SEDL / STP / STP719-EB / STP27521S

Air Infiltration: A Review of Some Existing Measurement Techniques and Data

Hunt, CM
Chemical engineer, Thermal Analysis Program, Building Thermal and Service Systems Division, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C.,

Pages: 21    Published: Jan 1980

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Abstract

This paper reviews the state of the art in the measurement of ventilation and air infiltration. It considers tracer gas techniques and discusses some of the tracer gases used as well as some of the potential sources of error. It also discusses fan pressurization-evacuation procedures for measuring building tightness and compares fan and tracer measurements. It discusses the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) crack method. It also considers a number of factors influencing infiltration rates and finally reviews a few of the empirical equations that have been developed to correlate infiltration rate with wind velocity and inside-outside temperature difference.