Within the construction industry there appears to be limited understanding of the purpose and importance of air tightness, how to achieve it and what effect it has on the overall thermal performance of a building.

Just because a building has passed an air tightness test, does not mean it is an airtight building and will perform to its design specification. In the majority of buildings, airtightness has been achieved by sealing the plasterboard/dry lining internal box of a building (which is a finish, not the building envelope), resulting in an airtight plasterboard box within a very leaky outer box, it will pass a test by ‘ticking the right box’ but doesn’t prove air tightness integrity.

Our approach to air tightness testing through early construction consultation, is to make the building itself airtight before the plasterboard/dry lining is installed, this makes the final air tightness test easier to pass and helps the building meet its design energy efficiency target.

We are also specialists in Passive House airtightness consultancy and testing where targets must be met at very early stages in the build rather than at the end of the build as with other buildings.