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Problem analysis
Stricter requirements, e.g. for thermal insulation and moisture protection, as well as progression in energy-efficient building have led to the development of special building materials and metrological equipment. Over the last two decades, airtightness measurements, frequently also called “BlowerDoor tests”, have become increasingly common in the construction process and now can be considered well established. Airtightness measurements are covered in the German and European Industrial Standard DIN EN 13289 and are inextricably linked to the detection and evaluation of leakages.
Flaws (leakages) in airtight layers have many different effects and evaluating them is often extremely difficult. In practice, the building industry lacks transparent criteria for the evaluation of leakages. This frequently leads to heated discussions among the parties involved in the construction process, which sometimes even result in legal disputes.
Research approach
Part of the research project presented here is to work out recommendations for action as to dealing with leakages for building companies and practitioners. This includes reviewing the research on the evaluation of leakages in airtight layers to date, analyzing the results of FLiB workshops, and interviewing experts and test providers. The interviews are to determine damage to different objects and to document its cause in a transparent manner. Subsequent hygrothermal leakage simulations are then to provide a better understanding of the damage mechanisms.
Project architecture
The research project is entitled “Evaluation of flaws in airtight layers – Recommendations for action for building companies and practitioners”. It is sponsored by the research initiative “Building the future” (Forschungsinitiative Zukunft Bau) of the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) and carried out in cooperation with the Aachen Institute for the Study of Construction Damage and Applied Building Physics, the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, and the Association for Airtightness in the Building Industry (FLiB e.V.). The project is accompanied and supported by experts from Austria and Germany and has been designed for two years (beginning in October 2014).
Content of the presentation
The presentation describes the ongoing research project. In addition to showing how it came about, it will also look into selected results from FLiB workshops and elaborate on the current interviews with experts and test providers.
Note
For more information, please contact the reference author at: vogel@flib.de