Iso Chemie Tape Seals Ground Breaking New Housing Project

ISO-CHEMIE’s high performance expanding foam sealing tape has been specified for an innovative project that could herald a new approach to building affordable housing.

The ISO BLOCO ONE tape has been used to provide a high performance airtight, acoustic and thermal seal for the ModCell TAM project located in the grounds of the Filwood Community Centre in Bristol.

Developed to provide people with rapid, effective and affordable housing, TAM is also one of the most environmentally friendly building systems in Europe, combining advances in high-quality, low energy design with the innovative use of renewable construction materials, including prefabricated straw-filled panels.

Sustainability is a key driver of the project, so the ISO-BLOCO tape has been used to seal the expansion joints and gaps around the window and door frames. This will significantly help to achieve an excellent Passivhaus target of <0.69 m³/hour/m² measured at 50 Pascals air tight seal per completed building – a good standard for the construction industry is anything between 3 – 5 m³/hour/m².

Finlay White, business development director at Bristol-based ModCell, said that TAM is currently being considered by several social housing providers, and added: “ISO-BLOCO ONE is an excellent product, meeting the requirements for an easy-to-install, cost effective and extremely reliable all-round sealing solution.”

Andy Swift, ISO-CHEMIE’s national sales manager, said: “Systems like TAM are gaining increasing traction in meeting the UK’s housing demand. It has been specified as a practical and energy efficient solution for the Filwood Community Centre development among other projects.

“So, for us to be involved in this latest ground-breaking initiative not only reinforces our strong environmental credentials, but also strengthens the requirement for longer lasting sealing tapes that deliver airtight, acoustic and thermal benefits.”

ISO-BLOCO ONE offers a single product ‘fit and forget’ solution for fast and effective sealing based around the European RAL principles of three level sealing - the inside seal area is more airtight than the external one, allowing any trapped moisture inside the joint, or within the wall, to escape outwards rather than into the building.

The external seal area provides weather resistance and breathability with a minimum resistance of 1000 Pascals (hurricane forces), while the intermediate seal area provides extra thermal and acoustic properties, with a U-value between 0.55 and 0.8 subject to tape size, and the internal one air tightness and humidity regulation, the tape installation itself gives less than 0.01 m³ air loss when tested at 1,000 Pascals air pressure difference. All three levels are designed to accommodate movement between the adjacent materials.

Once installed, ISO-BLOCO ONE ensures a building is better protected from elemental factors like wind, dust and moisture ingress by accommodating the changes in structural movement caused by environmental, cyclical and settlement factors.

Product, which has Passivhaus certification, has CE marking and complies with energy saving regulations (EnEV) on windows and doors as well as the RAL quality assurance association, has an EC1 rating for very low emissions and a B1 fire resistant rating. It can accommodate extremes of temperature changes – from -30°C to + 80°C and is available with a 10-year performance warranty. More at https://www.iso-chemie.eu/en-GB/home/