In cool and cold climates, sloped roofs with cathedral ceilings are quite sensitive to moisture damages caused by built-in moisture and prolonged concealed condensation of water vapor produced inside. Conventional solutions are to leave a cavity between the thermal insulation and the sheathing and vent it with outside air and/or to include a vapor barrier below the insulation layer. An alternative, however, is the self-drying roof. This concept was evaluated experimentally.

The New Zealand Building Code has kept with tradition in allowing residential building ventilationdesigns based entirely on openable window areas. Working against this tradition, however, is a trend inNew Zealand towards more airtight construction and declining reliance on open windows. Contributingto this trend are changing patterns of occupancy with fewer people at home during the working week,along with developing concerns for personal security.

A field measurement study of the airtightness of 73 - less than 5 year old - French dwellingswas led between 1999 and 2000. Buildings have been selected and classified according to theconstruction structure, the thermal insulation and the occupancy mode. Using a fandepressurizationtechnique, we assessed the air leakage rate of each dwelling with twodepressurization tests. Meanwhile quantifying air leakage rates, we observed qualitatively themost frequent locations of air leakage paths using a smoke detection method and infraredthermography.

Ventilation systems should contribute to good indoor air quality conditions and should be energy efficient. In practice, one often finds ventilation systems which often do not give the appropriate indoor climate conditions and/or which consume a lot of energy.""In an increased number of European countries, legislation exists (France, Netherlands,...) or is under preparation (Belgium, Greece,...) putting requirements on the total energy use of the building. Part of this energy use deals with ventilation (thermal energy and fan energy).

Designers, professionals and practitioners are currently making evaluations and sizing ventilation systems and apparatus in Italy on the basis of the Italian standard UNI 10339. This prescriptive standard is relatively recent, being issued in June 1995.

In the framework of the Flemish “Kantoor 2000” research project, the BBRI invited a Swedish inspector to apply the Boverket-OVK procedure for checking the ventilation installations in three Belgian buildings. This experience was most illustrative for the actual status of ventilation systems in Belgium. The procedure being very simple to apply was still very effective and able to detect most problems with ventilation installations encountered in these buildings. To control the quality of ventilation systems, three aspects of the building process are important:

An investigation of the performance of a recently built estate of over 50 low-energy rental dwellings indicated that there was a slight but significant increase in electricity use of the “super low energy” designs over the control “low energy” designs. The “super low energy” designs included, in addition to the enhanced fabric specification of the “low-energy” types, active systems such as mechanical ventilation, solar DHW panels and enhanced space heating systems.

ADEME (French Agency for Environment and Energy Management) regularly commissionssurveys of the attitudes and behaviour of private citizens with regard to energy, andperiodically it also commissions more detailed surveys relating to a particular appliance.The purpose of the survey is to take stock of changing attitudes in households with regard totheir use of energy and to assess the impact of ADEME's policies relating to the home.The questionnaire covers the following aspects: description of the work carried out during theyear surveyed, tax allowances and/or grants applicable to certain ki

US Manufactured homes are required to be built to Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards (MHCSS.) The National Fire Protection Association recently updated ventilation standards for manufactured h