English

This paper describes tracer gas measuring techniques that have been used to characterize ventilation and air infiltration in buildings, with an emphasis on recent developments and applications in large industrial and commercial structures. Fundamentals and applications are presented for both single andmultiple tracer gas methods. In addition to techniques suitable for detailed characterization of building airflows, procedures and equipment appropriate to surveying large numbers of buildings are also discussed.

Ventilation rates were measured in nine office buildings using an automated tracer gas measuring system. The buildings range in size from a two-storey federal building with a floor area of about 20,000 ft2 (1900 m2) to a 26-storey office building with a floor area of 700,000 ft2 (65,000 m2). The ventilation rates were measured for about 100 hours in each building over a range of weather conditions. The results are presented and examined for variation with time and weather. In most cases, the ventilation rate of a building is similar for hot and cold weather.

The object of this study was to determine the feasibility of using a smoke sensor to monitor and control cigarette smoke levels in occupied spaces and also to determine whether the use of such a detector could result in energy savings. A smoke detector was built and tested. The experimental results show that the smoke sensor output is a function of cigarette smoke concentration and that the smoke sensor gives a rapid and continuous response.

Describes an energy conservation strategy for a private home in Columbus Ohio and the benefits that resulted after nine years. The net result of the conservation steps was to reduce the annual house heating energy requirement from approximateley 1060 CCF of natural gas to 410 CCF and annual water heating energy requirement from approximately 400 CCF to 234 CCF. Thecombined savings at the present rate of $65/CCF was $530 per year. Includes a list of conclusions drawn from the experiment.

The moisture and thermal performance of a typical insulated wood-framed residential wall structure was investigated in the laboratory. The study included the effects of three types of vapor retarder systems and the effects of zero, positive, and negative total pressure differences across the wall. Exposure conditions were representative of a northern winter climate.

An important function of the Air Infiltration Centre, Bracknell, Berkshire, Great Britain, is to keep research organizations informed of on-going research into air infiltration if buildings. To fulfil this need, the Centre regularly undertakes aworldwide survey of current research. In this report, theresults of the Centre's most recent survey, completed in 1983, are used to provide a background to present European airtightness and air infiltration measurement practices. A wide range of research activities are summarized involving the use of both pressurization and tracer gas techniques.

Measurements on the rate of air exchange in residential buildings have been carried out by the Swedish Institute for Building Research since 1970. The results of an analysis of these measurements are presented in this paper for about 500 buildings not having mechanical ventilation. The studied buildings include one- and two-storey, detached, single- family houses, row houses, and multifamily residential buildings built between 1900 and 1982 and of various design. In some cases, the buildings have been retrofitted by improving the insulation of the attic or the exterior walls.

The Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) infiltration model was developed in 1980; since that time many simultaneous measurements of infiltration and weather have been made, allowing comparison of predictions with measured infiltration. This report presents the LBL model as it currently exists andsummarizes infiltration measurements and corresponding predictions. Thesemeasurements include both long-term and short-term data taken in houses with climates ranging from the mild San Francisco Bay area the the more extreme Midwest.

A field study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of air leakage sealing techniques for reducing air infiltration in houses. Presealing and postsealing air leakage tests were performed upon 82 single detached houses inWinnipeg or southern Manitoba. All houses were placed under a negative pressure, and leakage sites were identified using smoke pencils. Windows and doors were weather-stripped and other unintentional openings caulked and sealed using specified materials and techniques.

The Department of Defense has an ongoing program to conserve energy at its installations. One method of energy conservation in residential units is the reduction of excessive air leakage by appropriate retrofits. Under the sponsorship of the Office of Navy Family Housing, a demonstration of air leakage reduction was undertaken at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. Twoprocedural documents were prepared in draft form: a manual for use by supervision and a handbook for the on-base mechanics doingthe air leakage retrofits.