Reports on a project carried out in the Caswell Hill and Riversdale areas of Saskatoon to investigate the effectiveness of sealing with caulking and weatherstripping to reduce air leakage. This involved sealing 10 homes, and also insulating the attics and basements of five of these houses after thesealing work. A control group of 10 homes which had been insulated without particular attention being given to sealing procedures were also monitored. The homes were pressure tested by the National Research Council before and after sealing to measure the reduction in air leakage.
Reports on a study carried out by HUDAC and DBR on four identical detached houses built in Ontario in 1977. House 1 was built according to the insulation requirements of the 1975 Ontario Building Code, the others were constructed with increased levels of insulation and air tightness. Some of the aims are:
Shows that efficient moisture removal in a ventilated roof via ventilation openings is a function of roof length. Beyond a certain critical length all moisture diffusing in from below will be deposited in the roof. The critical roof length will be greater the more vapour tight the section beneath the roof space is. If a vapour barrier is necessary, as in an unventilated roof, it maybe that an unventilated roof is preferable in the first place.
Improved insulation of domestic buildings has resulted in ventilation heat loss forming a large part of the total heat loss. Estimates show that energy consumption in the Federal Republic of Germany could be reduced by ventilating design methods eg by economical ventilating systems suitably adapted to theheating installations. A number of technical facilities exist for the utilisation of this potential, which at the same time maintain the necessary requirements for indoor climate.
In future, high altitude correction factors will be considered in computing the ventilation heat load in high rise buildings. The algorithms necessary for the calculation are deducted and stated by the author.
Reviews literature and presents annotated bibliographies for indoor air quality, indoor air pollution health effects and residential air infiltration. Analyzes air infiltration data, and describes factors related to the house itself, the behaviour of residents and the microenvironment surrounding thehouse. Discusses future trends of infiltration rates.
The Heimdal project concludes that airtight houses can be built. Measurement results from 11 detached houses indicate an average leakage factor of 0.9. Building regulations in Norway require a value below 4 and NBI's field investigations indicate that there have been problems in complying with this requirement. The results from the trial houses have been achieved through the implementation of available methods but construction on site has been carefully planned and executed.
Air leakage tests (using the fan pressurisation method) were conducted on four schools, before and after they were retrofitted, in order to determine the effectiveness of various measures for reducing leakage. Caulking wall joints will generally reduce air leakage and is worthwhile if the joints are accessible. Replacing leaky windows will also improve airtightness but may not be cost effective. Routine inspection of outside dampers of the air handling system can help ensure continued airtightness of schools.
Describes the computerized instrumented residential audit (CIRA), a collection of building energy analysis programs designed for a wide variety of microcomputers. Covers methods and type of input, and types of output produced.
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