Passive Purple is the world’s first Passivhaus-certified liquid vapour control, airtight, and smoke-tight paint - a high-performance vapour-control membrane that creates a continuous vapour control, airtight, and smoke-tight layer across the building envelope. Unlike tapes, foils, or traditional membranes, Passive Purple is spray or roller-applied, forming a seamless coating that seals even the most complex details.
Applied to the warm side of insulation, Passive Purple prevents unwanted air leakage through walls, floors, roofs, and junctions. It is suitable for both new builds and retrofit airtightness projects, helping achieve strict UK airtightness standards and Passivhaus performance levels.
Why Liquid Airtight Paint?
Air leakage is one of the biggest causes of heat loss, condensation, and mould in buildings. Different materials such as brick, timber, steel, and concrete expand and contract at different rates, creating micro-cracks in plaster and finishing layers. These cracks become hidden leakage points that compromise airtightness tests and waste energy.
Liquid airtight paint solves this problem. By coating surfaces with Passive Purple, you achieve a flexible, durable airtight layer that adapts to movement in the building fabric, ensuring long-term protection against draughts and damp.
Spray / Roller or Brush Application
Spray application: Using an airless machine or roller, one installer can apply up to 300 m² per day, making it one of the fastest airtightness solutions available.
Brush application (Passive Purple Brush) - A fibre-reinforced version, ideal for sealing junctions, penetrations, cracks (2- 5 mm), and smaller projects such as houses and retrofits
Together, the spray and brush systems create a complete airtight solution – from large surface areas to the smallest details.
Suitability of Passive Purple
Passive Purple is suitable for all types of building construction - New builds, Retrofits, Traditional build, Light Gauge Steel (LGS)
The Benefits of Passive Purple
✅ Passivhaus certified for guaranteed performance
✅ Seamless and flexible – no weak points or overlaps
✅ Retrofit-ready – apply internally without removing walls
✅ Water-based and low VOC, safe for indoor use
✅ Works on all substrates – brick, block, timber, concrete, plasterboard, OSB, and steel
✅ Permanent airtight layer – can be plastered, rendered, or painted once cured
Airtightness, Explained
What is airtightness? Controlling unintended air leakage through the building fabric.
How do you achieve airtightness? By creating a continuous airtight barrier, best achieved with liquid airtight membranes.
What are the airtightness standards in the UK? New builds must achieve ≤10 m³/h·m² @ 50 Pa, while Passivhaus requires ≤0.6 ACH.
Why does airtightness matter? It reduces energy loss, improves comfort, prevents condensation, and supports a healthy indoor climate.
Passive Purple and Passivhaus
What is Passivhaus? A building standard focused on extreme energy efficiency and occupant comfort. Check out the 360 images
The five principles of Passivhaus: Airtightness, insulation, high-performance glazing, thermal bridge-free design, and ventilation with heat recovery.
Examples of Passivhaus projects: Thousands across Europe and the UK now use liquid airtight membranes like Passive Purple to achieve certification.
Preparation & Priming
Great airtightness starts with the right prep. On bare, dusty, porous or lime substrates, prime first with Lime Prime; on dense, sealed or older substrates that need consolidating, use Primer I.M. Once Passive Purple has cured, prime it with Supergrip so plaster and dot-and-dab bond firmly. Right primer, reliable bond.
Tested & Certified - worldwide
Passive Purple is verified to both ASTM (ICC-ES) and EN standards, making it suitable for projects worldwide:
French A+ indoor-air rating & Finnish M1 class - very low VOC emissions (EN 16516 / RTS)
Passive House Institute Class A airtight - 0.02 m³/h·m² @ 50 Pa (EN 12114)
Air barrier material - 0.02 L/s·m² at 75 Pa (ASTM E2178)
Reaction to fire - Class A to ASTM E84 (Flame Spread 0); Euroclass C-s1,d0 to EN 13501-1 (B-s1,d0 with FRED)
Watertight (EN 14891) & intelligent vapour control, Sd ~0.8–40 m (EN ISO 12572)
Solar Reflectance Index 52 - reflects ~45% of solar energy (ASTM E1980)
Plan the adjoining tape detail as well as the coated area. Our airtightness tape guide covers width and substrate selection, while tape versus liquid membrane explains compatible interfaces, preparation and inspection. Use the specified coating-to-tape detail and check continuity before covering.
