I wouldn t want a carpenter building me a wall without testing it for squareness or a plumber working on my pipes without testing for leaks.
Building air leakage test results.
Building testing is not a mandatory test prescribed in building codes but a performance based option that many designers are requiring.
An air leakage test is a test to determine the level of uncontrolled air flow through gaps or cracks in the fabric of a building.
In essence it is a measure of heat loss through cold draughts.
Use of this standard in conjunction practices.
Testing the completed using both pressurization and building depressurization and documenting that the air leakage rate of the building thermal envelope does not exceed 0 25 cfm ft2 under a pressure differential of 0 3 in.
The test measures air leakage rates through a building envelope under controlled pressurization and depressurization.
Water 1 57 lb ft2 0 02 l s m2 under a pressure differential of 75 pa in accordance with.
It s importanat to know what you ve achieved.
These test methods produce results that characterize the airtightness of the building envelope.
These results can be used to compare the relative airtightness of similar buildings determine airtightness improvements from retrofit measures applied to an existing building and predict air leakage.