Event Description

There are some basic tests which have to be performed to assist us in 3C-REN's endeavor of creating buildings that perform well. These tests also serve to inform us whether we have achieved our goals for the building. The blower door is the main diagnostic tool for measuring the air tightness of the building enclosure. With a blower door, we can quantify the amount of air leakage through the building enclosure. It can be used to assist us in locating air leakage locations, it allows us to measure the effectiveness of our air sealing efforts, and from its output, we can calculate how quickly the air in our buildings changes over with outside air.

In this full-day course, 3C-REN will take the blower door to a home that is under construction. Each attendee will be given the hands-on opportunity of setting up the house and the blower door, including programming the manometer and fan configuration for depressurization and pressurization testing. We will spend time using the blower door to find air leakage locations, check pressures across parts of the building enclosure, and convert the blower door test result (CFM50) to the more meaningful air changes per hour metric (ACH50). Learn tricks for minimizing wind fluctuations and testing on rainy days.

Learning Objectives

1. Will have hands-on experience setting up the blower door
2. Will know when to choose to pressurize or depressurize a house
3. Will set up the house and run a single-point blower door test
4. Experience various methods of searching for air leakage locations with the assistance of the blower door
5. Will know what both CFM50 and ACH50 mean and be able to convert CFM50 to ACH50

Note: Training capacity is limited. Please cancel your registration if you cannot participate.

Image: Barrier Energy