Energy Impacts of Air Leakage in U.S. Office Buildings.
Energy Impacts of Air Leakage in U.S. Office Buildings.
(1143 K)
VanBronkhorst, D. A.; Persily, A. K.; Emmerich, S. J.
Implementing the Results of Ventilation Research. AIVC
Conference, 16th. Proceedings. September 19-22, 1995,
Palm Springs, CA, 379-391 pp, 1995.
Sponsor:
Department of Energy, Washington, DC
Keywords:
office buildings; building performance; energy; air
leakage; infiltration
Abstract:
Airtightness and infiltration rate measurements in
office and other commercial buildings have shown that
these buildings can experience significant levels of air
leakage. The energy impact of air leakage in U.S.
office buildings was estimated based on the analysis of
a set of 25 buildings used in previous studies of energy
consumption. Each of these buildings represents a
portion of the U.S. office building stock as of 1995.
The energy impact of air leakage in each building was
estimated by performing an hourly analysis over one
year, with the infiltration rates varying linearly with
the wind speed. The energy associated with each of the
25 buildings was then summed to estimate the national
energy cost of air leakage. The results show that
infiltration accounts for roughly 15% of the heating
load in all office buildings nationwide, and a higher
percentage in recently constructed buildings. A
sensitivity analysis showed that the heating loads due
to infiltration were particularly sensitive to
uncertainty in the balance point temperature and
nighttime thermostat setback. The results also show
that infiltration has very little impact on cooling
loads in office buildings. The results for office
buildings are presented and discussed, along with the
implications for the energy impacts of air leakage for
the total commercial building stock in the U.S.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899