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Title: Air Distribution Retrofit Strategies for Affordable Housing

Abstract

In multifamily and attached buildings, traditional duct sealing methods are often impractical or costly and disruptive because of the difficulty in accessing leakage sites. In this project, two retrofit duct sealing techniques -- manually-applied sealants and injecting a spray sealant, were implemented in several low-rise multi-unit buildings. An analysis on the cost and performance of the two methods are presented. Each method was used in twenty housing units: approximately half of each group of units are single story and the remainder two-story. Results show that duct leakage to the outside was reduced by an average of 59% through the use of manual methods, and by 90% in the units where the injected spray sealant was used. It was found that 73% of the leakage reduction in homes that were treated with injected spray sealant was attributable to the manual sealing done at boots, returns and the air handler. The cost of manually-applying sealant ranged from $275 to $511 per unit and for the injected spray sealant the cost was $700 per unit. Modeling suggests a simple payback of 2.2 years for manual sealing and 4.7 years for the injected spray sealant system. Utility bills were collected for one year beforemore » and after the retrofits. Utility bill analysis shows 14% and 16% energy savings using injected spray sealant system and hand sealing procedure respectively in heating season whereas in cooling season, energy savings using injected spray sealant system and hand sealing were both 16%.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
OSTI Identifier:
1126835
Report Number(s):
DOE/GO-102014-4394
KNDJ-0-40347-04
DOE Contract Number:  
AC36-08GO28308
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Related Information: Work performed by Advanced Residential Integrated Energy Systems (ARIES) Collaborative, New York, New York
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; 42 ENGINEERING; RESIDENTIAL; RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS; ARIES; BUILDING AMERICA; DUCT LEAKAGE; DUCT SEALING; INJECTED SPRAY SEALANT; AEROSEAL; AIR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS; AIRFLOW; DUCT PRESSURIZATION; Buildings

Citation Formats

Dentz, Jordan, Conlin, Francis, Holloway, Parker, Podorson, David, and Varshney, Kapil. Air Distribution Retrofit Strategies for Affordable Housing. United States: N. p., 2014. Web. doi:10.2172/1126835.
Dentz, Jordan, Conlin, Francis, Holloway, Parker, Podorson, David, & Varshney, Kapil. Air Distribution Retrofit Strategies for Affordable Housing. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1126835
Dentz, Jordan, Conlin, Francis, Holloway, Parker, Podorson, David, and Varshney, Kapil. 2014. "Air Distribution Retrofit Strategies for Affordable Housing". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1126835. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1126835.
@article{osti_1126835,
title = {Air Distribution Retrofit Strategies for Affordable Housing},
author = {Dentz, Jordan and Conlin, Francis and Holloway, Parker and Podorson, David and Varshney, Kapil},
abstractNote = {In multifamily and attached buildings, traditional duct sealing methods are often impractical or costly and disruptive because of the difficulty in accessing leakage sites. In this project, two retrofit duct sealing techniques -- manually-applied sealants and injecting a spray sealant, were implemented in several low-rise multi-unit buildings. An analysis on the cost and performance of the two methods are presented. Each method was used in twenty housing units: approximately half of each group of units are single story and the remainder two-story. Results show that duct leakage to the outside was reduced by an average of 59% through the use of manual methods, and by 90% in the units where the injected spray sealant was used. It was found that 73% of the leakage reduction in homes that were treated with injected spray sealant was attributable to the manual sealing done at boots, returns and the air handler. The cost of manually-applying sealant ranged from $275 to $511 per unit and for the injected spray sealant the cost was $700 per unit. Modeling suggests a simple payback of 2.2 years for manual sealing and 4.7 years for the injected spray sealant system. Utility bills were collected for one year before and after the retrofits. Utility bill analysis shows 14% and 16% energy savings using injected spray sealant system and hand sealing procedure respectively in heating season whereas in cooling season, energy savings using injected spray sealant system and hand sealing were both 16%.},
doi = {10.2172/1126835},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1126835}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2014},
month = {Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 2014}
}