The air infiltration component of house ventilation is calculated and discussed in relation to winter space heat losses and rneasures necessary to control moisture. The airtightness of 80 houses sampled from three major urban areas was inspected for association with location, external cladding materials, and design features such as the shape and complexity of the building envelope. A useful correlation of airtightness with envelope complexity emerged which gives a coarse but useful way of forecasting airtightness from building design information.
Experimental measurements have been conducted on eight houses in the Ottawa area to study the changes induced in house performance when loose-fill insulation is installed in walls. The report presents details on the induced changes in furnace performance, house airtightness, temperatures, humidity levels and position of the neutral pressure plane. ECAP (Enhanced Conservation Assistance Program) auditing procedures were applied to the houses, and the predicted fuel consumptions showed a considerable disagreement with actual values.
Energy-related variables were monitored in six detached houses in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before and after the houses were retrofitted by re-insulating the exterior walls and ceiling, or walls only, with blown loose-fill glass-fibre or cellulose
Energy conservation in dwellings has been realized mainly by tight windows and by improving heat insulation. Increasing damage to the building fabric by humidity and mould has been noticed. But there is no correlation between this damage and the improved insulation. Rather it is caused by too low ventilation rates. This paper deals with these problems in detail. Ventilation rates in the order of 0.5 to 0.8 per hour are assumed to be sufficient to avoid detrimental effects for the building and the inhabitants.
Reviews the existing standards of the AIC participating countries for whole buildings, windows, doors and building sections. Comments on the factors that should be taken into account in the application and future development of airtightness requirements, including climate, sources and severity of indoor pollution, ventilation requirements, existing practices, cost and overall impact of such controls on energy conservation.
Facts and ideas are presented to improve cost effective designs for airtightness and ventilation systems. Schematically alternative measures to save energy are presented. An investigation of the rate of ventilation in 25occupied houses is described, using pressurization, tracer gas and measurements of air flow through exhaust air terminal devices. At a mechanical ventilation rate of 0.25 ach, the measured total ventilation rate averaged 0.29 ach (minimum 0.12 and maximum 0.50). Further results are given for 5 more recently constructed houses.
Describes construction of timber-frame housing to high level of airtightness. A target level of 0.4 ach at 50 Pa was set. At this level, total air control provides an extremely high level of comfort by eliminating draughts and by supplying precise amounts of fresh air where required. An air and vapour barrier was installed within the house structure.
Reviews literature on indoor air quality in housing, nature of contaminants and their sources, health effects, standards and guidelines, impact of air sealing on indoor air quality, sources of uncontrolled air leakage, airtightness and natural ventilation, airtightness of new and existing housing stock, air change in new and existing housing, impact of air sealing on airtightness and ventilation, indoor air quality in tight houses, impact of occupant behaviour on ventilation, measures to improve indoor air quality, identifying problem houses, indoor pollution control strategies, and ventila
A steady state multi-cell calculation model has been developed in order to predict the interconnection between airtightness and ventilation rates. The model has been tested with measured leakage data of a detached house.
Air tightness results for 40 New Zealand timber frame houses of varying age and construction detail are given. The steady pressure method was used at 6-9 indoor-outdoor pressure differences in the range 10-150 Pa. The data is presented in four ways: 1. air changes per hour at 50 Pa, 2. the coefficient and exponent of a generalized leakage function, 3. the leakage rate per unit shell area at 50 Pa, and 4. the equivalent leakage area at 50 Pa. Houses in the 0-5 and 6-20 year age groups were not significantly different in terms of air tightness.
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