Directive on the Airtightness of Minergie Buildings (RiLuMi 2018)

The situation in Switzerland is as follows: Neither the Swiss Energy Act nor cantonal energy acts/energy regulations stipulate a legal measurement of airtightness. The current standards of the Swiss Engineers and Architects Association (Schweizerischer Ingenieur- und Architektenverein, SIA) are the latest standards for architecture. The 2014 edition of SIA Standard 180 defines requirements for airtightness with limit and target values. The limit values are to be complied with in a voluntary measurement.

The target values are objectives to be pursued. SIA Standard 180 relates to ISO 9972, 2006.

The Minergie Association has been requiring that airtightness be proven through measurement since the introduction of the two building standards Minergie-P (2003) and Minergie-A (2011). The first edition of the directive (2007) defined the measurement practice, measurement conditions and limit values to be fulfilled. With the 2018 revision, the directive was adapted to the ISO 9972:2015 standard and requirements for the airtightness concept were added.

For residential buildings, Minergie stipulates that each utilization unit (apartment) must be regarded as an individual measurement zone and must conform to the limit value qE50. In the case of functional buildings (non-residential buildings), the measurement zone is more difficult to define and depends on the construction progress. Condominiums or clearly defined utilization units are to be considered as measurement zones. In other cases, entire buildings, parts of buildings/wings, entire floors, different usage zones (e.g. restaurant, kitchen, smoking room) or individual facade areas with different designs can be measured. In these cases, additional measurements such as thermographic images, single-point measurements of critical building sections, etc. may be required.

The directive is publicly accessible and can be downloaded from the following site: https://www.minergie.ch/de/zertifizieren/minergie-p/, under “Arbeitsdokumente” - “Luftdichtheit” (available in German, French and Italian only).

Note

For more information, please contact the reference author at: gregor.notter@hslu.ch