Passive Sills gets Agrément cert

Passive Sills gets Agrément cert

Passive Sills, the Cork-based manufacturer of insulated window sills, has now received an NSAI Agrément certificate for its passive sills system. The company also told Passive House Plus that it was expecting to get its British Board of Agrément certificate imminently, too.

This article was originally published in issue 26 of Passive House Plus magazine. Want immediate access to all back issues and exclusive extra content? Click here to subscribe for as little as €10, or click here to receive the next issue free of charge

The passive sills system is certified by the Passive House Institute, and is constructed from a high density EPS core that is coated with a polymer resin.

Traditional concrete and stone sills pose a major challenge for low energy and passive buildings, because they act as a major uninsulated thermal bridge through which heat can escape. Passive Sills has essentially turned this problem on its head by manufacturing its sills out of EPS, an insulating material.

Passive Sills was also commended in the ‘best product of the future’ category at this year’s SEAI Energy Show, which was held in the RDS, Dublin in April. The company is currently working on a number of major projects, including a new development of 160 homes in Ashford, Co Wicklow by leading low energy housing builder Ecofix, and even in developing thermal details for social housing in Belgium.

“Another thing we hear a lot is that builders love the product because it completely eliminates all of the manual handling issues associated with traditional heavy concrete and stone sills,” Patrick Beausang of Passive Sills told Passive House Plus. “A standard concrete or stone sill will weigh about 60kg per linear metre, whereas our sill weighs about one-tenth that amount.”

Beausang added that the product was also proving surprisingly popular with timber frame builders, because its light weight makes installation significantly easier than a heavier concrete or stone sill