The overarching strategy for the build was to ensure that all penetrations over the shell of the building were minimised and addressed. In a 2175 sq.m build, this represents a lot of penetrations, joints and junctions that needed to be addressed. To ensure all of these were as airtight as possible, ISOVER’s Vario system was used to provide high performance in terms of airtightness & moisture control. A combination of Vario KM Duplex UV Airtightness Membrane, for example, was used to ensure minimal air loss through the ceilings of the building – and the junctions between this membrane and the walls of each room were sealed using ISOVER’s Vario KB1 or Multitape.
In addition to this, the windows and doors in the building were sealed using ISOVER’s Vario Bond airtight junction tape, which ensures high performance in terms of airtightness & moisture control for junctions where plastering is required. The application of Vario Bond in short sections, added to the 3 way split of the tape, allowed for easy application, quick installation, and reduced issues in terms of the plastering finish in the rooms where the tape had been applied.
Challenges
Ensuring a quick, yet high performance build was one challenge that was addressed by the construction team. While the team has experience with Vario products, additional support and information was sourced from the ISOVER team, with Technical support offered by the ISOVER specification team and on-site product training offered by ISOVER’s product demonstrator.
Learnings
The key learnings from this project are:
· Use of ISOVER’s support services – sourcing information from ISOVER’s specification team, as well as on-site demonstrations of products and systems, really helps in terms of avoiding product and application issues.
· Team briefings – communication is important, in terms of ensuring that all issues are reported and addressed. The on-site training that ISOVER conducted also helped with this.
Results
Results are outstanding, but a positive result in terms of thermal and airtightness is expected by the contractor.
For more information on ISOVER Products and Training Courses, please visit www.isover.ie
