Protect Membranes used in Europe’s largest certified Passivhaus affordable housing scheme

Used within a community-led initiative undertaken in collaboration with emh Group, Westleigh Partnerships Ltd and Saffron Lane Neighbourhood Council with consultation by Encraft, BarriAir was specified to ensure an airtight timber frame structure within a well-designed living space.

A former derelict site regenerated to address the shortage of affordable housing, Saffron Acres is the winner of the 2017 East Midlands Residential RICS Award as well as winner of the Best Social Housing Project in the Structual Timber Awards 2017. The largest Passivhaus affordable housing development in Europe, the site achieved certification in 2017, with all 68 timber frame designed plots being awarded the standard, creating an environmentally friendly place to live.

Kyle McCabe, Assistant Site Manager at Westleigh Partnerships Ltd, commented, “The BarriAir product from Protect Membranes has delivered outstanding performance at our Saffron Acres development and testing was a key contributor to improved airtightness, resulting in the last home tested achieving 0.22 ach-1 at the first time of asking. The product was very reliable and good to work with, helping the scheme to achieve Passivhaus standard.”

Protect BarriAir is a high performance construction membrane for walls and ceilings, offering a significant reduction in air leakage, helping to meet Building Regulations and airtightness standards. Also offering vapour control properties, Protect BarriAir is installed on the warm side of the structure, adjacent to the insulation, offering reduced heat loss and convection flows to improve thermal performance. BarriAir is available with integrated tape and offers an effective sealant to further provide added assurance of airtight performance and ease of installation. Other Protect products used on this development included Protect VP300 vapour permeable roofing underlay and Protect TF200 external timber frame breather membrane.

For details of how Protect products can be incorporated into residential and commercial builds, please email info@protectmembranes.com or call 0161 905 5700, quoting ‘Saffron Acres’.