Air tightness
It is important for households to maintain a high degree of tightness to maintain energy efficiency and comfort for the occupants to achieve. Airtight successful outcome of a love for detail in the design and construction phases of the project. If hot air can escape from a building, the benefits of better insulation and other energy efficiency measures will be lost.
Test of air tightness
Leak testing air in homes is an important respect the rules of the British building. Particular attention should be paid to the leakage of air through the building design and construction phase. It is far easier to design and build a house as airtight to perform corrective action in a house from drafts.
Air Infiltration
Air Infiltration occurs when leakage through cracks and gaps in the building structure. The amount of infiltration is influenced by the type of construction and speed and wind direction. The wind is blowing against the building causes pressure differences between inside and outside. The air is drawn into the house through the holes on the face to the wind and leaves the house on the leeward side.
Buoyancy
The hot air inside the housing is lighter than cold air outside. Light air rises by convection and thus pull cold outside air. As light increases air, increases the pressure inside the case, the hot air pushes the holes in the building envelope
Air leakage paths
The air can leak through the ceiling void under one roof, especially around the attic hatch cover and the frame. It can through the open joints in masonry and concrete blocks that form the outer walls to escape. Lady often occur in locations of doors and windows, in particular between the frame and masonry. You can also occur between the frame and opening doors or sashes. In the case of suspended floors, leaks can occur when wood beams built into the masonry walls. The air can pass through the cracks between the floor and through the spaces at the junction between the floor and surrounding walls. In general, considerable problems of gaps around the plumbing and electrical penetrations in walls, floors and ceilings caused by the left.
Construction of an air barrier
“Air Barrier” is a term used to describe a particular layer created within the thermal envelope between the heated and unheated rooms. The air tightness actually restrict the passage of air between the internal and external environments. At an early stage, the designer should identify the exact position of the air barrier and mark on a drawing. Its exact position depends largely used by the building design and construction materials.
Test methods for air
When construction is completed, the air is usually performed by a specialist. An airtight screen in a temporary opening of the outer door of the house assembled. Traps with water, drop by drop, filled, sealed shut your mouth and extract openings. An electric fan is then fixed on the screen be installed and operated to provide air to blow in or out of the house against a pressure difference between inside and outside. The airtightness of the house is determined by measuring the air flow is calculated by the fan, while a series of pressure differences between the inside and be kept outside the house.
Air test failure
In the case of an air barrier in the absence of a leak test to determine the air with the smoke testing and thermal imaging cameras to identify the main areas of leakage. The failure of the air barrier in the testing phase of the air can be much more time and money.
Teamwork
Airtightness is the concern of all members of the design and construction teams. The communication between all employees is important to ensure that the details have been working practices and that the air barrier is created with great care.
Controlled ventilation
When building a sealed enclosure, it is important to ensure adequate ventilation is controlled to ensure occupant comfort and safety.
If you want to learn more about narrow construction, please visit http://www.AirtightBuilding.com
David Stoppard is the editor of http://www.LowEnergyHouse.com and a group of related Web sites that deal with topics related to green building. LowEnergyHouse.com pages have evolved from an architectural practice, a great interest in energy conscious design. Its members began measures for energy conservation, sustainability and renewable energy technology in the building, to protect the environment, securing the future energy supply and reducing energy poverty.
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