15 Aug Blower Door Test: Excellent Result!
We recently had the Shevlin Home tested to show that it is an energy efficient, healthy and resource-wise home. The testing was done through the Earth Advantage program and received an excellent result on one of the tests which helps determine a home’s airtightness. These are several reasons for establishing the proper building tightness:
* Reducing energy consumption due to air leakage
* Avoiding moisture condensation problems
* Avoiding uncomfortable drafts caused by cold air leaking in from the outdoors
* Making sure that the home’s air quality is not too contaminated by indoor air pollution.
The building air leakage test at the Shevlin Home was conducted by Matt Douglas from Earth Advantage Institute using a device called a blower door. This device pulls air out of the house (depressurizes) and measures the amount of air that flows through the fan. This is the same amount of air that leaks into the building through cracks and opening.
The typical new home has an air leakage rate of about 6 air changes per hour (ACH) at the test pressure of 50 Pascals. This is expressed as 6.0 ACH50. Leakage at the Shevlin Home was only 2.2 ACH50, or about one-third of the air leakage typical in a newly- built home!
