Roasting the Home HVAC Industry on National TV: Technicians vs. Mechanics

HVAC technicians will someday be the masters of the science of homes, but right now it's not looking too hot. Hear from Jim Bergmann, one of the world's HVAC legends, why most HVAC installs are wrong from the minute the load calculations are started using Manual J, Manual S, and Manual D without using a blower door first.

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Get your blower door at: https://www.trutechtools.com/system-blower-doors-and-duct-testers.html

TOOL REVIEW: DG-1000 from Energy Conservatory and Minneapolis Blower Door

Corbett gives a crash course in the TEC’s DG-1000 used with Minneapolis Blower Door equipment (including the Duct Blaster, TruFlow Plate, and Exhaust Fan Flow Meter). TEC took away a few features like Equivalent Leakage Area estimation, but added the Tubing Assistant and firmware updating, which could endlessly add features based on user feedback.

How to Teach Home Performance to Home Owners

See how Corbett teaches home performance to the uninitiated after having given this presentation 214 times across the U.S. on the Proof Is Possible Tour. Special thanks to the tool companies and all other sponsors of the upcoming TV series 'Home Diagnosis' who have invested in making home performance a mainstream topic:

DEAR CORBETT: Multifamily Blower Door Testing Nuances

Good day Corbett,

I wanted to let you know, that I really enjoy your approach to the whole building science and your building performance workshop website. I am relatively new as a Resnet Rater and the county where I live is Collier County in Florida.

They recently adopted the new code standard set by the state. My question relates to multifamily condo units. I have a client that did renovations to a 2,500 sq. ft. penthouse condo and the front door to the unit is I a common area. The county wants them to perform a blower door test in order to obtain their certificate of occupancy.

I realize this would be a compartmentalize test, since I can only have access to the unit they renovated for their client. Knowing that I will encounter not only leakage to outside but also internal leakage between units. I was wondering what the best approach would be to ensure a successful test. Collier County requires between 3 ach and 7 ach for a test to pass code.

Any information would be appreciated. Thanking you in advance.

Best Regards,
Norm Giguere
www.blowerdoorenergyexperts.com

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Dear Norm-

Thanks for your question, it's a good one! First off, you should be fine if they did a good job with the renovations- 7 ACH50 is not terribly hard to achieve.

When you set up your blower door at the front door of the condo, you'll blow air out into the common hallway, so you want to make sure all possible windows/doors in that hallway are open to the outdoors. Use the emergency exits if necessary (make sure maintenance knows what you're up to).

You'll be testing the condo's leakage to everything outside of it, including the downstairs unit, but that's intended. They really will have air leaking between the two condos, if there are leakage pathways, and you want to be testing for that and including it in your blower door test result.

Ask your code official if they want the result to pass the residential code or commercial code, because you have to test at 75 Pa in commercial. I always advise doing a multipoint test (get the flows on at least two pressures, like 25 Pa and 50 Pa) so you can extrapolate the 75 Pa if anyone ever wants it in the future. Saves you a trip.

AS AN ADDED BONUS, consider doing a Zonal Pressure Test on the unit downstairs, to see how much the blower door is affecting it. Always nice to have more data than you need.

Happy Testing,
Corbett

PODCAST #55 AIR LEAKAGE LOVE AFFAIR: Colin Genge on All Things Blower Door and Duct Testing

Today we talk with Colin Genge, founder and CEO of Retrotec, about the history of air leakage testing, how the tests really work (and what they doesn't actually test), and using home performance diagnostic techniques for playing competitive poker.

To download this episode or hear more, subscribe in iTunes or visit BuildingPerformancePodcast.com

PODCAST #52 NOT YOUR GRAMMA'S BUILDING SCIENTIST: Iain Walker on air tightness, testing, and the origin of stinkiness

Today we talk with Dr. Iain Walker of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory about the frontier of air tightness, fresh air ventilation, and why we're arguing about it in the first place.

To download this episode or hear more, subscribe in iTunes or visit BuildingPerformancePodcast.com