Airbase publication

Capture efficiency (CE) of exhaust from a natural gas cooking range was quantified for three  common designs of residential range hoods in laboratory experiments: (A) microwave exhaust combination; (B) short hood with grease-screen-covered air inlet at bottom; and (C) deep, open hood exhausting at top. Devices were evaluated at varying installation heights, at highest and lowest fan settings, and with the hood installed 15 cm away from back wall with intent to improve CE for front burners.

This study assessed the performance of seven new residential cooking exhaust hoods representing common U.S. designs. Laboratory tests were conducted to determine fan curves relating airflow to duct static pressure, sound levels, and exhaust gas capture efficiency for front and back cooktop burners and the oven. Airflow rate sensitivity to duct flow resistance was higher for axial fan devices than for centrifugal fan devices. Pollutant capture efficiency (CE) ranged from <15% to >98%, varying across hoods and with airflow and burner position for each hood.

The performance metrics of airflow, sound, and combustion product capture efficiency (CE) were measured for a convenience sample of fifteen cooking exhaust devices, as installed in residences. Results were analyzed to quantify the impact of various device- and installation-dependent parameters on CE. Measured maximum airflows were 70% or lower than values noted on product literature for 10 of the devices.

The installed performance of cooking exhaust fans was evaluated through residential field experiments conducted on a sample of 15 devices varying in design and other characteristics.

Cooking and cooking burners emit pollutants that can adversely affect indoor air quality in residences and significantly impact occupant health. Effective kitchen exhaust ventilation can reduce exposure to cooking-related air pollutants as an enabling step to healthier, low-energy homes. This report identifies barriers to the widespread adoption of kitchen exhaust ventilation technologies and practice and proposes a suite of strategies to overcome these barriers.

The main airflow and contaminant paths or the spatial distribution of the age of air (or contaminant) in a room are of great interest in estimating venrilation efficiency. A simple meusurement method is presented which consists of injecting one or more tracer gases at locations of interest and analysing the concentration at several other locations, carefully chosen for best accuracy.Response functions can be fitted to these measurements, which are the age of the tracers or of the air or the concentration of the tracers as a function of the location.

For the past 50 years, a wide variety of building energy simulation programs have been developed, enhanced and are in use throughout the building energy community. This paper is an overview of a report which provides up-to-date comparison of the features and capabilities of twenty major building energy simulation programs.

Implementation of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) introduced the first legal airtightness regulations into the 2008 Polish Building Codes. Unfortunately these provisions are currently not sufficiently precise or developed in relation to testing procedures to ensure appropriate airtightness. Generally there is a low level of awareness, experience and knowledge among architects, designers, investors, contractors and there are no certification requirements imposed for measurement companies.

Airtight construction lies at the heart of achieving high energy performance in dwellings. But how well does it apply in new construction? This paper presents results from airtightness measurements on 44 randomly selected, standard new built single family houses in Belgium and from 4 case studies including 78 additional measurements. The houses were randomly selected after completion, to assure that standard workmanship was used during construction.

As strategies for improving building envelope and HVAC equipment efficiencies are increasingly required to reduce building energy use, a greater percentage of energy loss will occur through building envelope leakage. Although the energy impacts of unintended infiltration on a building's energy use can be significant, current energy simulation software and design methods are generally not able to accurately account for envelope infiltration and the impacts of improved airtightness.