Details
Uses
Technical Data
Data Sheets
FAQ
Why Choose Passive Purple?
Passive Purple isn’t just another airtight paint – it’s the benchmark for liquid airtightness.Independently tested, fully certified, and proven on thousands of projects, it combines speed, safety, and unbeatable performancein one system.
Certified Confidence – Passive Purple is both BBA Certified and Passivhaus Certified, giving architects, specifiers, and builders total peace of mind that it meets the highest standards of airtightness and durability.
Underground Gases Protection – More than just an airtight layer, Passive Purple also acts as a radon and methane barrier, protecting occupants from harmful ground gases.
Faster Installation, Lower Costs – With airless spray application, a single installer can cover up to 300m² per day, slashing labour time and keeping projects on schedule.
Health & Sustainability – Rated M1 Class and VOC-free, Passive Purple is a safe, water-based solution with zero nasty chemicals, making it better for installers and the environment.
Fire Safety Built In – Unlike paper-based membranes (Class E), Passive Purple achieves a Fire Class C rating, adding an extra layer of resilience to your build.
Proven Airtightness – In airtightness testing, Passive Purple has achieved 0.03 ACH – that’s 20 times tighter than the Passivhaus requirement of 0.6 ACH. Whether you’re chasing certification or just aiming for superior performance, Passive Purple guarantees compliance.
Passive Purple isn’t just a product – it’s the fastest, safest, and most reliable way to achieve airtightness, whether for retrofits, new builds, or full Passivhaus projects.
Passive Purple Uses
Passive Purple is a versatile, liquid-applied airtight vapour control coating that bonds seamlessly to a wide range of substrates. Its flexibility and strong adhesion make it the perfect solution for creating a continuous airtight layer across the most challenging areas of the building envelope.
Works on multiple surfaces:
Concrete
Brick and blockwork
Timber and OSB
Floor-to-wall junctions
Wall-to-ceiling connections
Vertical and horizontal joints
Dot and Dab/Plaster over when SuperGrip is applied over Passive Purple First
In addition to delivering airtightness and vapour control, Passive Purple is also classed as a radon barrier, preventing harmful ground gases from entering the building.
Whether in new builds, retrofits, or Passivhaus projects, Passive Purple ensures seamless airtight protection across every detail.
At Intelligent Membranes, we help architects, contractors, retrofitters and self-builders achieve airtightness and waterproofing targets with liquid-applied systems. Our flagship airtight system, Passive Purple®, is airtight at all times yet breathable when the building fabric needs to release vapour — we call this intelligent breathability.
We, at Intelligent Membranes, would like you to be 100% satisfied with your purchase and our service. In the unfortunate event of any item being unsuitable or wrong, please read the following for advice on returning goods to us.
AIR AND VAPOUR CONTROL LAYER
Manufacturer: Intelligent Membranes Ltd, Cambridge. Tel 01223 208174. intelligentmembranes.com
Product reference: Passive Purple® liquid-applied airtight vapour control membrane, spray/roller grade, with Passive Purple Brush for joints, junctions and penetrations.
Certification: BBA certified. Passivhaus Institute certified component.
Reaction to fire: Class C to EN 13501-1.
Substrates: Concrete, brick and blockwork, timber/OSB, plasterboard and cement board, prepared and primed as recommended by the manufacturer.
Detailing: Passive Purple Brush applied first to joints, junctions, frames and service penetrations in a 100 mm band (150 mm on rough masonry and high-movement joints).
Field coats: Two coats to a minimum total consumption of 0.8–1.0 kg/m² on boards and 1.2–1.4 kg/m² on brick/blockwork.
Plastering/dry lining over: Apply Supergrip primer over the cured membrane before plaster or dot-and-dab.
Installation: In accordance with the manufacturer's current technical data sheet and installation guide.
Testing: Verify airtightness by pressure test on completion.
Check against the current technical data sheet before issue. Certificates are in the Downloads tab.
Discover which Intelligent Membranes product best fits your build with our handy comparison table.