Airbase publication

Although standards for single-zone air leakage tests are widely used, there are no existing standards for several multi-zone cases including: 1) testing air leakage between adjacent zones or 2) testing leakage to the outside from a single unit in a multi-zone building. While a range of test procedures have been used to determine inter-zone leakage using fan-pressurization, the accuracy of the methods can vary significantly. Using field measurements and simulations, we compared the uncertainty in the leakage between two adjacent zones for different measurement and calculation methods.

This paper describes two recent applications of aerosol sealing techniques in buildings for improving indoor air quality and reducing energy required for heating, cooling, and ventilation. One application applies a commercially-available duct sealing technology, which has typically been used in single-family applications, to large-building exhaust systems. The initial leakage rates, percent leakage sealed, and issues encountered are presented for several large buildings.

In 1998, NIST published a review of commercial and institutional building airtightness data that found significant levels of air leakage and debunked the "myth" of the airtight commercial building (Persily, 1998). Since then, NIST has expanded and maintained a database of whole building envelope leakage measurements of U.S. commercial and institutional buildings.

The Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) recently developed design/construction strategies that improve the energy efficiency, reduce the potential for mould, and improve indoor air quality in newly constructed buildings and buildings undergoing major renovations. ERDC-CERL performed building envelope leakage tests on Army facilities to test their general integrity and the effect of increased airtightness on building energy consumption.

This paper presents results from whole building air leakage tests used to document the leakage reduction due to envelope sealing and assess the accuracy of contractor's estimates of the impact of their sealing. The measurements also compare the differences in envelope leakage reductions determined from depressurization versus pressurization tests and determine mechanical system leakage.

Concern over the airtightness of commercial buildings in North America goes back to the mid nineteen sixties, and with increasing concern in the mid-seventies, primarily due to the energy crisis, but also due to building performance, comfort and durability issues. The Model Canadian National Building Code was the first to adopt airtightness requirements for air barriers in 1985 and quantify it in 1995.

The Proceedings of the 34th AIVC Conference " Energy conservation technologies for mitigation and adaptation in the built environment: the role of ventilation strategies and smart materials", held in Athens, Greece, 25-26 September 2013.

The Presentations of the 34th AIVC Conference " Energy conservation technologies for mitigation and adaptation in the built environment: the role of ventilation strategies and smart materials", held in Athens, Greece, 25-26 September 2013.