Simulation Set-Up
The first stage of the simulation is to create the component build-up within WUFI. Based on the description and the detail shown, the WUFI build-up of the original roof is as follows:

Original Roof Build-up

To simulate this build-up with the cellulose, the air space is replaced with cellulose as follows:

Roof with Cellulose Fill

Evaluation Criteria
To assess the health of this build-up, the critical values to look at are the water content of the plywood and the humidity levels on the cold side of the insulation where the plywood may be trapping vapour. Rotting of the plywood becomes a concern if the water content is above 20%-M (%-M = mass percent = kg of water/kg of dry material). Humidity levels at the cold side of the insulation should stay below 80% to avoid mould growth within the roof. To determine if the interior moisture load makes a difference, the simulation was run with interior climate set to a “Normal Moisture Load” (typical of a living room or bedroom) and a “High Moisture Load” (typical of a shower room or kitchen).

Results
Simulating the cellulose filled roof with a normal moisture load, gives the following water content at the inner and outer 1mm of the OSB board.

Please use this link to view brochure, programme, costs & assisted funding arrangements, etc: http://www.josephlittlearchitects.com/blc_training.html

This hands-on training course will teach participants to calculate linear and point thermal transmittances and temperature factors for 2D and 3D thermal bridges, to meet the latest Irish, British and European (EN ISO) standards.

The workshop is intended for architects, engineers, insulation suppliers, system manufacturers, builders, and any building professionals with a focus on fabric performance and detailing. No previous experience is required.

Please use this link to view brochure, programme, costs & local funding arrangements, etc: http://www.josephlittlearchitects.com/blc_training.html

On the 12th of September we will participate in a free public talk in Glasgow, organised by Historic Scotland, to launch “Historic Scotland Technical Paper 15 – The science of getting insulation retrofits right – Heat and moisture transfer in traditional stone walls”. It should be very significant: we’re looking forward to it.

This workshop will teach attendees to use Fraunhofer’s WUFI® Pro software for simulating heat and moisture transfer through building fabric for the purpose of assessing risk and preventing interstitial condensation. Focus will be on the practical application of the software with emphasis on its use in the UK and Ireland.

The workshop is intended for architects, engineers, insulation suppliers, system manufacturers, builders, and anyone with a focus on interstitial condensation, healthy buildings, conservation and fabric performance. No previous experience with the WUFI® Pro software is required.

Now as we strive to reduce energy use and increase the insulation levels and airtightness the effect of well-fitted but poorly thought-out systems, or badly built well-designed systems are becoming more obvious. The moisture or vapour accrual can be greater than before and the (accidental or designed) air movement that took moisture away may be less available.  Old-school architects and builders have little understanding of how ‘tipping points’ can be reached in terms of building physics where insulation levels can start causing more problems than they solve.  It is our view that the whole industry needs to re-think, re-learn and upskill.

Add this to the fact that Ireland has some of the poorest ventilation regulations in Western Europe and that most Irish homeowners have no understanding of the importance of ventilation and therefore block vents or have inadequate extraction and you can understand why it would appear we are on the cusp of a significant number of building failures.

It doesn’t have to be that way.  We have the tools.

Go on – visit the site and contribute your name: http://www.energiseireland.ie/manifesto.html

In all cases the quality of the work and the specification of the materials and design will greatly affect the cost. Remember compare apples with apples! ‘I’ll do ya a cheaper job Misses’ normally means ‘I’ll significantly drop specification then charge for extras once I’m on site’!

Refitting a bathroom: allow €1000 for supply of typical sanitary ware (bath, wash hand basin, toilet and shower unit) & €400 for fitting of same. Allow €50 per sqm for supply and fit of tiling. A typical bathroom could be fully tiled (floor and all walls) for ~€1500. Make sure to go for dual flush low volume toilets and shaped baths both of which reduce wastage of water.

New windows and doors: Prices range from ~€8k-25k. PVC can be half the cost of good Scandinavian pine windows. Remember most of the trade in PVC windows these days is in replacing older PVC windows: don’t listen when suppliers tell you PVC windows have no maintenance and don’t age! Get the best ‘whole window’ thermal performance (U-Value) you can afford and think about the width of the frame: how much light are you losing? Some window systems have very wide frames, to the extent that they reduce light ingress and can actually result in the external appearance of the house disimproving! Walk down your street beforehand and see what window replacements compliment the original design of the neighbouring houses and which don’t.

