The Alberta Home Heating Facility has been used over a five year period to attempt to understand the effects of retrofit procedures on the house structure as a whole. The percentage of total energy attributable toinfiltration is calculated, and the influence of furnaces on natural infiltration rates is discussed. Results of blower tests are given for the six modules and compared with measured infiltration rates.
The development and construction of portable test equipment to determine air leakage has made it possible to carry out measurements on a large number of dwellings built using different construction technologies. The recording and analysis of the data collected is presented in this paper. This makes it possible to propose a method for taking sealing defects into account in the calculation of air infiltration of dwellings.
Twelve energy-efficient houses in Eugene, Oregon, USA, were measured for effective leakage area using blower door fan pressurization. Air exchange rates over a period of several hours were determined by tracer gas decay analysis.
The steady-state heat loss of a house can be expressed as the sum of the above-grade conduction loss, the below-grade conduction loss, and the infiltration loss, minus the solar gain. Each of these terms is the product of a weather related variable and a coefficient that describes a physical characteristic of the house. If the infiltration driving force is properly defined, the infiltration coefficient is the equivalent leakage area.
Fan pressurization techniques are being employed by an increasingly large number of contractors and auditors to determine the leakage characteristics of structures. In this study, a large data base of flow exponents and flow coefficients are compiled to determine the degree of correlation that exists between flow parameters. The resulting empirical relationships are then used to determine the feasibility of predicting these flow parameters directly from a single pressure difference test. On the basis of these correlations, a new pressure independent tightness parameter is proposed.
Air leakage is the single most important quantity in the determination of air infiltration in residential structures. Air leakage is most commonly measured using the fan pressurization technique (ASTM standard E779): the data gathered with this method is often used to determine a leakage constant and a flow exponent. In this report, data gathered from measurements in the USA and Canada is compiled into a list of leakage constants and flow exponents, and the variability of these values over climate and housing types is examined.
During the winters of 1982/83 and 1983/84, air infiltration measurements were made in 34 dwellings in 5 apartment blocks. In all 34 dwellings the air leakage of the building shell was measured by pressurization. In 5 dwellings tracer gas decay rate was used to measure the air change rate, both with andwithout mechanical ventilation. Results of these measurements are presented.
Notes that the trend to airtight window constructions has upset the balance in buildings between moisture generation and its removal. Treats the factors which combine to determine whether a building will have moisture problems. Presents a procedure for the straightforward determination of the specific minimum air flow required in a particular building to prevent condensation on the inner surface of corners formed by two dimensional external walls. Determines the base air flow and the supplementary air flow for four models of representative apartments.
This paper describes a series of ventilation measurements carried out in two small factory units situated on an industrial estate in Newport, South Wales. One of the factories is typical of current design, and the other is designed to be of greater energy efficiency in terms of increased levels of insulation and reduced air infiltration rate.
Addresses air leakage of warehouses and light industrial buildings including the significance of infiltration/exfiltration, air leakage sites, and measurement techniques. Concludes that 1, only limited leakage data are available for components of this building category 2, no model has been developed specifically for use in warehousing and light industrial buildings. However, one of the existing models for residential buildings could possibly be adapted.
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