Infiltration and indoor air quality in energy efficient houses in Eugene, Oregon

Technical Report · Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:5835913

Lipschutz, R D; Girman, J R; Dickinson, J B; Allen, J R; Traynor, G W

Measurements of infiltration rates and indoor pollutant levels in houses incorporating energy-conserving measures can provide important information about the effectiveness and health effects of such measures. Twelve energy-efficient houses in Eugene, Oregon were measured for effective leakage area using blower door fan pressurization. Air exchange rates over a period of several hours were determined by tracer gas decay analysis. The results of these measurements were used in conjunction with the LBL infiltration model to predict average annual and heating season infiltration rates. Measured leakage areas and infiltration rates were found to be quite low in comparison to other groups of test houses in North America. Average specific leakage areas for the 12 houses was 2.8 cm/sup 2//m/sup 2/ as compared to 6.4 cm/sup 2//m/sup 2/ for post-1975 California housing. The average heating season infiltration rate was calculated to be 0.34 air changes per hour. Infiltration rates measured from tracer gas decay ranged from 0.08 to 0.27 air changes per hour. Indoor concentrations of radon, formaldehyde, and nitrogen dioxide were measured in four of the twelve houses. Radon levels were found to be insignificant. Nitrogen dioxide concentrations were low in all four houses, although levels in the two houses where occupants smoked were slightly elevated by comparison to the two houses without smokers. Levels of formaldehyde comparable to or half of the most restrictive existing guideline were found in all four houses. Furniture and/or building materials are believed to be the source of this pollutant.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 5835913
• Report Number(s): LBL-12924; ON: DE82000971
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320101* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Residential Buildings-- (-1987)
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ABUNDANCE
AIR INFILTRATION
AIR POLLUTION
AIR QUALITY
ALDEHYDES
BLOWERS
BUILDINGS
CHALCOGENIDES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
ELEMENTS
ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
FLOW RATE
FLUIDS
FORMALDEHYDE
GASES
HOUSES
HUMIDITY
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
ISOTOPE APPLICATIONS
MEASURING METHODS
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN DIOXIDE
NITROGEN OXIDES
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
OREGON
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
POLLUTION
PRESSURIZING
QUANTITY RATIO
RADON
RARE GASES
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
SPECIFICATIONS
TRACER TECHNIQUES
USA