house

Describes construction of timber-frame housing to high level of airtightness. A target level of 0.4 ach at 50 Pa was set. At this level, total air control provides an extremely high level of comfort by eliminating draughts and by supplying precise amounts of fresh air where required. An air and vapour barrier was installed within the house structure.

Outlines the fundamentals of insulation and airtightness, proper air quality, and ventilation. Presents details of design and construction for walls, roofs, foundations, windows, and air-vapour barriers, as well as discussions of ventilation systems, heating systems, appliances and methods of testing and evaluation. One of the appendices gives weather data for selected US and Canadian cities. Aims to be accessible to the interested layperson or homeowner.

Reports on use of supply and exhaust ventilation with heat recovery in prefabricated houses and multi-storey buildings. In thermal super insulated buildings the system can supply heat demand down to an outside temperature of5 degrees C: additional electric storage heating is used below thistemperature. The ventilation system operates at an air change rate of approximately 0.7 per hour in the following way: exhaust air from the kitchen, bathroom, and WC, supply air to the living and bedrooms. It is combined with an air to air heat pump.

Ventilation heat losses have been investigated in an experimental low energy house with active and passive solar energy use and an auxiliary heater. A measuring method was developed and tested which gave the possibility of dispensing with long-duration tests in occupied dwellings. The heat losses are dependent on characteristic data of the room and the diminution of the room temperature with time. Measuring error is less than 10%.

The text of a paper on ventilation equipment and systems for existing air-tight houses, presented at the Bouwcentrum/Vakinfo one-day conference, Rotterdam, November 1, 1984. Treats the application of 1. natural ventilation systems with vertical ducts and adjustable openings, 2. the same with mechanical exhaust via kitchen, bathroom, and toilet, 3. mechanical supply to all rooms and exhaust via kitchen, bathroom, and toilet, 4. balanced supply and exhaust. Treats the possibility of the private buyer or tenant estimating the quality of the house.

This paper discusses the measurement of air infiltration rates and reports on measurements relating indoor and outdoor aerosol size distributions in the 0.01 to 1 micron size range. 

Indoor air quality and air infiltration were measured in 16 low-energy Californian houses. Eleven houses had gas stoves: all had average infiltration rates of 0.5 h to the -1 or less, recent construction dates, low natural ventilation, and no mechanical ventilation.

Indoor pollutant levels in well-insulated houses are being investigated in a 2-year theoretical and experimental study involving the simultaneous measurement of meteorological variables, air exchange and circulation, and energy consumption. This paper describes concentrations of radon, radon progeny, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides observed in two houses over two seasons, summer and fall 1983. Two companion papers provide a perspective on the problem and the study design, and present results of energy use and infiltration measurements.

The heat losses from small houses, due to transmission and ventilation, are estimated. The estimation i s based up on the house owness daily readings of electricity and water meters, and their notes on behaviour influencing the energy use. Consideration is taken to heat supply from insolation and from people. Hot water losses are calculated from use of water and use of household machinery. Besides the estimation of the heat losses, Q, wind and temperature in the area is registrated .

Discusses the problems of designing ventilation for small houses. Small houses are considered to be far too elementary and there is no total view of the balance of energy and no regard for the interplay between different flows. Mechanical ventilation is often not controlled or inspected in small houses. Recommendations are: increased knowledge, differentiated requirements on ventilation, inspection of systems, definition of comfort criteria, changed conditions for heat recovery, and well-documented requirements for air tightness.