Delivering a BREEAM thermographic survey and an ATTMA-certified air permeability test to verify fabric continuity and airtightness on the new Blagdon Building at the University of Bristol Veterinary School’s Langford campus.
Project Overview
- Client: Beard Construction
- Sector: Education
- Location: Bristol Veterinary School, North Somerset
- Services Provided: BREAAM Thermographic Survey, Air Test
- Scale: Two-storey teaching building, 423.5 m² footprint / c. 833 m² total floor area
- Target: BREEAM certification pursued for the building, alongside a design air permeability target of 2.00 m³/(h·m²) at 50 Pa
The Challenge
The new Blagdon Building on the University of Bristol’s Langford veterinary campus, was designed to meet BREEAM (the UK’s sustainability rating scheme for non-domestic buildings) certification standards for sustainable construction. Meeting that standard meant demonstrating two separate but related things before completion: that its timber-frame construction – with substantial glazing on the north and south elevations – had continuous insulation and no significant thermal bridging or unintended air leakage paths, in support of a BREEAM thermographic credit; and that the completed building met a design air permeability target considerably tighter than the regulatory minimum. Both needed independent, third-party verification rather than a design-stage assumption.
The Solution
BREEAM Thermographic Survey & Commercial Air Test
We combined a BREEAM-compliant thermographic survey with a zone air permeability test to build a full picture of the completed building’s fabric and airtightness performance. The thermal imaging, assessed against BRE IP 1/06’s Thermal Indexing methodology – the basis for BREEAM’s thermographic credit – found good continuity of insulation across the building’s external elevations and internal-to-external junctions, with no significant construction defects. The air test was run to ATTMA TSL3 on the completed building, measured against a design target of 2.00 m³/(h·m²) at 50 Pa – considerably tighter than the Part L 2021 backstop of 8 m³/(h·m²).
The Outcome
The completed building achieved an air permeability of 1.85 m³/(h·m²) at 50 Pa – a clear pass, and comfortably inside both the design target and the regulatory backstop. Alongside this, the thermographic survey confirmed the building’s fabric behaves as expected for a modern, well-insulated new-build, with no defects found in the insulation continuity that construction drawings called for – together supporting the project’s pursuit of a BREEAM thermographic credit.
