Sealing a 10-story Apartment Buildings' Leaking Smoke Extraction Shaft at 10-Storey Apartment Building in Birmingham

Newly built smoke extraction systems often fail to meet the stringent air tightness standards required for fire safety. The industry benchmark for these systems is a leakage rate of less than 3.8m3/hr/m. The customer had a 10-storey apartment building in Birmingham that was experiencing significant air leakage in its smoke extraction shaft. The ductwork was complex, and the customer needed a fast, reliable and non-invasive solution to reduce the leakage and get the building certified.

To tackle this unique challenge, our experts proposed using Aeroseal Duct Technology, a proven method for sealing HVAC systems. This was a first in the UK for using this method to seal a smoke extract system, so the process started by using a specialist camera to observe the system to ensure that conducting Aeroseal would be successful. The innovative and non-toxic sealant was then injected into the smoke extract system. The sealant particles located and sealed all leaks from the inside out.

The treatment was a success and only took three hours to complete. The procedure resulted in a remarkable 95% reduction in leakage, bringing the system’s performance well within safety standards. The final leakage rate was reduced to 13.5 litres per second, a Class A seal, well below the maximum requirements of 24.3 litres per second. For the customer, this ensured the building would receive its fire safety certification.