Air Leakage testing of Commercial Buildings · 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 No Air Leakage Very Tight...

Air Leakage testing of Commercial Buildings

Colin GengeRetrotec Inc

Everson WA, [email protected]

Contents

Cause of air leakage

Problems

Sites

Benefits

Ventilation

Air barriers

Locate and seal leaks

Measure leaks Case Studies

Multi – Fan manual available free

Colin Genge

Colin Genge

USACE Manual

free

Colin Genge

Variation in pressure over 11 winter days

Stack Pressure + Holes = Leaks

Stack EffectWarm air rising

Cold air falling

Primary Boundaries for cold climates

14 windows open at -25 Cinset shows open window

Benefits of airtightness 1

CFM 75/ft2 Added energy cost Impact on IAQ

0.1 0% Negligible

0.25 5% Small

0.4 10% Moderate

1.0 25% Large

2.0 40% Uncontrolled, severe


Impact of Air Tightness – Typical Multi-Unit Residential

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

No Air Leakage Very Tight Tight – Low Average

Tight – Average Tight – High Average*

Leaky Very Leaky,Windows Open

Annu

al S

pace

Hea

t Con

sum

ptio

n, k

Wh/

m2

Suite Electric Space Heat vs Air Leakage Rate

The impact of air leakage of large buildings 1

© 2010 Retrotec Inc.

Real problems in large buildings 1

Real problems









Disconnect Floors

Seal shafts

Elevator piston effect

Improved Air tightness in Elevator Shafts

“shall pass …0.25 CFM/sq ft …at 75 Pa …”

Why air leakage is measured 1

Standards for air leakage 1

Required House tightness?

Standard Requirement CFM75/ ft2

LEED 1.25 in2 EfLA @ 4 Pa / 100 ft2 0.30

2009 IECC 7.0 ACH50 0.55

2012 IECC 3.0 ACH50 0.25

Cdn R-2000 1.5 ACH50 0.13Passiv Haus 0.6 ACH50 0.05

Looser

Tighter

Large Bldg tightness?

4 story building, 120 x 110 x 40 ft, n= 0.65 CFM75

/ ft2

USA ASHRAE 90.1 Leaky 0.60France 1.2 m3/m3/h @4Pa /m2 0.44USA IECC, Washington State 0.40Russia 1.5 l/s @50Pa /m2 0.385

UK TS-1Commercial, Best 5 m3/h @50Pa /m2 0.36

USA ASHRAE 90.1 Average 0.30

USA USACE, IGCC 0.25

UK TS-1Commercial Tight 2 m3/m3/h @50Pa /m2 0.14USA ASHRAE 90.1 Tight 0.10

Looser

Tighter

0.1 to 0.6 CFM75/ft2 total envelope= 0.4 to 2.3 liters/s @ 50 Pa /m2

Guideline air leakage levels 1



Compartmentalize the laundry room

Recommendations

Assemblies-0.01 cfm /ft2 @75 Walls 0.1 cfm /ft2 @75 Slabs 0.01 cfm /ft2 @75 Paint all block walls Seal all shafts at each floor Enclose elevator lobbies from slab to slab Electronic exhaust fan & fire dampers


Typical air leakage sites 1

Locate leaks with door fan using smoke, infrared, hand

Door fan finds leaks

Door fans and infrared camera


Smoke Testing Used to Confirm Air Barrier Discontinuity


Т=-22⁰С Т=+19⁰С ΔТ=41 ⁰С

ΔP= + 8 Pa

ΔP= - 8 Pa

Without and With depressurization

Sealing air leakage sites

Using a door fan increases effectiveness of air seal crew

Longevity of air sealing

Sealing air leaks



Door-Fan componentspanel + calibrated fan +gauges

Bigger

Seal these

Open interior doors

Setting up the test fans

What components of buildings can be measured?

Building components that can be measured 1





Measuring apartment air leakage

Measure Entire Envelope

Measure Entire Envelope

Slab leakage – total floor leakage

© 2010 Retrotec Inc. © 2010 Retrotec Inc.




CanadaCGSB 149.10USAASTM E-779-10

UK

EuropeEN13829


CanadaCGSB 149.15

UK TS-1

EuropeEN13829

USAAir Leakage Protocol


ASTM USACE Reason

Bias readings 2 288 accuracy

Max. bias 42% 30% & 10 % accuracy

Height restriction Yes No Flexibility

Temperature & wind restriction Yes No Flexibility

Min. test pressure 10 Pa 25 Pa stability

Min. # building/flow readings 5 120 accuracy

Min. test point interval 10s 20s accuracy

Gauge accuracy 5% 1% accuracy



Standard ASTM CGSB EN13829 ATTMA USACE LEED

Origin USA Canada Europe UK USAWA State

World

Acceptable conditions

41 to 95°F< 5 mph wind

<12.4 mph wind

<13.4 mph windheight x ΔT<500m°C

<13.4 mph windheight x ΔT<250m°C

95% confidenceinterval

41 to 95°F< 5 mph wind

Standardized measurement methods 1

Standard ASTM CGSB EN13829 ATTMA USACE WA State LEED

Origin USA Canada Europe UK USA WA State North America

Range 10 to 60 Pa 15 to 50 Pa 10 to 50 Pa 10 to 60 Pa 25 to 75 Pa 25 to 80 Pa 10 to 60 Pa



