The energy consumed by dwellings accounts for a large proportion of Ireland's total energy consumption, and of the carbon dioxide emissions which contribute to climate change. Much of this energy is accounted for in the space heating. Insulation standards for roofs, walls, windows and floors in the Building Regulations have increased over the years to improve efficiency by reducing heat loss.
These standards relate to the average performance of specific elements. As standards improve, the significance of local areas of reduced insulation (thermal bridging) e.g. at joints and around the edges of window openings, and gaps in the building envelope leading to air leakage becomes increasingly important in terms of contribution to overall heating and ventilation losses from the dwelling. Furthermore the typical additional heat loss due to easily avoidable air leakage is between 5% and 10%.
Effects of thermal bridging and air leakage include:
Surface condensation, damaging decorations and enabling mould growth
Deterioration of the building fabric caused by interstitial condensation
Occupant discomfort caused by draughts and cold rooms
To reduce the impact of these and to address these problems, Insulation Continuity and Airtightness need to be thoroughly considered at all stages of design and construction.
Insulation Continuity
The thermal performance of a plane building element (within a particular construction) is described by its U value (W/m^2^ K). This is a measure of the heat transmission through the element per degree of temperature difference (degrees Celsius denoted as degrees Kelvin to signal temperature difference) between the internal and external environments.
Thermal bridging typically occurs at the junctions between plane building elements, e.g. at wall/roof and wall/floor junctions, and around openings, e.g. at window jambs, where the continuity of the insulation is interrupted. Thermal bridging increases the heat loss and also the risk of condensation due to the lower localised internal surface temperatures.
BRE IP 1/06 describes a method of quantifying this extra heat loss at a thermal bridging by way of its linear thermal transmittance of Psi (Ψ) value in units of (W/mK).
Building Regulations 2011 TGD L Dwellings indicates that heat loss calculations should include the effects of thermal bridges when calculating the Energy Performance Coefficient (EPC) and Maximum Permitted Energy Performance Coefficient (MPEPC).
BRE Paper IP 1/06 also describes a method of assessing the effects of the low internal surface temperature (that result from the construction) by way of the temperature factor f~Rsi~. Depending on the intended building function, the temperature factor (f~Rsi~) of the detail must be no less than the critical factor, f~CRsi~, given in the paper. Use of the details in Section 2 meet with the guidance in Par 1.3.3.2 and Appendix D of TGD L 2011 Dwellings for rooms within 4 a typical dwelling and make reasonable provision with regard to limitation of thermal bridging for key junctions.
Airtightness
The airtightness of a dwelling, or its air permeability, is expressed in terms of air leakage in cubic meters per hour per square metre of the dwelling envelope area when the building is subjected to a differential pressure of 50 Pascals (m^3^ /(h.m^2^ )@50Pa).
The dwelling envelope area is defined in this context as the total area of all floors, walls and ceilings bordering the dwelling, including elements adjoining other heated or unheated spaces. Air leakage is defined as the flow of air through gaps and cracks in the building fabric. Uncontrolled air leakage increases the amount of heat loss as warm air is displaced through the envelope by colder air from outside.
Air leakage of warm damp air through the building structure can also lead to condensation within the fabric (interstitial condensation), which reduces insulation performance and causes fabric deterioration.
The air permeability of a building can be determined by means of a pressure test. The procedure for testing is specified in I.S. EN 13829: 2000 “Thermal performance of buildings: determination of air permeability of buildings: fan pressurization method”. Additional guidance on testing procedure is given in Sections 2 to 4 of the BSRIA Guide “Airtightness testing for new dwellings” and CIBSE Technical Manual TM 23 “Testing Buildings for Air leakage” and the ATTMA publication “Measuring air permeability of Building Envelopes”.
Building Regulations 2011 TGD L Dwellings indicates that reasonable provision for airtightness is to achieve a pressure test result of no worse than 7m^3^ /(h.m^2^ )@50Pa. Current good practice for energy efficient dwellings includes achieving airtightness of better than 5m^3^ /(h.m^2^ )@50Pa and best practice is less than 3m^3^ /(h.m^2^ )@50Pa.
The airtightness appropriate for a particular dwelling design will depend upon the Building Energy Rating the builder is aiming to achieve. Care should be taken to ensure compliance with the ventilation requirements and permanent air supply of Part F and of Part J of the Building Regulations respectively. For further information see TGD F and TGD J.
Adopting the details in this publication will help to achieve airtightness of 7m^3^ /(h.m^2^ )@50Pa or better.
All materials used for airtightness should meet the guidance in Technical Guidance Document D “Materials and Workmanship”
