Chester Balmore, the UK's largest residential scheme so far designed to meet the demanding Passivhaus Standard, is the latest project to benefit from the premium performance Kingspan KoolDuct System.

Situated in the leafy streets of Highgate, the 53 units, developed for Camden Council by Willmott Dixon and designed by Rick Mathers Architects, are being built as part of Camden’s Community Investment Programme (CIP) to invest in homes, schools and community facilities. Designed and built to keep energy consumption to a minimum, these ultra-modern homes enable occupants to reduce energy bills without compromising on the comfort expected at home.

To help achieve the stringent Passivhaus standard, over 1,200 m2 of The Kingspan KoolDuct System was installed by RDS Projects Ltd throughout the residential units, helping to deliver perfect airflow through the Mechanical Ventilation & Heat Recovery System.

Paul Mullin of Rick Mathers Architects commented “The aim of this project was not only to create a mixture of ultra-modern residential units, but to achieve Passivhaus standard to help keep energy consumption to a minimum with minimal heatloss, therefore only premium performance products were used.”

In order to meet the rigorous and exacting Passivhaus standards, Chester Balmore was designed and built with meticulous attention to detail and The Kingspan KoolDuct System was a key part of this. As the air-leakage rate of The System can be reduced to a fraction of that typical of sheet metal ductwork, significant electrical consumption savings can be made. This is because of reduced heating and cooling loads as well as less energy required to run the fan.

Additionally as The System is pre-insulated, the space required to install the ductwork was reduced, allowing a clean, minimalist aesthetic to be maintained throughout the properties.

Graham Sims, Operations Manager at installers RDS Projects Ltd, said “The Kingspan KoolDuct System is a great product and I am always keen to use it. It’s fast-track and lightweight properties make it ideal for projects where time or space restrictions are critical.”

Kingspan KoolDuct panels have been assigned a 2008 Green Guide Summary Rating of A and their premium performance insulation core is manufactured with a blowing agent that has zero Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) and low Global Warming Potential (GWP). The Kingspan KoolDuct System is installed in a single-fix and is also the only premium performance pre–insulated ductwork to be UL Listed as a Class 1 Air Duct, to Standard for Safety UL 181 (Underwriters Laboratories: Factory Made Air Ducts & Air Connectors), when fabricated to a specification clearly defined by UL.