- Author
- Hunt, C. M. | Porterfield, J. | Ondris, P.
- Title
- Air Leakage Measurements in Three Apartment Houses in the Chicago Area.
- Coporate
- National Bureau of Standards, Gaithersburg, MD Illinois Univ. at Chicago Circle
- Report
- NBSIR 78-1475, June 1978, 27 p.
- Distribution
- Available from National Technical Information Service
- Keywords
- air leakage | sulfur hexafluoride
- Abstract
- Air infiltration measurements were made in three apartment houses in the Chicago area using SF6 as a tracer gas. Two were in tenement districts and one was suburban. Data were collected in selected apartments in each building, and these data were used to estimate the infiltration rate for the entire building. Whole building estimates of 0.94 and 1.2 air changes per hour were obtained under the conditions of tests in the tenement apartments, and 0.82 air changes per hour in the suburban apartment. Comparisons of the tightness of individual dwelling units byu fan pressurization-depressurization techniques were also made. The suburban apartment was found to be much tighter than the other two apartments. The difference was much greater than predicted by the tracer tests. An analysis of the ASHRAE Crack Method is also made.