Firetite used to solve cavity wall issues in Dublin apartments

This article was originally published in issue 47 of Passive House Plus magazine. Want immediate access to all back issues and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €15, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge

Constructed in 2001, the 119-unit St James’s Wood apartment scheme in Kilmainham was revealed as facing several fire safety issues in 2018, after the issue was raised by a resident who reported noise transfer and cooking odours from an adjacent apartment.

The fire safety issues came to light following a series of independent audits on the three-storey apartment complex, which consists of six apartment buildings, each containing six to eight apartments. These issues, which were reported in the media in December 2018, created uncertainty and stress for the residents. Following the fire officer’s decision not to evacuate the building, the owners were given quotations for a variety of remedial works including addressing the building’s empty 100 mm cavity walls.

The consultant engineer RG Greene and Associates and management company Benchmark Property were tasked with the challenge of finding solutions that would ensure regulatory compliance in adverse conditions: retrofitting the walls of an existing building without causing major upheaval for the occupants. Finding a cavity wall insulation product that offered fire protection, airtightness, water repellence and a good insulation value initially proved problematic.

Ronnie Greene of RG Greene turned to Firetite Class A2-s1,d0 as the solution to the cavity wall insulation problems – a solution which was passed by Dublin city fire officers.

A fire-rated mineral clay-based cavity wall insulation material, Firetite is suitable for new and refurbished cavity walls. With a thermal conductivity of 0.034W/mK, Firetite is the world’s first three-component mineral-based insulation – a unique formulation developed by BASF after many years of extensive research.

According to Barry McCarthy of UK and Ireland Firetite distributor Econ Building Products, Firetite is open to vapour diffusion but is water repellent, contains no harmful pollutants, has no internal propellants and has achieved the best Emicode emissions classification of EC1 plus. A self-sealing product that adheres to masonry walls, McCarthy said that Firetite provides seamless airtight insulation when complete. The insulation contractor who installed Firetite at St James’s Wood, John Curtin from Complete Insulation, was quick to recognise the benefit of adding the product to his portfolio, taking account of its speed and ease of installation by fully trained and approved contractors.

“There’s nothing like it on the market,” said Curtin. “We see it as a solution to so many cavity wall problems. This project was successful for all involved and we’re looking forward to working on many more in the near future.”