One of the primary factors for generating heating and cooling loads in apartment houses is infiltration. However, the evaluation method for infiltration rates has not been well established for the apartment houses in Korea. The existing method measur...
Airtightness is a major issue in architectural design and it has a significant impact on the energy performance of buildings. Moreover, the energy behaviour of built heritage is due, to its singular characteristics, still a great unknown. The aim of...
This study examined energy performance improvement factors by analyzing both energy performance and the economic impacts to reduce energy costs for senior centers. A fact-finding survey was conducted on 20 senior centers in a metropolitan area, ident...
To obtain the Passivhaus Certificate or Passivhaus Standard (PHS), requirements regarding building envelope air tightness must be met: according to the n50 parameter, at a pressure of 50 Pa, air leakage must be below 0.6 air changes per hour (ACH). T...
This study investigates indoor/outdoor relationships of airborne particles under controlled pressure difference across the building envelope in Korean multifamily apartments. On-site field experiments on 14 apartment housing units located in urban ar...
In residential buildings, air infiltration impacts energy, indoor air quality, and thermal comfort considerably. While air infiltration in residential buildings has been the focus of many studies, most published field-testing results pertain to devel...
We studied 226 low-income households as a part of the Colorado Home Energy Efficiency and Respiratory Health (CHEER) study to investigate the relationship between energy-efficiency retrofits (EERs) specific to air sealing of residential building enve...
Air leakage is an essential factor contributing to overall building performance. It plays a major role in determining energy consumption in harsh climates, particularly in residential buildings, as it represents a significant component of the envelop...
Spain’s high winter weather-associated death count, the second largest in Europe, can be attributed primarily to the low construction standards of its social housing, particularly the stock built prior to the entry into effect of the earliest s...
Air leakage and its impact on the energy performance of dwellings has been broadly studied in countries with cold climates in Europe, US, and Canada. However, there is a lack of knowledge in this field in Mediterranean countries. Current Spanish buil...
The purpose of this study was to evaluate outdoor PM2.5 infiltration into multifamily homes according to the building characteristics using regression models. Field test results from 23 multifamily homes were analyzed to investigate the infiltration...
We analyzed the effects of air leakage and other building characteristics on outdoor particle penetration in classrooms. The building characteristics including air leakage of 12 Korean schools were investigated, and onsite measurements were conducted...
A contemporary challenge for the construction industry is to develop a technology based on natural building materials which at the same time provides high energy efficiency. This paper presents the results of an airtightness test and a thermal imagin...
The airtightness of a building has a significant impact on energy savings, structural longevity, and indoor air quality for occupants. Therefore, it is essential to accurately measure the airtightness of buildings, though the widely used fan pressuri...
The thermal performance of building envelopes is significantly affected by building insulation and airtightness. However, most studies have focused on improving thermal performance in building envelopes, while few studies on improving airtightness in...
On the occasion of building fires, the risk of smoke, which adversely influences escape conditions, must be minimised. One way to reduce the risk is, for example, to pressurise the escape route in order to limit the infiltration of smoke. Careful det...
The current decarbonization transition to be achieved by 2050 according to the European Council has given great prominence to the use of Digital Twins as tools for energy management. For their correct operation, it is essential to control the uncerta...
The next-generation performance-based building energy codes are focusing on minimizing building envelope air leakage. The quantification of air leakage in buildings is typically performed with a blower door test. However, this test does not provide i...
If infiltration is uncontrolled and admits unconditioned air, the results will be undesirable. Controlling this problem will increase thermal comfort and decrease energy consumption. The aim of this paper is to assess the performance of different mat...
Several studies on indoor air quality (IAQ) and sick building syndromes have been completed over the last decade, especially in cold countries. Efforts to make homes airtight to improve energy efficiency have created buildings with low ventilation ra...
As structures age, air leaks naturally form and can remain undetected for years, resulting in increased utility bills and, in severe cases, structural damage. The traditional method to determine if a structure has developed these leaks is through an...
The European Union has adopted legislation aimed to increase the use of renewable energy and improve the effectiveness of conventional-form energy use. Additional structure insulation helps to decrease heat energy loss. Airtightness of the building e...
Airtightness is nowadays one of the physical parameters which determine overall building energy performance. In a wide range of states, the upper limit for air change rate at a Pa (na), air permeability rate at a Pa (qa), or specific leakage rate at...
Measuring the airtightness of high-rise buildings presents significant challenges due to the effects of wind and thermal lift (stack effect). Small indoor/outdoor temperature differences, combined with the building’s height, can create substant...
Few houses have been built in the Spanish Mediterranean in accordance with the Passivhaus (PH) standard. This standard is adapted to the continental climates of Central Europe and thorough studies are necessary to apply this standard in Spain, especi...
The energy efficiency improvements in existing buildings have become priority concerns of the European Union to encourage energy efficiency amongst residents and buildings as well as facility managers. The characterisation of the building stock plays...
Pressure differences in the envelope of a building result in leakage airflow (i.e., the unintended flow of air). This can lead to increased building heating and cooling energy, decreased thermal comfort for occupants, and the spread of moisture. To a...
The study aimed to investigate the thermal storage potential of oak tree bark as a natural and easily accessible material and to examine the possibility of incorporating this raw material into external prefabricated walls. The U-values of oak tree ba...
Deep retrofits are one of the few pathways to decarbonize the existing building stock while simultaneously improving climate resilience. These retrofits improve insulation, airtightness, and mechanical equipment efficiency. NRCan’s Prefabricate...