Airtightness and Thermography
Know-how, carefully planned details and quality implementation are the most important factors that ensure that nearly zero-energy building meets all your needs for pleasant, healthy, comfortable and cost-effective living. Rihter houses are built in a quality manner, which you can confirm yourself; we carefully plan the construction, perform it diligently and, after the construction is completed, prove the quality of the house built by performing different measurements in your presence. Among these are also the airtightness test and thermography of the building’s external envelope.
Airtightness
Airtightness is the main property of every modern house’s external envelope, especially if it is built in accordance with low-energy or passive standard. Poor airtightness of the outer envelope leads to two problems. The first is the failure to meet above-mentioned standards of energy-efficient buildings, the consequence of which is the increased energy consumption. The other, much less visible, problem is condensation in the house’s construction, which in most cases is not evident immediately, but can cause irreparable damage to the building. Quality airtightness is, therefore, a necessary and standard component, without which low-energy or passive construction cannot be achieved. In well-constructed low-energy houses, the recommended airtightness is n50 ≤ 1.0 h-1. Air exchange n50 = 1.0 h-1 means that air exchanges in one hour at 50pa pressure.
Airtightness of n50 ≤ 0.6 h-1 must be achieved for passive houses. Air exchange n50 = 0.6 h-1 means that air exchanges in 1.67 hours at 50pa pressure. Upon the signing of the contract, Rihter guarantees you the proper airtightness of your house. We will prove this to you right before the construction is completed with an airtightness or Blower-door test. We perform the Blower-door test with a special measuring device, which consists of a fan and a gauge. The fan is used to create overpressure and pressure depression in accordance with the prescribed standard for such measurements. The gauge simultaneously calculates the airtightness of the building’s external envelope in accordance with set parameters. The Blower-door test is performed during construction, after installations are installed, and when all penetrations of the external envelope are complete, which enables us to fix potential poorly sealed spots. We detect poorly sealed spots with the help of smoke and a very accurate flowmeter.
Thermography
Thermographic analysis is an indispensable method for performing energy surveys on buildings. With its help, we can check heat bridges in the building, anomalies in the installation of insulation materials and correct installation of builders’ joinery. All listed factors may cause weak insulation of the external envelope, which results in the loss of energy, local condensation and consequent mould.
At Rihter, we are well aware of problems posed by heat bridges; therefore, we have prepared solutions for all critical spots where such heat bridges can appear.
Certificates
At Rihtar, we know how important our clients are; therefore, we responsibly realise their wishes and requests.
By using certified materials and providing expert and state-of-the-art implementation, we prove to our customers again and again that we are a trustworthy partner.
Passivhaus
We have certified our Rihter Pasiv construction system with the Passivhaus Institute in Darmstadt.
This certificate confirms that the Rihter Pasiv system meets the strictest criteria stipulated for achieving the passive standard.
CE
We have obtained the European Technical Assessment, which is the basis for marking our houses with the CE mark, for all our construction systems. The European Technical Assessment obtained (ETA – 14/2011) confirms that our products meet the essential requirements in the areas of mechanical resistance and stability, fire resistance, protection against noise, energy saving, protection of the environment, and hygienic and health safety.
ISO 9001:2008
We have implemented a quality management system at the company, which was corroborated by the SIST EN ISO 9001:2008 quality certificate obtained in 2008.
RAL
In 2007, upon entering foreign markets, we standardised materials and acquired the German RAL Gütezeichen quality indicator in order to facilitate operation, increase competitiveness and acquire new clients.
ÜA
In Austria, we obtained the ÜA mark, the Austrian quality mark, which attests that our construction systems meet Austrian regulations and requirements in the field of prefabricated timber construction.
BMF