Ventilation and Moisture in New Energy-Efficient Manufactured Homes

Conference · Sun Jun 16 04:00:00 EDT 1991

OSTI ID:5754450

Hadley, D. L. ^[1]; Bailey, S. A. ^[1]; Parker, G. B. ^[1]

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1. Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), Richland, WA (United States)

Manufactured housing accounts for approximately 35% of new housing starts in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. This segment of the housing market represents approximately 40 average megawatts of potential end-use efficiency resource. Many of the energy conservation measures implemented at the factory or during setup involve tightening of the shell, thereby reducing whole house infiltration. While these goal of these measures will reduce heating and cooling energy consumption, this energy savings is not without its negative side effects. Along with the reduced infiltration is the potential for increased levels of indoor air contaminates (including moisture) and a general lowering of the quality of the indoor air. In order to establish a database of infiltration and ventilation characteristics in current practice manufactured housing, a multiyear field testing program was undertaken by the Bonneville Power Administration begining in the mid-1980s. This program was later expanded to include 20 homes that had been upgraded to meet the regional Model Conservation Standards (MCS) for energy efficiency. The results from these initial studies (Table I) indicates that significant improvement in shell tightness are possible. In fact, these new manufactured homes were also tighter than site-built homes constructed during the same time period that were tested as part of the Northwest Residential Infiltration Survey (NORIS). During the 1989-1990 heating season, Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for the Office of Energy Resources, Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville), measured the ventilation characteristics in 139 newly constructed energy-efficient manufactured homes and a sample of 35 current practice manufactured homes not built to the energy efficient standards. The new energy-efficient homes were built to the MCS. This phase of the program was part of Bonneville's Residential Construction Demonstration Program (RCDP). A standard blower door test was used to estimate shell leakiness, and a passive perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) technique was used to estimate overall air exchange rates. In addition, one-time measurements of the designated whole-house exhaust system flow rate was taken. An occupant and structure survey was conducted at the time of the testing to obtain information on house characteristics, daily occupant activities and ventilation system operation. The homes were located in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana. This paper will summarize the infiltration/ventilation characteristics in this sample of new and energy-efficient manufactured homes built and situated in the Pacific Northwest. The reported incidence of moisture and/or condensation as observed by the occupants will also be detailed. These results should be indicative of conditions in new energy-efficient manufactured housing.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 5754450
• Report Number(s): PNL-SA--19434; CONF-910659--25; ON: DE91013786
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320100* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Buildings
AIR FLOW
AIR QUALITY
AUDITS
BATTELLE PACIFIC NORTHWEST LABORATORIES
BONNEVILLE POWER ADMINISTRATION
BUILDINGS
COMPILED DATA
CONTROL
DATA
DEMONSTRATION PROGRAMS
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY AUDITS
ENERGY CONSERVATION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY STANDARDS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FLUID FLOW
GAS FLOW
HEATING SYSTEMS
HUMAN FACTORS
INFORMATION
MOISTURE
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NUMERICAL DATA
PREFABRICATED BUILDINGS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RESIDENTIAL SECTOR
STANDARDS
TEMPERATURE CONTROL
US DOE
US ERDA
US ORGANIZATIONS
VAPOR CONDENSATION
VENTILATION
VENTILATION SYSTEMS