Tag Archives: Vapour check

Ampack airtight system receives British Bord of Agrément certification (BBA approved)

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We are delighted to announce that our Ampack airtight system has received British Bord of Agrément certification. The certification also includes approval from the National House Building Council (NHBC).

Ampack’s BBA certification includes Ampack’s internal system -Ampatex DB 90 airtightness vapour check,  The range of associated Ampack tapes is also listed as ancillary parts in the certificate. This certificate is the first in a new range of certification for Ampack.

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DB90 BBA Certificate

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The entire Ampack range comes with a unique ten year warranty. Ampack’s guarantee covers not just the replacement cost of materials but also any associated damages and the cost of any repairs, which makes it unique in the market. This warranty is particularly pertinent as Architects and Engineers assume greater levels of responsibility when certifying. The use of the Ampack system can essentially provide security over the building fabric.

Established in 1946, Swiss supplier Ampack is a market leader in building envelope protection products, and was reportedly the first company to commercially produce vapour checks. As a result Ampack have products installed and tested for over 35 years.

Ampack have been at the forefront of building protection systems for decades and have developed a name stands for high quality proven product’s. Ampack offer one of the largest ranges of airtight systems including a range of Butyl, Nail seal, UV stable tapes and a new SD variable membrane Variano – Another innovative product with a new type of surface designed for increased adhesion.

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Why build an airtight house? – The Ampack 10 year Warranty

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Why build an airtight house?

Druck

The Ampack Market leading 10 year warranty covers the cost of removal of all affected material, as well as the replacement of all damaged materials.

10 reasons for an airtight House

  1. In the case of new buildings a permanent, airtight layer is now essentially a requirement.
  2. New building regulations ensure that the assigned certifier must have correct detailing to avoid future construction damage
  3. No draughts
  4. Lower heating costs
  5. No condensation in the construction
  6. No mould formation
  7. No damage to the building
  8. Clear improvement in the quality of air in the rooms
  9. Clear improvement in sound insulation
  10. Ventilation systems work highly efficiently

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These days, homeowners and clients expect more in terms of quality in their  homes. In particular, they pay special attention to their climate: It has to be comfortable, It should not damp or too dry and the energy costs must be kept within reason. In other words: Everything should be right, with no ifs or buts. Which is one more reason why the construction of new buildings should always be airtight.

Build well, build airtight

Heat loss due to a lack of airtightness is extremely expensive and can potentially cause great damage. The installation of a high quality airtight layer protects both your wallet and the value of the building. The amortisation of the investment over many years is clearly more relevant here than the short-term cost considerations.

Even the smallest joints and tears in the building shell can cause disastrous amounts of damage to a house and result in clearly escalating energy costs.

Construction Damage

Thermography: Blue = heat loss resulting from ventilation = increase in energy consumption and structural damage.

Thermography: Blue = heat loss
resulting from ventilation = increase
in energy consumption and structural
damage.

Mould formation within a multi-layer structural component.

Mould formation within a multi-layer
structural component.

 

Partel are the exclusive Irish and UK agent for the Ampack range of airtightness, wind-tightness, and building protection products. Ampack was founded in 1946 and is one of Europes most established specialist membrane and tape manufacturers.

“Our Ampack products offer a complete building protection system, from radon membranes to airtight membranes, tapes, adhesives, and wind-tight membranes, and Ampack’s unique 10 year guarantee ensures customers confidence in our range” .

 

 

 

Achieving airtightness for the new building regulations. 

At Partel we have worked on a standardisation of robust airtight details designed to ensure the following: -

  1. Compliance with building regulations
  2. Quality detailing to achieve excellent blower door results

Our details when applied correctly will always exceed the current building regulations and achieve lower than 0.6 air changes – the passive house standard

All of construction drawings are  available for free download at the links below

Auto cad drawings available on request – contact us here 

 

Airtightness and the new building regulations

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Achieving airtightness for the new building regulations. 

At Partel we have worked on a standardisation of robust airtight details designed to ensure the following: -

  1. Compliance with building regulations
  2. Quality detailing to achieve excellent blower door results

Our details when applied correctly will always exceed the current building regulations and achieve lower than 0.6 air changes – the passive house standard

All of construction drawings are  available for free download at the links below

Auto cad drawings available on request – contact us here 

 

Ampack application details

Ampack – The Air-tight and Wind-tight Systems Specialist

Builders, having very high standards when it comes to their own homes, especially with regard to the living environment, acknowledge the importance of air-tightness and wind-tightness. The house should be comfortable, not too damp or dry, and energy costs should be reasonable.

