TN 70: 40 years to build tight and ventilate right: From infiltration to smart ventilation

As the AIVC was created in 1979, the 40th anniversary of the AIVC was celebrated in October 2019 at the 40th AIVC conference in Ghent. In the context of this celebration, it was decided to publish 2 overview publications:

TN 71: Durability of building airtightness

Much progress has been made to improve the airtightness level of new buildings. Still, little is known about the durability of building airtightness, or the impact of degradation on airtightness. This report presents a comprehensive review of studies that deal with building airtightness durability. Regarding field measurement studies, the envelope airtightness seems to decrease during the first years after achievement and then stabilize. However, these variations are rarely explained. Key elements that may drive airtightness variations were identified.

TightVent newsletter issue #26 – May 2024

The 26th issue of the TightVent newsletter is now available!

Specific contents include:

English

Ventilation, IEQ and health in sustainable buildings (Book of Proceedings)

The Book of Proceedings of the 43rd AIVC - 11th TightVent - 9th venticool Conference: "Ventilation, IEQ and health in sustainable buildings" held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 4-5 October 2023.

Ventilation, IEQ and health in sustainable buildings (Slides)

The Presentations at the 43rd AIVC - 11th TightVent - 9th venticool Conference: "Ventilation, IEQ and health in sustainable buildings" held in Copenhagen, Denmark on 4-5 October 2023.

Impact of the building airtightness and natural driving forces on the operation of an exhaust ventilation system in social housing in Chile

Chile has 1,626 social housing complexes with a total of 350,880 dwellings. Several studies have demonstrated a low thermal performance and high air permeability of the envelope of social houses throughout the country, causing surface condensation on walls, high heat losses in winter and low levels of thermal comfort for their occupants. The presence of high levels of indoor pollutants and/or indoor humidity has also been observed, causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases in the occupants.

Airtightness predictive model from measured data of residential buildings in Spain

The need for airtightness control is a reality given its impact on buildings’ energy use and IAQ. For the past few years, this fact has resulted in energy performance regulations being established in many countries in Europe and North America. However, compliance proof is not always required, and on-site testing is often avoided. In this sense, predictive models have become useful in the decision-making process and to estimate input values in energy performance simulation tools.

Pulse tests in highly airtight Passivhaus standard buildings

Due to the minimal energy requirement, the Passivhaus standard has been widely recognised and adopted to deliver low carbon buildings. To achieve this standard, the thermal and physical properties of the building envelope have to meet a stringent criteria. It has set out the highest requirement for the building airtightness, which requires the envelope to achieve an air change rate less than 0.6 h-1 when the building is subject to a pressure difference of 50 Pa. Building an envelope with such a high level of airtightness can be extremely challenging.

Acoustic method for measurement of airtightness – field testing on three different existing office buildings in Germany

Maintaining the airtightness of building envelopes is a key factor for the energy efficiency of buildings. A fast and reliable detection of leaks plays a decisive role, especially during building renovations. For this reason, work has been done in recent years to apply an acoustic beamforming method that enables the fast, simple, and large-area detection of leaks in building envelopes. This method is based on a microphone array technology and assumes that sound primarily follows the same paths as air through the building envelope.

TightVent newsletter issue #25 – November 2023

The 25th issue of the TightVent newsletter is now available!

Specific contents include:

English

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