Neutral pressure levels in a two-storey wood frame house.

Air infiltration continues to play a major role in the ventilation of houses, despite modern trends to increased airtightness of the building envelope. In colder climates, stack effect is the principal driving force for this natural air exchange. The neutral pressure level divides the envelope areas subjected to stack effect pressures driving infiltration from those subjected to pressures driving exfiltration. The neutral pressure level is therefore important to our understanding of stack driven air exchange and our ability to model it.

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