Estimating the Energy, Economic, and Durability Benefits of Installing an Air Barrier System in Commercial Buildings

Desjarlais, Andre Omer; Shrestha, Som S.; Bhandari, Mahabir S.; Dalgleish, Laverne

Title: Estimating the Energy, Economic, and Durability Benefits of Installing an Air Barrier System in Commercial Buildings

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Abstract

Uncontrolled heat, air, and moisture transfer through the building enclosure has a significant impact on energy usage, comfort, indoor air quality, and building enclosure durability. Air leakage in commercial buildings in the U.S. accounts for about one quad (one quadrillion Btu) of energy annually, costing approximately $10 billion. As the thermal resistance of commercial building enclosures continues to improve, the relative contribution of air leakage to heating and cooling loads is increasing. A wide variety of air barrier technologies and construction practices to reduce the air leakage in buildings are available to the architect and designer. To promote more energy-efficient and durable building enclosure design, advances in easy-to-use tools for determining the impact of air leakage are needed. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) partnered to develop an online calculator that estimates the potential energy, cost savings (due to energy use reduction), and moisture transport due to improvements in airtightness. The calculator estimates the energy and cost savings potential based on the pre-and post-retrofit air leakage rates for prototype commercial buildings. The tool does not include the energy and hygrothermal impacts of air intrusion ormore »« less

Authors:

^[1];

^[1]; Dalgleish, Laverne ^[2]

Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Air Barrier Association of America, Walpole, MA (United States)

Publication Date:: Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019

Research Org.:: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1566992

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: IIBEC Interface

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: XXXVII; Journal Issue: 8; Journal ID: ISSN 9999-0034

Publisher:: International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION; 29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY

Citation Formats


                    Desjarlais, Andre Omer, Shrestha, Som S., Bhandari, Mahabir S., and Dalgleish, Laverne. Estimating the Energy, Economic, and Durability Benefits of Installing an Air Barrier System in Commercial Buildings.  United States: N. p., 2019. 
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                    Desjarlais, Andre Omer, Shrestha, Som S., Bhandari, Mahabir S., & Dalgleish, Laverne. Estimating the Energy, Economic, and Durability Benefits of Installing an Air Barrier System in Commercial Buildings.  United States.

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                    Desjarlais, Andre Omer, Shrestha, Som S., Bhandari, Mahabir S., and Dalgleish, Laverne. Sun .  
"Estimating the Energy, Economic, and Durability Benefits of Installing an Air Barrier System in Commercial Buildings".  United States.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1566992.

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@article{osti_1566992,

  title        = {Estimating the Energy, Economic, and Durability Benefits of Installing an Air Barrier System in Commercial Buildings},

  author       = {Desjarlais, Andre Omer and Shrestha, Som S. and Bhandari, Mahabir S. and Dalgleish, Laverne},

  abstractNote = {Uncontrolled heat, air, and moisture transfer through the building enclosure has a significant impact on energy usage, comfort, indoor air quality, and building enclosure durability. Air leakage in commercial buildings in the U.S. accounts for about one quad (one quadrillion Btu) of energy annually, costing approximately $10 billion. As the thermal resistance of commercial building enclosures continues to improve, the relative contribution of air leakage to heating and cooling loads is increasing. A wide variety of air barrier technologies and construction practices to reduce the air leakage in buildings are available to the architect and designer. To promote more energy-efficient and durable building enclosure design, advances in easy-to-use tools for determining the impact of air leakage are needed. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) partnered to develop an online calculator that estimates the potential energy, cost savings (due to energy use reduction), and moisture transport due to improvements in airtightness. The calculator estimates the energy and cost savings potential based on the pre-and post-retrofit air leakage rates for prototype commercial buildings. The tool does not include the energy and hygrothermal impacts of air intrusion or air that flows into and out of the building enclosure from the same side. This article reports on the development of the Energy Savings and Moisture Transfer Calculator. This online tool aims to fill this void, is based on the best science available, and is easy to use.},

  doi          = {},

  journal      = {IIBEC Interface},

  number       = 8,

  volume       = XXXVII,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019},

  month        = {Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019}

}

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