LoginAn increasing number of countries (e.g. Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, UK) include in their regulations either required or recommended minimum airtightness levels, with or without mandatory testing. The number of tests performed on a voluntary basis is rapidly increasing, either because of the energy penalty applied to untested buildings in calculation methods or due to the specific requirements of a given programme. Furthermore, mandatory testing has gradually come into force in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Denmark and France. In addition, the need for airtightness testing is expected to grow strongly in other countries without specific airtightness requirements, as EP calculation methods typically include envelope airtightness as a parameter. Therefore, obtaining good airtightness results through testing can be an effective way to achieve the required EP levels. In this context, the development of competent tester schemes represents an opportunity to improve the reliability of building airtightness tests, including monitoring the implementation of policies in practice.
The project has been running since its start in the context of the TightVent Airtightness Associations Committee-TAAC (https://tightvent.org/taac), with a scope originally restricted to building airtightness but progressively broadened to ductwork airtightness issues as well.