyrene walls
Fifteen-centimetre-thick polystyrene walls

In this instance simple rules of business go hand-in-hand with care for the environment and a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Another welcome bonus is the fact that these chalets last 2.5 times longer than those in use today.

Thijs Westerbeek van Eerten
Radio Netherlands

rnw



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