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353 (0)21 7004001, 087 333 0547 - Unit B4, Link Road Business Park
Ballincollig, Co. Cork, P31 W950
Dzogchen Beara
is a Buddhist Meditation Centre on the Beara Peninsula near Allihies in West Cork.
Development began on this impressive temple in 2016, using airtight construction and energy efficient windows and doors to ensure the building envelope was correctly sealed. In compliance with Irish Building Regulations, an airtightness test was required to determine the air permeability of the temple to successfully achieve BER certification.
When undertaking the airtightness test, there were a number of considerations, including the weather. Wind can often impact an airtightness test as it creates uneven pressure distribution around the building. Dzogchen Beara is located on a remote, exposed peninsula where the wind can be very strong. On the day of the scheduled test a storm was forecast, so the test was postponed until milder weather was expected.
Another consideration is the building size. Dzogchen Beara is vast, with a net floor area of 506.28 m² and an internal volume of 1681.95m³. To accurately test the temple, its exact dimensions were taken with a laser distance meter, which would inform airtightness calculations.
A Minneapolis BlowerDoor was installed on the exterior door frame, this precision calibrated fan depressurised the building and then, to calculate air permeability, measured the amount of air pulled back in during the test.
BERL Test Results
Dzogchen Beara was issued with a successful air permeability report onsite, on the day, which will be used to support their BER application. To comply with Irish Building Regulations a dwelling needs to achieve less than 5m³/hr/m² of air permeability. Dzogchen Beara scored a 4.35 m³/hr/m².