Toi Ohomai Charity House Uses New Technology to Create a Healthier Home

Carpentry students at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology are learning how to build healthier homes, creating draught-free environments with technology and techniques that can cut household heating costs by 80% or more. This year's charity house will also incorporate the same system, creating a healthy and comfortable home.

A blowerdoor test was recently carried out on a student-built project using the Pro Clima 'Intello'; a cabin under construction at Mokoia Campus.

"The test draws the air out to create a pressure difference, then calculates how many times per hour the air changes, just through gaps and cracks," says Simon Cator, Regional Sales Manager, Pro Clima NZ Ltd. "The students have installed a dedicated airtightness layer that will effectively stop warm air from escaping, making it more energy efficient."

Whereas a standard new build could register a result of up to 10 ACH (air changes per hour), the large campground cabin recorded 2.04 ACH. A similar result could be expected from this year's charity house.

"The outcome here is great for students using this product for the first time," says Simon. "These results are impressive and prove the students are gaining both new skills and an awareness of modern technology, making the house much easier to heat than an everyday new-build built to code minimum standards."

AJ Smith, Programme Area Lead - Carpentry and Electrical at Toi Ohomai agrees. "The benefits of the Pro Clima technology isn't just around airtightness, but also in improving the health of our families. By stopping condensation and moisture traveling through our walls and mould developing in our houses, there is a huge saving in terms of doctor's fees, combatting asthma and more."

Highlighting that an airtight check is part of building compliance in countries such as Germany, AJ has no doubt New Zealand will follow suit, and that learning this technology provides a "real advantage" to his students' learning.

"For me it is exciting to see the change taking place, knowing that this year's charity house will deliver these benefits to its buyers."

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The pro clima airtightness system prevents uncontrolled air infiltration or leakage through the building envelope, and assists the drying capacity of the building through its unique moisture control properties.

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Suitable for all construction and where there is risk of interstitial condensation
The protection of insulation from air movement
Preventing uncontrollable air flow though the building envelope
An optional continuous cavity for electrical and plumbing services can be created on the inside face of the external wall by fixing battens horizontally over the INTELLO membrane before installing the wall lining
The main advantage of a service cavity is to shift the plumbing and wiring out of the insulation layer
A service cavity also reduces the penetrations through the airtightness membrane allowing easy and fast installation of services
This also eliminates pressure points on inner lining (eg. plasterboard) from insulation expansion

The NZBC requires only that airtightness be considered, not measured. INTELLO directly assists with meeting the following requirements:

Clause E3.1 INTERNAL MOISTURE: Buildings must safeguard people against illness, injury, or loss of amenity that could result from the accumulation of internal moisture
Clause E3.2 INTERNAL MOISTURE: Buildings must avoid the likelihood of fungal growth or the accumulation of contaminants on linings and other building elements
Clause E2 EXTERNAL MOISTURE: Concealed spaces and cavities in buildings must be constructed in a way that prevents external moisture being accumulated or transferred and causing condensation, fungal growth, or degradation of building elements
Clause E2 EXTERNAL MOISTURE: Building elements must make due allowance for the following: (a) the consequences of failure, (c) variation in the properties of materials and in the characteristics of the site
Clause E2 EXTERNAL MOISTURE: Interior linings with all joints stopped require barriers to airflow
Clause H1 : ENERGY EFFICIENCY: The building must be constructed to limit uncontrollable airflow
Clause H1 : ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Account must be taken of physical conditions likely to affect energy performance of buildings; (c) Airtightness of the building envelope.
Clause B2 : DURABILITY: Performance B2.3.1(a), not less than 50 years, B2.3.1(b), 15 years and B2.3.2

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