English

Describes air leakage and tracer gas (SF6) measurements made in 42 Scottish houses. Finds that leakage in the "test" (better insulated) houses are on average 10% higher than that in the "control" houses. About 40% of the total leakage rate (at a pressure difference of 50 Pa) flows into houses through thefloor boards and the air-bricks under the crawl spaces. Tracer gas measurements indicate that average leakage rates with closed windows lie between 0.52-1.65 air changes per hour. Opening a window can increase the number of air changes by a factor of 2 to 5.

Describes the installation and use of the Gadzco blower door, as part of a house doctor's program for identifying source of air leakage before retrofitting. Discusses advantages and drawbacks of this particular type of blower door.

Reports a survey on both solar and conventional homes in north-eastern New York State. Finds that houses which are more airtight have 3 times the radon levels of conventional houses. The highest 2 levels of radon in the solar homes give doses over 30 yrs that are known to produce lung cancer in 1% of uranium miners. Summer readings in more than one half of the cases are different from winter ones by a factor of 2 or more, so that year-round measurements are necessary for precise dosimetry. The track etching technique is ideally suited for such measurements.

Compares measurements of surface pressure and response on the CAARC standard tall building model, made at 6 establishments. In general, the degree of accuracy is good and mostly within the scatter of reasonable experimental accuracy. Observes small trends in respect of pressure measurements which could be attributed to differences in the approaching longitudinal velocity spectrum and to the requirement for blockage corrections. Finds no obvious trends in the dynamic response measurements, where the majority of the data compares within +-15%.

Explores the health implications, external and internal contributions, and the measurement of indoor air pollution including such subjects as sampling and analysis, calibration, time scale and interferences. Outlines the current status of prediction techniques, including areas such as one-compartment models, infiltration estimation, and empirical models. Summarizes the most common control methods. Examines, in detail, the application of modelling techniques to several typical indoor settings, for example, a restaurant, kitchen or a conference room with smokers.

Carries out a review and evaluation of residential building energy analysis programs in 6 steps - 1. Survey of the experience and needs of electric and gas utilities in residential building energy analysis 2. Identification of currently available programs for residential energy use analysis 3. Examination and summary of intended capabilities of 10 programs 4. In depth analysis of the engineering bases of 5 programs (DOE 2.1, ENCORE-CANADA, HEAP, REAP and TRYNSIS) 5. Tests of these 5 programs 6.

Describes the types of damage that condensation can cause in a domestic pitched roof with insulation, and outlines the design options available to reduce the risk of condensation. Most of the water vapour comes from within the house, both by movement of air through gaps in the ceiling and by diffusion through the plasterboard. The type of damage depends on the structure of the roof. If there is a non-absorbent lining, water can condense on it and subsequently run or drip on to the timbers and ceilings. Absorbent linings are then wetted and may rot.

Double-glazed windows are poor insulators, with regard to both thermal and acoustic properties. Reports on study of insulated shutters for windows, sponsored by the SCBR and the National Swedish Board for Technical Development. Estimates that the energy loss through such shutters combined with a double-glazed window is about 0.7 w/m2K (compared to 3 to 4 for the window alone) and noise transmission can be cut by 15 to 20 db. Calculates that each square metre of shutter area could save an average of about 300 KWh per year in Sweden.

In the calculation of natural ventilation systems there is a lot of data which is not dependent on the ambient weather conditions. Data calculated by project engineers include geometrical size of the building; effective vertical distance between inlets and outlets; indoor loads/heat, moisture, fouling gases; interior climate requirements, relative humidity, density of air etc.Some of these factors are not changeable after the completion of the building, but there are some which could or need to be changed.

Examines by means of analytically calculable borderline cases the relative merits of continuous window ventilation or intermittent opening of windows. Illustrates the results relating to carbon dioxide content of the rooms ingraphs and discusses them. Findings depend strongly on the hygiene assumptions by which they are judged (identical maximum or identical mean CO2 concentrations or the identical mean air flow rate).