Location as a Determinative Factor of Building Airtightness.

The paper deals with location and exposure of the building in terms of building airtightness. Airtightness of the building envelope is one of the basic prerequisites of energy-efficient buildings. Energy efficient buildings situated in areas with lots of wind and in exposed locations could constitute up to 10% of total heat consumption. The exchange of air through the building envelope is conditional on pressure difference between interior and exterior. The pressure difference is usually caused by a combination of wind effect, stack effect, combustion and ventilation. The location and its parameters (exposure, altitude, wind, temperature and other) can be considered as passive determinative factors of air permeability of the building envelope. The surrounding environment of the building does not have a direct impact on the final airtightness of the building envelope. However, the exposure of the building, the altitude, the strength and wind speed have a significant impact on the pressure effects acting on the building. Pressure effects affect the amount of air flowing through leaks, cracks and gaps in the building envelope. The higher the pressure effects on the building is, the higher the air flow through the building envelope is. The aim of the paper is to verify, or reject, the potential impact of basic parameters of location on the final airtightness of the building envelope. The possible statistical dependence is tested by using test of independence. The calculated levels of significance (Sig.), also called as p-value, are compared with a reference level of significance α (5%). Fundamental data for testing consists of 150 energy passive houses built in the years 2004 -2014 in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]