Abstract
Air leakage in commercial buildings accounts for about one quad of energy annually; therefore, efforts have been put in place to decrease this energy penalty. Data from blower door tests indicate that the airtightness of new building envelopes has been improving in certain niches because of requirements set by local governments and the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), as well as the availability of air barrier consultants. Advances in air barrier technologies and construction practices have also contributed to these improvements. Even with these promising results, efforts have been slow to revise building codes so that they establish a maximum air leakage rate requirement for new buildings and envelope retrofits. This paper summarizes current techniques used to conduct whole building air leakage tests, where these tests are mandatory, how the air leakage rate of buildings appears to be decreasing, and what stakeholders think about blower door tests. The paper also includes the nationwide source energy and financial savings potential for standalone retail buildings that were calculated using a newly developed simulation tool that more accurately estimates the effect of air leakage on energy use.
