skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Attic ventilation and air sealing: A technical review of the issues. Final report

Abstract

This report was commissioned by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York State Department of State to review the history and state-of-the-art of attic ventilation and air sealing. It includes a mathematical model that is used to examine the complex relationships between such variables as attic bypass leakage area, outside air temperature, household moisture production, and venting area. The primary recommendation is to reduce heat and moisture flows into the attic by permanently sealing all air leakage paths between the house and attic, especially in climate areas that experience sustained periods of low wintertime temperatures. It concludes that current attic ventilation codes, which omit reference to considerations of climate zones, are of marginal utility to the building or retrofit industry and are in need of revision. Recommendations for further research are included.

Publication Date:
Research Org.:
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Albany, NY (United States); New York State Dept. of State, Albany, NY (United States); Synertech Systems Corp., Syracuse, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Albany, NY (United States)
OSTI Identifier:
10186298
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 10186298; Legacy ID: TI94000503
Report Number(s):
NYSERDA--93-11
ON: TI94000503; IN: 1404-EEED-AEP-90
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Resource Relation:
Other Information: PBD: Sep 1993
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; ATTICS; VENTILATION; PROGRESS REPORT; SEALS; AIR INFILTRATION; VENTILATION SYSTEMS; MATHEMATICAL MODELS; RECOMMENDATIONS; BUILDING CODES; MOISTURE; ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS 320107; BUILDING SYSTEMS

Citation Formats

Not Available. Attic ventilation and air sealing: A technical review of the issues. Final report. United States: N. p., 1993. Web. doi:10.2172/10186298.
Copy to clipboard
Not Available. Attic ventilation and air sealing: A technical review of the issues. Final report. United States. doi:10.2172/10186298.
Copy to clipboard
Not Available. Wed . "Attic ventilation and air sealing: A technical review of the issues. Final report". United States. doi:10.2172/10186298. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/10186298.
Copy to clipboard
@article{osti_10186298,
title = {Attic ventilation and air sealing: A technical review of the issues. Final report},
author = {Not Available},
abstractNote = {This report was commissioned by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York State Department of State to review the history and state-of-the-art of attic ventilation and air sealing. It includes a mathematical model that is used to examine the complex relationships between such variables as attic bypass leakage area, outside air temperature, household moisture production, and venting area. The primary recommendation is to reduce heat and moisture flows into the attic by permanently sealing all air leakage paths between the house and attic, especially in climate areas that experience sustained periods of low wintertime temperatures. It concludes that current attic ventilation codes, which omit reference to considerations of climate zones, are of marginal utility to the building or retrofit industry and are in need of revision. Recommendations for further research are included.},
doi = {10.2172/10186298},
journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993},
month = {Wed Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993}
}
Copy to clipboard
Technical Report:
View Technical Report (3.52 MB)
DOI:  10.2172/10186298
Save / Share:
Export Metadata
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.

  • The report was commissioned by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority and the New York State Department of State to review the history and state-of-the art of attic ventilation and air sealing. It includes a mathematical model that is used to examine the complex relationships between such variable as attic bypass leakage area, outside air temperature, household moisture production, and venting area. The primary recommendation is to reduce heat and moisture flows into the attic by permanently sealing all air leakage paths between the house and attic, especially in climate areas that experience sustained periods of lowmore » wintertime temperatures. It concludes that current attic ventilation codes, which omit reference to considerations of climate zones, are of marginal utility to the building or retrofit industry and are in need of revision. Recommendations for further research are included.« less

  • The Guide to Attic Air Sealing was completed in 2010 and although not in the standard Measure Guideline format, is intended to be a Measure Guideline on Attic Air Sealing. The guide was reviewed during two industry stakeholders meetings held on December 18th, 2009 and January 15th, 2010, and modified based on the comments received. Please do not make comments on the Building America format of this document. The purpose of the Guide to Attic Air Sealing is to provide information and recommendations for the preparation work necessary prior to adding attic insulation. Even though the purpose of this guidemore » is to save energy - health, safety and durability should not be compromised by energy efficiency. Accordingly, combustion safety and ventilation for indoor air quality are addressed first. Durability and attic ventilation then follow. Finally, to maximize energy savings, air sealing is completed prior to insulating. The guide is intended for home remodelers, builders, insulation contractors, mechanical contractors, general contractors who have previously done remodeling and homeowners as a guide to the work that needs to be done.« less

  • The purpose of this measure guideline is to provide information and recommendations for the preparation work necessary prior to adding attic insulation. Even though the purpose of this guide is to save energy, health, safety, and durability should not be compromised by energy efficiency. Accordingly, combustion safety and ventilation for indoor air quality are addressed first. Durability and attic ventilation then follow. Finally, to maximize energy savings, air sealing is completed prior to insulating. The guide is intended for home remodelers, builders, insulation contractors, mechanical contractors, general contractors who have previously done remodeling and homeowners as a guide to themore » work that needs to be done.« less

  • ; ; ; ...
    Changing the rate of airflow through a home affects the annual thermal conditioning energy. Large-scale changes to airflow rates of the housing stock can significantly alter the energy consumption of the residential energy sector. However, the complexity of existing residential energy models hampers the ability to estimate the impact of policy changes on a state or nationwide level. The Incremental Ventilation Energy (IVE) model developed in this study was designed to combine the output of simple airflow models and a limited set of home characteristics to estimate the associated change in energy demand of homes. The IVE model was designedmore » specifically to enable modelers to use existing databases of home characteristics to determine the impact of policy on ventilation at a population scale. In this report, we describe the IVE model and demonstrate that its estimates of energy change are comparable to the estimates of a wellvalidated, complex residential energy model when applied to homes with limited parameterization. Homes with extensive parameterization would be more accurately characterized by complex residential energy models. The demonstration included a range of home types, climates, and ventilation systems that cover a large fraction of the residential housing sector.« less

  • Building ventilation and air conditioning systems have traditionally been designed and controlled to maintain occupant thermal comfort at acceptable capital and operating costs, an indoor air quality (IAQ) has not been a primary concern. A literature review was conducted to survey and summarize recent and on-going engineering research into building ventilation, air exchange rate, pollutant distribution and dispersion, and other effects of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems on IAQ. The ventilation-related engineering literature was divided into seven major categories: (1) pollutant transport to and into the building envelope; (2) air cleaning systems; (3) flow and pollutant dispersion, (4)more » room and building flow/dispersion research; (5) HVAC/building design, operation, and control strategies; (6) applied microbial research; and (7) building performance. The significance and status of ventilation-related IAQ research was summarized by research category, and research opportunities were identified within each category.« less