Number ofpoints

5-10 1, 2, or 7 5 7 10 10 5




Direction Both Depress. Both Both Both Both


Standard ASTM CGSB EN13829ATTMA

USACE LEED IECC

Origin USA Canada Europe USAWA State

North America

Results EfLA 4ACH50CFM50

EqLA10ACH50

m3/h50/m2

m3/h4/m2

ACH50

CFM75/ft2 EfLA 4 ACH50CFM25/100 ft2

Suggest using only:ACH50 EqLA 50/Floor area x 1,000,000

•Unitless•Always whole number•Calibrate against holes of known sizes•Always reference results to 50 Pa


Numerous Apartment Buildings Tested

Leakage on all 6 sidescm2/m2 @ 50 Pa

3.1 1.0 1.5 2.3 6.5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Exterior Walls

Exterior Walls - Normalized Leakage Area @ 50 Pa

12.85

21.77

4.792.52

4.14 2.68

0

5

10

15

20

25

Bldg. 2 -Polyethyelene/ SBPO

Housewrap

Bldg. 4 -Polyethylene/Building

Paper

Bldg. 3 608 - Peel andStick/Gypsum

Bldg.3 311 - Peel andStick/Gypsum

Bldg. 3 611 - Peel andStick/Gypsum

Bldg. A - Peel andStick/Gypsum

No

rmali

zed

Leakag

e A

rea (

cm

2/m

2)

Party Walls

Suite Demising Walls by Type - Normalized Leakage Area @ 50 Pa

0.38 0.17

5.13

0.47 0.42

1.99

3.30

1.88

4.24

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

Concrete -Bldg. A - 802-

801

Concrete -Bldg. A - 802-

803

Wood Frame -Bldg. 2 - 401-

Stair


402


308

SS Gypsum -Bldg. 3. - 608-

lounge


609


309


609

No

rmali

zed

Leakag

e A

rea (

cm

2/m

2)

Floor Leakage

Floors by Type - Normalized Leakage Area @ 50 Pa

1.16

0.00 0.000.16

0.57

0.12 0.07 0.090.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

Wood - Building2

Wood/ConcTopped - Building

4 (4th)

Wood/ConcTopped - Building

4 (3rd)

Concrete -Building A (8th)

Concrete -Building A (9th)

Concrete -Building 3 (3rd)

Concrete -Building 3 (4th)

Concrete -Building 3 (6th)

Norm

aliz

ed L

eaka

ge A

rea

(cm

2 /m2 )

Air leakage Test Protocol for U.S. Army Corps Buildings

Requirements

Proper design Plan review Ongoing inspection Mock up building materials Pass air leakage protocol o easyo not just the ASTM E779 standard

Need to know the Air Barrier

113

Guiness World Record15,000,000 cubic feet

Hallenumfang = 1,2 km

9 x 2-Kanaldruckmessdosen mit Referenzschlauch ins Gebäudeinnere

Ian Jack’s Guiness test in Germany… Video embedded

Year of Construction

Year of Air-barrier retrofit?

Number of Stories

Floor Area

Enclosure Area Tested Permeablity

ft2 ft2 cfm/ft2 @75Pa2011 - 7 96,882 76,084 0.292011 - 7 96,882 76,084 0.392011 - 7 96,882 76,084 0.481987 2000 4- - 0.921987 2000 4- - 0.651985 2006 23- - 0.371985 2006 23- - 0.142001 - 4- - 3.052001 - 4- - 0.431990 2001 6- - 0.291990 2001 6- - 0.201990 2001 6- - 0.241990 2001 6- - 0.341990 2001 6- - 0.351990 2001 6- - 0.231978 - 7- - 1.771978 2010 7- - 0.901973 - 22- - 0.441973 2008 22- - 0.37

average 0.62

Year of Construction

Year of Air-barrier retrofit?

Number of Stories

Floor Area

Enclosure Area

Tested Permeablity

ft2 ft2 cfm/ft2 @75Pa2012 -2009 -

average 0.17

USACE test of 300 buildings 0.17

Real life test: EMAD

Antwerp, Belgium• Envelope Area = 11,250 m2

• 0.601 CFM/ft2 @ 75Pa• 8.22 m3/h/m2

Real life test: BTC

South Carolina, USA• Envelope A = 136,820ft2

• 0.08 CFM/ft2 @ 75Pa

Real life test: Retrotec

Vancouver, Canada• Envelope Area = 25,000 ft2

• 0.4 CFM/ft2 @ 75Pa• 7.3 m3/h/m2

Imbalanced flow can be caused by individual set points.

Colin Genge

Individual set point between zones Common set point within a zone.

Colin Genge

Virtual Gauge

1-855-738-7683 | [email protected] | www.retrotec.com

Simulated Mode with results. Monitor & Control several gauges simultaneously

GFI compatible

Links to other fans

Breaker

Adjust max speed

Common Control

Common Control

Individual Control


Types of door fan tests 3

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Air Leakage testing of Commercial Buildings · 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 No Air Leakage Very Tight...

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