Building airtightness is an important parameter that canbe measured according to the International Standard IS09972 "Therm~~l performance of buildings -Determination of air permeability of buildings - Fanpressurization method".Since 2006, there is a second edition of the standardthat cancels and replaces the first edition (IS0 9972:1996).A modified version of IS0 9972: 1996 has been publishedby the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) asEuropean standard (EN 13829:2000).The standard provides good guidance for themeasurement of building airtightness but some aspectsshould be clarifie

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directivementions that each member states' energyperformance (EP) calculation methodology mayinclude envelope airtightness. In fact, manymember states have included envelopeairtightness in their EP calculation method.Many countries have also specific requirementsfor ductwork airtightness. However, they seemto be unequally successful in achieving a markettransformation. This paper describes themechanisms that have been used in somecountries, with a special focus on success storieswhich could inspire other member states.

Recently, dampness in buildings has beenindicated to be associated with occupants' healthdamages such as allergies. In particular mold inindoor air is considered to be a significant riskfactor of health. The indoor concentration ofmolds becomes higher with mold growth on thesurfaces of wall, floor, ceiling and so on.However, mold growth in the concealed spaces:inner wall spaces, beam spaces and crawlspaces, can not be ignored as one of theemission sources.

A sample of existing double-skin faqade (DSF)buildings distributed across Europe were analysedby means of data clustering. Studied buildings arelocated in different European countsies and in orderto structure the results according to climateconditions, three main regions were proposed. Ingeneral, results have shown good energyperformance of DSF buildings. Annual energydelivered per square meter useful pavement areawere computed for each DSF building andcompared. Clusters of DSF office buildings withsimilar energy behaviour were established.

In this study, a durability assessment model forbuilding envelopes design based onhygrothesmal and wood rot decay analysis ispresented. The durability assessment model canquantitatively predict hygrothermal conditionswithin the building envelopes, and progress ofwood rot decay of timber frame under variableconditions. The followings are characteristicsof the durability assessment models in thisstudy.

The purpose of this paper is to proposestrategies of reducing energy consumption forcooling in residences under hot and humidclimate such as Indonesia. Based on the resultsof field survey, a simulation of the indoorthermal environment considering the operationof an air-conditioner was carried out, in order toevaluate energy consumption by theair-conditioner. This simulation program takesinto account both heat and moisture transportsin the walls. The effects of air tightness andthermal insulation were examined.

Energy efficient building means automaticallyextra attention to energy efficient ventilationand air tight building. At this moment there area number of new innovative domesticventilation systems in the market as analternative for the common MVHR systems.The types of systems range from advancednatural and hybrid systems to balanced hybridsystems. All these systems can combine a lowenergy consumption with a good indoor airquality and thermal comfort and guarantees onreliability and performance. A prerequisite forthis is a good design and especially a goodconstruction and commissioning.

The hygrothermal performance of houses isrecently being required to indicatequantitatively due to the encouragement ofenergy conservation. Several calculationmethods are practically proposed to evaluateenergy saving measures of houses. However,those methods do not take into account moisturetransfer in wall assemblies. Humiditycalculation is simply affected by ventilation andfocuses on just the building spaces.

There are many infiltration routes in detachedhouses in Japan. These routs lead chemicalcompounds into the indoor spaces from theconcealed spaces.In this study, the effects of countermeasureswith airtight methods and ventilation methodswere cleared using a simulation program. Atfirst, the equivalent leakage areas in theconcealed spaces were measured using cutmodels. Next, the movements of chemicalcompounds were calculated using thesimulation program: "Fresh2006".The results showed that the concentrations arelower in the improved houses than those in thecommon houses in some cases.

To obtain thermal comfort in a moderateclimate, dwellings were traditionally providedwith a heating system, but few had coolingsystems.