A blower door tests the tightness of the home’s envelope by pressurizing or depressurizing the structure and then measuring the amount of time for the entire air supply in the house be replaced with fresh air. For the NAHB’s Field Demonstration of Alternative Wall Insulation Products study, four builders insulated different houses with the various insulation
Controlling moisture flow in a building has significant impacts on occupant health and safety, comfort, building durability and energy efficiency. This section will cover the basics of moisture and its effects on the house system. It will also discuss how geographic location and house type can affect choices of moisture control strategies. Applied building science
Over the past few months, we’ve discussed some of the main factors in creating a comfortable and safe home. The end of most of these articles contained a note about reducing risk and increasing tolerance. Let’s talk about how these ideas fit together. In the last 50 years, home building has changed dramatically – increased insulation, tighter homes, smaller chimneys, more efficient
Indoor Air Quality Anyone can smell the air and tell if there are indoor air quality problems. However, many air problems may not stink now but will cause one later. There are five types of pollutants in houses: 1. Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) – cleaning products, aerosols, pest killers, furniture finishes, fabrics and building materials
If you glance at a window film manufacturer’s list of statistics and your eyes may glaze over due to the sheer volume of data. All of this information is and has always been tested, verified and provided by the manufacturer itself. But third party verification is now on the horizon. Enter the NFRC: the National
Attic Ventilation The International Residential Code specifies a 1 to 150 ratio of total net free ventilating area to area of space to be ventilated when it comes to ventilating attics. So, what exactly does this mean and why is it important to ventilate attics in the first place? We’ll start with the second
