Multifamily Envelope Leakage Model
- Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings, Norwalk, CT (United States)
“The cost for blower testing is high, because it is labor intensive, and it may disrupt occupants in multiple units. This high cost and disruption deter program participants, and dissuade them from pursuing energy improvements that would trigger air leakage testing, such as improvements to the building envelope.” This statement found in a 2012 report by Heschong Mahone Group for several California interests emphasizes the importance of reducing the cost and complexity of blower testing in multifamily buildings. Energy efficiency opportunities are being bypassed. The cost of single blower testing is on the order of $300. The cost for guarded blower door testing—the more appropriate test for assessing energy savings opportunities—could easily be six times that, and that’s only if you have the equipment and simultaneous access to multiple apartments. Thus, the proper test is simply not performed. This research seeks to provide an algorithm for predicting the guarded blower door test result based upon a single, total blower door test.
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
- Contributing Organization:
- Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings, Norwalk, Connecticut
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC36-08GO28308; KNDJ-0-40342-04
- OSTI ID:
- 1215013
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/SR-5500-62675; DOE/GO-102015-4499
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Work performed by Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings, Norwalk, Connecticut
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
residential
Residential Buildings
CARB
Building America
blower door testing
envelope leakage
single-family attached housing
multifamily apartments
guarded
unguarded
predicting fully guarded test results
empirical model
multi-linear regression model