The Capenhurst ventilation test house.

A Test House at EA Technology, Capenhurst, has been refurbished to provide a ventilation test facility. The house was required to meet the following requirements: - A high standard of air tightness - Insulation to current Building Regulations or better - Incorporation of several ventilation systems - Comprehensive instrumentation The original timber frame front and rear facades of the house were replaced with brick and block construction. All internal floors, ceilings and partitions were replaced and the external walls replastered. Attention was paid to the sealing of junctions between building elements. The result was a house with the low infiltration of L50 = 2.62 air changes per hour at 50 Pa pressure difference. Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery, Passive Stack Ventilation and extract fans have been fitted. Temperature and humidity sensors are installed in all rooms and temperature and flow sensors are mounted in ventilation ducts. Sampling tubing is fitted to all rooms for tracer gas measurements. This paper describes the precautions taken to ensure air tightness and illustrates the range of measurements that have been made.