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!