The Whole Is Always Greater Than The Sum of Its Parts

For 60 years now, Ampack has been developing systems and solutions that safely and professionally resolve all the problems associated with protecting the building envelope. Good products alone are not enough. This principle guides the continuous development of our product range and the design of our services. An air-tight and wind-tight building envelope can only be ensured if the products are installed correctly. This puts professional tradesmen in a tricky situation: new designs and construction products are constantly flooding the market making it more and more difficult for contractors to maintain an overview and become skilled at installing the products correctly.

Ampack offers more than just high-quality products. Professional tradesmen and specialist retailers who choose our services will benefit from our comprehensive building expertise, as well as:

- Our insulation-neutral product range

- Technical advice, including a phone hotline

- 10-year warranty

- Customer training

Training

During our training courses, participants learn how to use Ampack products safely and are provided with the knowledge necessary to answer the most important questions regarding safety standards, air- and wind-tightness, and application engineering. We seek to establish a direct dialogue with our partners. After all, who better to judge a product than someone who works with it every day? Your opinion is important to us and your input goes directly towards improving and enhancing our products. Training courses can be held either at our head office or at our partners’ premises. Contact us for available course dates.

10-year warranty

Warranties are a dime a dozen. But upon closer inspection, many warranties aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. That’s why you should always read the small print. With Ampack, a tradesman can claim on our comprehensive warranty at any time within ten years of buying the product from a specialist retailer, provided that the terms and conditions are met. In an emergency, the claim will be processed quickly and competently by our technical advisers. Our warranty has been designed with your needs in mind and we’ve taken the broader context into consideration. We not only cover the replacement materials, but also the removal and installation costs, as well as any subsequent damages. In other words, you can count on Ampack.

Windtight construction – Why and how?

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Should new construction be windtight  ?

It sounds like an obvious answer but until now very few people even consider it. It is an important part of the construction fabric and although it may not cause the same heat loss or structural damage as ineffective airtightness its benefits should not be overlooked.

This a change in thinking for many professionals who for years have been encouraged to have as much ventilation as possible in the roof space. In the past we were used to bituminous roof felts which created issues with condensation and construction damage and necessitated large amount of in roof ventilation (Wind !)

More recently various qualities of breathable membranes have come to the market which have helped but are not designed to deal with the levels of humidity in the modern homes and may still experience condensation if airtight measures are overlooked.

It is still possible to ventilate the roof as before but this allows the cold air to cool the insulation layer thereby affecting insulation performance. We should also consider that the average family home of 2 adults and 2 children can create 10 Litres of water vapour per day.  Airtight membranes are designed to stop >90% of water vapour and will allow the roof membrane to dry the construction without overloading. Improved results can be achieved by making your construction Windtight and Airtight.

Our windtight membranes (Roof felts) have two purposes – to protect the construction during the construction process and afterwards to form part of a breathable construction that can allow the construction to dry correctly.

Benefits,  Implications  

  • Without windtightness U Values can be up to 1.5 times higher than the calculated figures due to thermal bypass
  • Thermal bypass can occur when buildings are airtight but not windtight. This weakness allows air to move around or through insulation. In the roof, this occurs when the felt has not been taped or sealed at the eaves.
  • Decreases losses associated with possible holes in the insulation layer.
  • Decreases the chances of water ingress

Windtight membrane requirements

  • Rain tight, airtight,vapour permeable and compatible with the airtight layer (Contact us for free WUFI analysis to ensure correct specification)
  • High mechanical strength – Our Ampatop® Aero offers up to 3 times the tear resistance of some commonly used felts – Our higher grade Ampatop Protecta® offers almost 3 times that the tear resistance of Aero, and 5/6 times that of commonly used roof membranes.
  • UV Stable, flame resistant, suitable for temperature ranges from -20° C  to +80° C

How to achieve windtight construction at roof level

Option 1

Windtight using Ampatop® Protecta windtight membrane, Ampacoll®XT 60 & Ampacoll® Superfix

blog postsAmpacoll® Superfix

Ampacoll®XT 60

Foto_Ampacoll_Superfix_Kartusc_db4afe953b

Digital StillCamera

 

 

 

 

Option 2

Windtight using Ampatop® Protecta plus windtight membrane with integrated tapes.

fig_ampatop_protecta_2

 

Windtight Accessories

We recommend making all penetrations wind tight and water tight using either  Ampacoll® BK535 – the award winning flexible butyl tape seen here sealing at chimneys and ventilation ducts.

