A Protocol. Advanced Air Sealing

Transcription

1 A Protocol Advanced Air Sealing

2 Efficiency Vermont is a Registered Provider with The American Institute of Architects Continuing Education Systems (AIA/CES). Credit(s) earned on completion of this program will be reported to AIA/CES for AIA members. Certificates of Completion for both AIA members and non-aia members are available upon request. This program is registered with AIA/CES for continuing professional education. As such, it does not include content that may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product. Questions related to specific materials, methods, and services will be addressed at the conclusion of this presentation.

3 Learning Objectives By the end of this program, participants will be able to: Learn strategies for more effective targeted air-sealing. Learn role of thermal imaging and diagnostic smoke in air leakage investigation. Learn methods to strategically reduce air leakage. Learn how to find and address air leakage in elusive places like interior wall partitions.

4 Course Evaluations In order to maintain high-quality learning experiences, please access the evaluation for this course by logging into CES Discovery and clicking on the Course Evaluation link on the left side of the page.

5 EmPower New York Offers energy improvements to 12,000 NY homes annually Funded by System Benefit Charge $46,000,000 annually Service provided by accredited private contractors & community based corporations

6 What is a Protocol? A series of defined and ordered steps Performed in accordance with industry standards To obtain specific information or best results

7 Why Air Sealing? Tight buildings have been an elusive goal Valuable time is spent determining an approach (trial and error) Air leakage reduction has big cost/benefit Lost opportunities WRT low hanging fruit The 21 st Century has arrived for Home Performance

8 Economics of Air Sealing CFM x Btu capacity of air x min x hours x HDD = Btu per season = Btu per season 1CFM x.018btu x 60 min x 24 hours x 7500 HDD = 194,400 Btu per season 57 kwh electric 2 Therm natural gas 1.4 gal #2 fuel oil

9 Dale s Spreadsheet Show 1 yr savings of 1 house air sealed by CFM CFM 50 Show 10 year savings for each house Show 50 homes per year savings for 10 yr

10 Consider This If Gold is $1600 an ounce or $25,600 lb... Then 160 lb. of gold is worth $4,096,000 If the average air sealer weighs 160 lb... A good air sealer may be worth their weight in gold to their employer, to their customers, to the economy, to the planet!

11 Steps of the Protocol

12 Determine if Building is Good Candidate for Air Sealing Bulk moisture management - Inspect the exterior grade and roof runoff Wet foundations Inspect the interior water and vapor management mold, dry rot, ventilation Combustion appliance vented/unvented air requirements Chemical pollution sources & controls Soil gases Radon, moisture Existing envelope leakage rate & # of occupants

13 Remediation Required Before Air Sealing

14 Air Sealing considerations

15 Building Preparation Identify building construction type framing, construction materials and intended pressure boundaries Identify zones outside conditioned space attics, kneewall areas, crawl space areas, garages, porch roof systems Configure building for diagnostics Thermal imaging Envelope & Blower door testing CAZ & Combustion analysis

16 Thermal Imaging #1 Infrared imaging from inside the building (static) - exterior & interior walls - ceilings on all levels - rim and band joist areas identify performance/existence of insulation Establish benchmark for air leakage

17 Occasional Visual Clues

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20 Before Depressurization

21 Blower Door Diagnostics Measure leakage rate of envelope and compare to a calculated BAS (vol, occupancy, & pollutant sources ) Pressure pan testing of ducts running outside of the conditioned space Identify leakage pathways pressures & smoke Quantify air leakage from attached unconditioned zones series leakage

22 What is Series Leakage Testing? Method to Quantify the air leakage from each of the attached unconditioned zones Calculate the effective sq inches of leakage pathway between conditioned and unconditioned zone Calculate the leakage and effective hole size from attached zone to outdoors

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24 Open Frame

25 When to Conduct Series Leakage Testing In tandem with blower door testing adds just a couple minutes to required blower door testing Prior to entering zones to inspect for leakage pathways Prior to insulating the air sealed attic When air sealing has failed to reduce leakage to targeted levels When measuring make-up air to CAZ - NFPA

26 Use Diagnostic Smoke With home depressurized From zones with high series leakage rates From attached garages From unconditioned duct zones From within pressurized home Registers, ductwork and air handler cabinets Windows & door framing, casings Ceilings & floors to verify band joist leakage

27 Chemical Smoke Highly Responsive to Subtle Pressures

28 Thermal Imaging #2 Compare images from depressurized building to benchmark established in Thermal Imaging #1 Capture images for further analysis and reporting using IR imaging software Identify major interstitial pathways and specify in proposed work scope

29 Wall Cavity By-Pass

30 Dew Point at Band Joist

31 Interior wall Partition

32 Before Depressurization

33 After Depressurization

34 Band Joist By-Pass

35 Air Leakage at band joist

36 Targeted Air Sealing High density insulation in band joist between conditioned floor areas High density insulation in wall cavities exterior and interior walls (balloon framed) Spray foam all wall top plates located in attic exterior and interior walls High density insulation in all attached garage surfaces walls and ceilings

37 Targeted Air Sealing High density insulation below kneewalls Ductwork and air handler cabinets Mastic Bulkheads and interior dropped soffits The usual suspects penetrations through pressure boundary canned lights, plumbing chases, doorways

38 Sealed Rim Joist

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40 Sealing Band Joist with Low Density Spray Foam

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42 Rigid and Foam Insulation seal Monster By-Pass

43 Are We There Yet? Reduce air leakage to target by 80% Conduct combustion safety testing Worse Case CAZ testing Appliance spillage, draft & carbon monoxide Ambient carbon monoxide testing Evaluate mechanical ventilation needs Provide occupant with maintenance requirements & schedules

44 Remaining infiltration must come from clean, dry, fresh outdoor sources The actual airflow for a tight, efficient home could be coming from an unwanted source

45 Ventilate to ASHRAE X Sq ft of conditioned space X # of occupants or # bedrooms sq ft home with 4 bedrooms.01 X 2000 = 20 CFM + 4 X 7.5 = 30 CFM 50 CFM Continuous Mechanical Ventilation

46 A Training Model for Advanced Air Sealing How buildings are constructed Airflow as a function of hole & pressure Diagnostic tools & Investigative techniques Air sealing material properties & handling Strategic installs Personal and worksite safety Evaluation of safety & performance

47 2 Days Classroom & Laboratory A little theory and a lot of hand on practice with diagnostics & material handling

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49 Followed With 1 Day Field Diagnostics

50 and Strategic Installations

51 Evaluation Measure air leakage reduction QC with series leakage testing Test Out with BPI Worst Case CAZ Spillage Draft & CO Testing

52 The Rule 30% of participants will embrace new and better approach 30% of participants will follow once an approach has been proven 30% of participants will comply, but not without fighting and screaming all along the way