This paper tries to give a reasonable description of the state of the art of the Belgian building stock with regard to ventilation. The Belgian research projects on ventilation in buildings, which were carried out recently, enable a precise overview of the quality of the Belgian building stock to be gained. It shows that airtightness varies a great deal from one building to another. Very leaky as well as very airtight buildings are frequently found. Notable is the near absence of controllable ventilation provisions.
The problem of predicting air flows in a multi-zone building has received considerable attention in the past ten years. An important issue identified by this work was the lack of reliable measurements of the flow resistances between the zones of such buildings. This report analyzes the uncertainties associated with a fan-pressurization technique for measuring the interzonal leakage (inverse flow resistance) in a multi-zone building. The technique involves two blower doors, one in each of the two zones between which the leakage is being measured.
Air leakage through the building envelope is of great importance for the energy use of a building. However, from an indoor air quality standpoint, the size of interior leaks in e.g. multifamily buildings could be important as e.g. a source of pollution. Using the standardised Fan Pressurization test method, it is not possible to separate interior leaks from leaks in the building envelope. One way to separate these leaks is to simultaneously depressurise (or pressurise) adjacent apartments to the same pressure and thereby eliminating interior leakage.
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