1. Improvements in the airtightness of housing in Richmond, British Columbia
- Author
-
Foroushani, Sepehr
- Subjects
Air quality -- Environmental aspects ,Dwellings -- Heating, cooling and ventilation ,Housing -- Heating, cooling and ventilation ,Air flow -- Environmental aspects ,Air conditioning -- Environmental aspects ,Engineering and manufacturing industries - Abstract
Controlling air leakage through the building envelope remains a challenge, especially in light of the imperative to transition to a net-zero energy building sector and the increasing importance of indoor air quality during extreme weather events such as wildfires. The British Columbia Energy Step Code is a performance-based compliance option in the British Columbia Building Code which is intended to provide a transition pathway to net-zero energy ready construction by 2032. For small residential buildings, performance targets entail thresholds for the measured air leakage rate through the building envelope. This paper reports on the airtightness of the first 145 single- and two-family dwellings built under the Energy Step Code in Richmond, BC. Although the first phase of the implementation of the Energy Step Code in Richmond entailed no airtightness targets (only testing), results indicate improvement compared to the historical levels of airtightness in the region. Key words: airtightness, air leakage measurement, infiltration, blower-door test. Le controle des fuites d'air a travers l'enveloppe du batiment demeure un defi, surtout compte tenu de l'imperatif de passer a un secteur de batiments a consommation energetique nette zero et de l'importance croissante de la qualite de l'air interieur lors d'evenements meteorologiques extremes tels que des feux de forets. L'Energy Step Code de la ColombieBritannique est une option de conformite fondee sur le rendement dans le code du batiment de la Colombie-Britannique (<< British Columbia Building Code >>) qui vise a offrir une voie de transition vers une construction a consommation energetique nette zero d'ici 2032. Pour les petits immeubles residentiels, les objectifs de rendement comportent des seuils pour le taux de fuite d'air a travers l'enveloppe du batiment. Le present document fait etat de l'etancheite des 145 premieres habitations unifamiliales et a deux logements construites en vertu de l'Energy Step Code a Richmond, en Colombie-Britannique. Bien que la premiere phase de la mise en oeuvre de l'Energy Step Code a Richmond n'ait comporte aucune cible d'etancheite a l'air (seulement des essais), les resultats indiquent une amelioration par rapport aux niveaux historiques d'etancheite a l'air dans la region. Mots-cles : etancheite, mesure des fuites d'air, infiltration, test d'infiltrometrie., 1. Introduction Uncontrolled flow of air through the building envelope, namely air leakage or infiltration, can cause a wide range of problems including reduced durability of the envelope, energy loss, [...]
- Published
- 2022
- Full Text
- View/download PDF