There is a draught, so what? Robust, tried and tested solutions ‒ Airtightness designs of structural elements and building components

Proposals for solutions in accordance with German standard DIN 4108 Teil 7 What does real life look like? What can actually be solved? Challenges, interface issues between the different trades and crafts, and possible suggestions for solutions. The industry-wide educational and training center of the Baden-Württemberg...

Infiltration through leaks? A careful analysis of minimum air change according to DIN 1946

Can the minimum air change in naturally window-ventilated units be covered only through leakages? In general, the infiltration airflow rate is dependent on meteorological conditions, especially wind pressure on the building / unit, and with regard to thermal effects, the temperature differential between the interior and the exterior...

From “16 to 1“ ‒ Retrofitting airtightness of roofs in existing buildings from the inside

Many top-floor apartments and single-family homes from the ’80s and ’90s had been insulated in the roof area using aluminum-clad panels or PE foils and had frequently been covered with profiled wood. These buildings suffer from a significant lack of airtightness that can be retrofitted from the inside with a high technical quality...

Building rehabilitation with passive house components Airtightness and „EnerPHit Standard“

Several rehabilitation projects of apartment buildings all used passive house components, but implemented different airtightness designs. Two projects (24 and 52 apartments in Ludwigshafen and Frankfurt am Main, respectively) were carried out in the traditional way, using the interior plaster in the area of the external walls...

Repeatability and reproducibility of blower door tests ‒ five years experience of round-robin tests in the Czech Republic

The airtightness test result is typicaly compared with a limiting value (compliance check), with the results of other tests of the same object by the same technician (when controling the evolution of airtightness during construction process) or with a test result of another technician (when verifying a suspicious result). These tasks need a...

Evaluating the airtightness of the building envelope using infrared thermographic measurements

This paper discusses laboratory measurements on a small test house. IRT measurements and (de)pressurization tests were performed on different types of junctions, e.g. at the window-wall interface. The results were analysed by calculating the temperature factor, to compare IRT images from different joints...

Airtight, not completely airtight, not airtight at all. How (in)tolerant is the legal definition of flaw? Observations on the legal assessment of “structural tolerance” and possible related misunderstandings

When it comes to evaluating the quality of building work, technical and legal perspectives often clash. This is probably particularly true when it comes to evaluating the airtightness of building envelopes. This presentation is an attempt at clearing up frequent misunderstandings and at formulating questions that would help to...

Using guard-zone pressure for the detailed measurements of leakage flows in large buildings

It is easier for large buildings to meet the requirements of airtight construction than for small buildings since the proportion of internal air volume to envelope area is more favorable. In large buildings, typical leakages,also found in single-family homes, bear a higher risk. The lift and driving forces for leakage flows are stronger. In addition, building...

Certification of BlowerDoor test in Denmark

In 2008, our trade association, “klimaskaerm” (comparable with FLIB e.V.), started a voluntary certification system in collaboration with Danish Standard. The system costs about 4500 euros per year, and was never very successful; only 3 companies were certified from the start. In 2013, we changed the agency to BK, which could provide...

New framework for reliable pressurization tests of buildings in Belgium

In Belgium, airtightness of buildings is taken into account in the regional Energy Performance of Buildings (EPB) regulations. When measured, it can be used in the calculation in place of a default unfavourable value and therefore improve the calculated performance. Supplementary specifications to the European standard...

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