18 March 2011

Bit of a transition happening on site as the timber frame work closes out & Baker & Co are working on the aitrightness. Any of the perforations of the  air tightness layer & insulation need to be planned at this stage and then properly sealed / dealt with.  We're probably about 3 weeks away from out preliminary  air tightness test. The scope of the services has been agreed and equipment choosen - I'm not going to jinx myself by naming brands until I've seen them perform!

As regards site works, have returned all the information needed by the utility companies so that process is slow but at least its stated.

Here in Ireland its coming to the end of bare root planting season. You might ask why in this blog thats anyway important. Well , the main reason is that a tree like silver birch is a fantastic source ( technically & cost wise) of solar shading to limit building over heating : no leaves in winter & loads in summer. So we got some trees - about 3-4m high from Tully Nurseries in north Dublin ; Toby there was great in giving us direction on what to choose & general advice on planting.

Have included a few photos below of what the air tighted windows looks like on the inside with a 100mm service cavity looks like on the inside.

General Progress

The exterior render board has now been fixed to the building & the seams between the sheets rendered; this sits proud of the building bu about 50mm which will allow us to run any services e.g. lighting wiring, along the outside of the building concealed. The flat roofs are also going in , just need to make sure the drip for the cap is away from the render & the metal cills below. Inside the insulation ( the fibreglass batts)  on the exterior walls has been fully installed, the exterior walls are now being airtighted with OSB & Siga airtight tape. If you've not seen airtightness tape before this is an amazing product - super sticky & lasts for decades apparently

Also received my Passive House Institute Certification as a Passive House Consultant today following the exam in December - it was an excellent course covering the design principles and details  of such low energy house design

Suppliers We are using Part 1

Completing this house & getting it certified by the Passiv Haus Institute (PHI) has meant using suppliers who have both a good product, consistent attention details & can install it well it well on site. In order of installation:

Timber Frame
Great quality frame from this family run business; Mark Cooper is the contact
www.kilbroneyhomes.com/

Insulation & Airtightness - Baker Insulation 
A family run company with great attention to detail on site; Mark Baker is the main man 
www.bakerins.ie

Passive House Construction Update : Airtightness, External Render System, Insulation Installation : Progress Update 2 March

Pace on the build has really increased in the last week. The roof is now fully complete & they exterior board ( no block!) is going up on the outside. The board which sits proud of the building by approx 50mm to give a ventilated cavity round the structure will then receive a permanent monouche render.

Inside the insulation work, airtightness membrane sealing & putting up the OSB which will be the internal aritightness layer and provides racking strenght. The service cavity will be further inside the OSB them. The insulation being put in by Baker Insulation is a slab form of fibreglass which comes in blocks ( rather than rolls) & reduces the chance of sagging over time.  There is over 300mm in the external wall buildup and an additional 100mm to go into the internal service cavity - this should give a U value of around 0.1 W/m2K; We are targeting similar U values for the roof and the floor. We're using Siga products throughout on the airtightness due to their proven longevity. Kilbroney are even taping over the nail holes where they put up the sheets of the 18mm OSB sheets

Photo below of the vertical battens on the structure ready to receive the render board & further photo below of the first few sheets applied. The product is from REP and which it has no thermal properties, it should never need painting and is one of the few such products where no moss  / discolouration has been noted in Irish conditions.

Insulation for the floor slab is now on site & will be put in shortly. penetrations though the slab will be identified at the same time as the insulation is installed. All looks OK with the bathroom  / sanitaryware order from Reuter Badshop in Germany. Starting to do planting tommorow as we are running out of time for planting bare root stock. Daffodils are now up on site - photos to follow!