BKF can withstand temperatures from -40° to +90 °C, is highly flexible – (moves with structural elements) and elastic ( can be formed in 3 dimensions)

Ampacoll BK535.

Foto_Ampacoll_BK_535-50_TyvekX_18d8f446a8

t_Ampacoll-BK-535-3

 

 

 

 

Nail Seals Ampacoll® ND Band

Nail seal tapes avoid rainwater penetration through the nailing and screw-fixing of battens and counter-battens.

Ampacoll® ND Band have a temperature range from- 25 °C up to + 75 °C

 

nail seal   Digital StillCamera

Airtight Membranes & SD values

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Airtight Membranes & SD values

Often referred to as airtight membranes know but should be classified as -

  1. Vapour Checks
  2. Vapour Barriers

Before we discuss the differences in 1 & 2 we need to discuss Vapour resistance, SD values and μ values.

Vapour resistance

The vapour resistance of a material is a measure of the material’s reluctance to let water vapour pass through. The μ (“mu-value”) of a material is also known as its “water vapour resistance factor”. It is a measure of the material’s relative reluctance to let water vapour pass through, and is measured in comparison to the properties of air. The μ value is a property of the bulk material and needs to be multiplied by the material’s thickness when used in a particular construction. Because the μ value is a relative quantity, it is just expressed as a number (it has no units)

Equivalent air layer thickness (sd value)

You might see the reluctance of a material to let water vapour pass through expressed as an “equivalent air layer thickness”, which is usually represented as sd. As its name suggests, the equivalent air layer thickness is measured in metres. Like vapour resistance, it can only be quoted for a particular thickness of material. The higher the SD Value the more resistant to vapour transmittance.

To convert an equivalent air layer thickness to a µ-value -sd is the symbol for equivalent air layer thickness

Divide by thickness in metres

Example: For a material with : sd = 2,000m and thickness = 100 mm, we have µ-value =2000 m / 0.1 m = 20000

3 Rules for the correct Installation of Vapour Barriers and Vapour Checks

1. Working ventilation or vapour permeable layer. low SD value. DB90, DB2, Sisalex 500

1

2. No Ventilation between insulation and vapour retardant outer skin.  Vapour barrier  with high SD value Sisalex 514 >1800

2

3. Locations with constant relative humidity such as swimming pools. Vapour barrier high SD value  Sisalex 514 >1800

3

 

Incorrect installation will lead to construction damage!

The images below show roofs where a Vapour check should of been installed.

damage 1

damage 2

 

 

WUFI – What is it? Why its important?

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At Partel we offer WUFI analysis on request to ensure that the completed project is functioning correctly. 

Incorrect installation or lack of appropriate membranes can cause issues with insulation functioning as specified leading to lower U Values, dampness, and structural damage

What is WUFI
WUFI – Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)/Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (IBP) is a menu-driven PC program which allows realistic calculation of the transient coupled one-dimensional heat and moisture transport in multi-layer building components exposed to natural weather. WUFI-ORNL/IBP is based on the newest findings regarding vapour diffusion and liquid transport in building materials. The underlying model has been validated for over 20 years.

Hygrothermics
Besides the thermal properties of a building component and their impact on heating losses, its hygric behavior has to be considered, too. Permanently increased moisture content in the component may result in moisture damages. Elevated surface moisture levels in living rooms can lead to hygienic problems and health risks due to mould growth.
In addition, thermal and hygric behavior of a building component are closely interrelated as well as an increased moisture content favors heat losses. The thermal situation affects moisture transport. Therefore, both have to be investigated together in their mutual interdependence; the research field of hygrothermics is dealing with these problems.
Out of Date: Dew-Point (Glaser)
The Dew-Point method as detailed in American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) handbook has been a common method to assess the moisture balance of a building component by considering vapour diffusion transport in its interior. However, this method does not allow for the capillary moisture transport in the component, nor for its sorption capacity, both of which reduce the risk of damage in case of condensation. Furthermore, since the method only considers steady-state transport under heavily simplified boundary conditions, it cannot reproduce individual short-term events or allow for rain and solar radiation. It is meant to provide a general assessment of the hygrothermal suitability of a component, not to produce a simulation of realistic heat and moisture conditions in a component exposed to the weather prevailing at its individual location.
Up to Date: WUFI-ORNL/IBP
The menu-driven PC program WUFI-ORNL/IBP developed by the Holzkirchen branch of the Fraunhofer IBP and ORNL validates using data derived from outdoor and laboratory tests, allows realistic calculation of the transient hygrothermal behaviour of multi-layer building components exposed to natural climate conditions.