Westville Commons
An architect and contractor achieve their very first Passive House build using SIGA products. Achieving a blower door result of 0.05 CFM50/square foot.
- Building Location
- Westville, New Jersey, United States
- Project type
- Residential
- Project size
- 16,207 sf
- Architect
- Inglese Architecture and Engineering
- Builder
- RPM Developement Group
- Products used
- Majvest® 500 SA, Wigluv®, Rissan®, Fentrim® IS 20
About the Westville Commons
Westville Commons, formerly called the Westville Senior Center, represents a growing trend in high-performance multi-family projects. The original plan was for the 66,207 square foot, 66 unit building to achieve net-zero energy status. During design development, this goal shifted to trying to achieve a passive house standard.
This entailed creating an airtight building envelope, which would increase occupant comfort, allow for downsized mechanical systems, lower operating costs and tenant energy bills, and create a more durable envelope that requires less maintenance over the life of the building. Inglese Architecture and Engineering and RPM Development Group decided to use the SIGA Majvest 500 SA, a self-adhered membrane, to help achieve these goals.
Window rough openings were flashed with the semi-permeable Wigluv flashing tape, and the interior of the windows were sealed to the rough opening with Fentrim IS 20.
Rissan was used to seal the sub-slab vapor barrier seams as well as pipe penetrations.
Challenges faced
Westville Commons represented a unique challenge for Inglese Architecture and Engineering and RPM. For both groups, it was their first attempt at building passive house.
This meant assembling a team of experts to help support the project and investing in job-site installation training. To ensure an airtight air barrier, Jay Woodworth, SIGA application trainer, visited the job site to conduct multiple installation training sessions.
Joel Wallace, project manager from RPM, was instrumental in organizing the team and understanding the sequencing necessary to achieve a continuous air barrier.
Success
During its final blower door test the Westville Senior Center achieved a 0.05 CFM50/square foot. Today, Westville Commons is providing a comfortable, energy-efficient home for Westville, NJ seniors.