English

Wind tunnel tests were carried out using models of fallout shelters to determine correlations between shelter ventilation rate, area and distribution of wall openings, and wind speed and its direction relative to the orientation of the shelter. Models of bermed shelters with five different opening configurations were used in these tests. A simple correlation was formulated between the shelter ventilation rate, the total area of windward openings, the ratio of leeward to windward opening areas, and the velocity of the approach wind.

A study has been made, both experimentally and analytically, of the characteristics of thermal performance of high-rise buildings using an idealized model building with a number of openings at various locations and temperature distributions. The building was assumed to have no internal partitions. The effect of the factors affecting the location of the neutral pressure level was of particular interest.

A series of laboratory tests for moisture problems were conducted on an air infiltration barrier. One series involved the condition where warm and moist indoor air circulates through wall cavities. 

The fan pressurization method has been widely used by groups working with building retrofits and with new construction to evaluate the air tightness of building envelopes. 

This report presents a new technique for measuring the leakage area of residential buildings. This technique, called AC pressurization, is designed to overcome most of the shortcomings of fan pressurization, the conventional technique for measuring leakage area.

Twelve energy-efficient houses in Eugene, Oregon, USA, were measured for effective leakage area using blower door fan pressurization. Air exchange rates over a period of several hours were determined by tracer gas decay analysis. 

The steady-state heat loss of a house can be expressed as the sum of the above-grade conduction loss, the below-grade conduction loss, and the infiltration loss, minus the solar gain. Each of these terms is the product of a weather related variable and a coefficient that describes a physical characteristic of the house. If the infiltration driving force is properly defined, the infiltration coefficient is the equivalent leakage area.

Reliable surface pressure and indoor wind speed data from model buildings in boundary layer wind tunnels can only be expected if appropriate modeling parameters are considered carefully. Modeling parameters to examine when planning boundary layer wind tunnel studies of indoor airflow and external surface pressures due to wind are identified, and criteria for assessment are suggested.

Two techniques for estimating natural wind airflow through buildings for comfort cooling utilizing data derived from boundary layer wind tunnel studies are presented. One method is based on pressure and discharge coefficients. The other uses wind speed coefficients determined from model studies in a boundary layer wind tunnel.

In the past several years measurements of radon and its daughters made in residential buildings in the USA indicate that in some situations the potential health hazard to the occupants of buildings from inhalation exposure can be significant.