New wooden floors throughout: Allow €10-60 per sqm for supply and ~€25 per sqm for fitting. Remember a solid walnut wide board floor will be a very different cost and feel to an engineered oak finish floor. Try and source sustainable timber whenever possible. Look for the PEFC and FSC-certified marks.

Attic conversion: Standard price could be about €15-16k. A specialist creating a fire-rated, well-insulated bedroom can be at €20k. Prices for an installer travelling from outside Dublin could be as low as €10-12k. Remember that if the attic conversion is to be used as a bedroom you need to obtain a fire safety certificate for the works which will include upgrading all doors on the First Floor landing to fire-rated with door closers. The custom of the builder, homeowner and estate agent all agreeing (with a nod and wink) that it’s not a bedroom but a ‘store’ puts children’s lives at risk.

Quote from the Fine Gael-Labour’s ‘Government for National Recovery 2011-2016′

“We will double funding for home energy efficiency and renewable energy programmes until the end of 2013, after which time these schemes will be ended. After 2013, we will roll out a ‘pay as you save’ scheme to continue home energy efficiency retrofitting work without recourse to public funding. We will explore the use of funding options such as an Energy Efficiency Obligation on energy suppliers”

Looking at the statistics (from HES Scheme reports) EWI is not being taken up nationwide in sufficient numbers (it’s 1% of grant aided work) despite it having the largest HES grant, its big impact on primary energy use, the fact that it compliments building physics so well, and the fact that it can be done without loss of space within house or inconveniencing occupants etc.

We think EWI grant should be for €5K. The costs of set-up (incl. moving windows, downpipes, etc.) to get the highest quality, low thermal bridging result are expensive.

However I also think a further increase in grant should be allowed for EWI works where adjoining neighbours (be they on a terrace or semi-Ds) get the works done together. Perhaps €7K for each of these houses.

This change could have a big effect in many mid 20th C. housing estates, move the market significantly, and greatly reduce carbon emissions and energy use in this category of dwelling. Importantly it would also help in locations where there’s a lot of mixed ownership: social, voluntary and private housing. That mix has often frustrated local authorities in applying a global approach in areas they built but now have low ownership.

These are a few shots from a more recent visit there.  What I was struck by is how differently bikes look and are treated over there compared to here, in Ireland.

Here we mostly have bikes for racing or ‘mountain’ bikes mostly used in town.  Then there are a few women’s bikes of the high-seating, ultra-comfortable type.  In all three cases most seem to be new, or relatively new, and often expensive.  There are of course a few really old bikes that get lovingly restored and are generally painted black though I’ve seen a few in pink!  However there’s a sense that most cyclists wouldn’t be seen dead cycling a bog standard old bike they got for €20 and worked on themselves.  I think this is because cycling here is a bit of a statement, it’s unusual.  Over there it’s as normal as walking.

Over there bikes are ubiquitous.  They’re everywhere, of every kind, mostly old and generic.  There’s even a multi-storey bicycle park cantilevered over a canal beside Amsterdam’s main station in .  What’s interesting is that they seem to get treated like an extension of the legs or a scruffy pair of sneakers.  There’s little pretension: a guy in a suit can get off an old generic pushbike there who wouldn’t be prepared to get on a bike here that wasn’t new gleaming, customised with paniers, with matching helmet etc here.

No-one cares what it looks like they just care that it gets you from A to B and that it functions the way you want (though that doesn’t mean they won’t paint it any colour of the rainbow!).  ‘Functioning’ in Ireland means moving horizontally down the road with you on it, but in Holland ‘functioning’ can include carrying you and the shopping, the baby or babies, the baby and the shopping, the baby & shopping & girlfriend, or bread or pizza delivery etc.  Bikes are used by the Utrecht museum to transport the public to the Schroeder-Rietveld House (worth visiting with tour guide), and for cycling visitors through the Hoge-Veluwe National Park.

Bike lovers and users aren’t afraid to be sensible over there either.  Chain guards and mud guards are big and sensible.  The willingness of Irish bike couriers & other cool cyclists  to allow long mud streaks up the back of their coats has missed the Dutch entirely.  They go for clean!