LoginSeven federal buildings ranging in size from 1900 to 48000 m2 of floor area were pressure tested to determine the airtightness of the building envelopes. These tests are part of a larger project to evaluate the thermal integrity of the envelopes of federal buildings. The buildings were pressurized using the air-handling equipment in the buildings and a constant-injection, tracer gas technique to measure the airflow through the fans. In addition, selected windows in some of these buildings were pressure tested separately to determine the airtightness of individual components. The results of the whole building and component pressurization tests are presented and discussed. In addition, the component pressurization test results are used to estimate the contribution of the windows to the total building air leakage. The results of the building pressurization tests are compared empirically to measured infiltration rates on the same buildings. The large building infiltration model developed by Shaw and Tamura of the National Research Council of Canada is applied to the buildings to predict air infiltration rates induced by weather.
Pressurization testing of federal buildings.
Year:
1984
Bibliographic info:
Measured air leakage of buildings. A symposium on performance of building constructions, Philadelphia 2-3 April 1984. ASTM Special Technical Publication 904. Edited by H R Trechsel and P L Lagus. ASTM 1986. p184-200. 3 figs. 5 tabs. 21 refs.