[Bldg-sim] Infiltration Schedule

[JRR]

JRR wrote;

    I won an ASME regional design contest prize with my Solar House 
design, a graduating
    semester design project. It was later fully detailed and built in 
1986. We moved in Jan
   1987. It is basically a LEED Platinum building, one story with 
finished basement, 2x6
    studs 24 OC upstairs with 1" XPS sheathing, brick vernier 100%, etc.

    The main surprises vis a vis air infiltration  were / are

    1) The porosity of the above grade basement CMUs allowing air 
infiltration.
    2) The top or finish course of CMUs was not always sealed from an 
air infiltration
       point of view and many of these CMU cores were hidden behind 
finish dry wall
       for years.
    3)The air return duct through the attic even though sealed with 
metal tape and covered
       with R-25 batts was not sealed to the attic penetration / wood 
surround for years.
    4) One bathroom had an outside wall stud space with no insulation at 
all - it contained
       the plumbing  vent stack. The framing crew and insulation crews 
thought we were
       'over insulated' and just didn't need it.
    5) None of the plumbing stacks were sealed at the attic penetration 
on the outside
       by the work crews.
    6) The Active Solar plumbing penetrations were not sealed at the 
attic penetration
       by the work crews.
    7) Rodentia bent the clothes dryer outside vent flap so severely 
that it would not close
       completely on its own, but we never had mice enter the house via 
this access.
    8) Conventional plumbing stack boots, black rubber, were utterly 
destroyed by the
       heat from the Active Solar pipes. We made silicon rubber fittings 
to replace them.
       We run an oversquare ( more sq ft collector than gal of tankage ) 
system with 6/12
       slope 20 degrees W of S at  ~ 38:45 N. We use the active system 
for more than
       domestic hot water. Since we sabotaged the evil tempering valve =-O 
       we have all metal bodied valves through out the house and a 
stainless steel tub on the
       dishwasher.
    9) None of these problems was detected by a military grade IR video 
shot from outside
       the house in freezing cold weather.  IR shot inside the attic was 
extremely revealing.
    10) Leak testing has to be done during windy weather -- the leaks 
act in concert., and
       CFD considerations show that differing pressures exist at 
specific locations.

Our all electric bill for 4500 sq ft this last December was  $72.00

We are developing a new version of this house with architectural as well 
as energy improvements.

John R Ross III PE
Westwind Corporation
Vienna, VA  22182-1958
energy.wwind at cox.net


Andy hoover wrote:
>
> Hi all:
>
>  
>
> We do building envelope consulting and are very curious as to what 
> folks do and what rates they use whatever approach.  When looking at 
> buildings we find that most  infiltrate much more in the real world 
> than designers estimate and that the fluctuations are far greater than 
> predicted.  We would also love it if anyone has any experiences which 
> can be shared.
>
>  
>
> Thanks,
>
>  
>
> Andy
>
>  
>
> Andy Hoover
>
> Principal
>
> The BEST Consultant, Inc.
>
> Office: 678-200-7648
>
> Fax:678-827-0574
>
> Cell: 678-793-1159
>
>  
>
> www.thebestconsultant.com <http://www.thebestconsultant.com>
>
>  
>
>  
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> This message may contain confidential and/or privileged information. 
> If you are not the addressee or authorized to receive this information 
> for the addressee, you must not use, copy, disclose, or take any 
> action based on this message or information herein. If you have 
> received this message in error, please advise the sender immediately 
> by reply e-mail and delete this message. Thank you for your cooperation.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> *From:* bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org 
> [mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] *On Behalf Of 
> *Talbert, Joshua
> *Sent:* Friday, February 06, 2009 10:30 AM
> *To:* bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
> *Subject:* [Bldg-sim] Infiltration Schedule
>
>  
>
> Howdy Bldg Sim peers!
>
>  
>
> While working on LEED Equest simulations I find that in an effort to 
> simplify I end up deleting the P-Inf and C-Inf Infiltration Schedules 
> all of the time and end just use "/undefined"/ to simulate a constant 
> infiltration rate.  I was curious to know if anyone uses the actual 
> Infiltrations schedules, to emulate winds and or building 
> pressurization, and if so do you typically achieve more energy 
> savings, and do you find it worth the extra effort?
>
>  
>
> Thanks all and be well.
>
>  
>
> Josh
>
> Joshua W. Talbert P.E., LEED-AP
>
> Mechanical Engineer
>
> Hallam*///*ICS
>
> 38 Eastwood Dr. Suite 200
>
> S. Burlington, VT 05403
>
> P: (802) 658-4891
>
> F: (802) 658-1457
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
> The information contained in this transmission, as well as any 
> accompanying documents, constitutes confidential and/or legally 
> privileged information which is the property of Hallam-ICS. The 
> information is intended solely for the individual entity named on this 
> transmittal sheet. If you are not the designated recipient, you are 
> hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking 
> any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited. If 
> you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the 
> material from any computer. Opinions, conclusions and the information 
> in this message that do not relate to the official business of my firm 
> shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> _______________________________________________
> Bldg-sim mailing list
> http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list send  a blank message to BLDG-SIM-UNSUBSCRIBE at ONEBUILDING.ORG
>   
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.onebuilding.org/pipermail/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org/attachments/20090207/cd0e84be/attachment-0002.htm>