Publication Date:
2018-03-22
Description:
Energies, Vol. 11, Pages 704: Methodology for the Study of the Envelope Airtightness of Residential Buildings in Spain: A Case Study Energies doi: 10.3390/en11040704 Authors: Feijó-Muñoz Jesús Poza-Casado Irene González-Lezcano Roberto Alonso Pardal Cristina Echarri Víctor Assiego Rafael Fernández-Agüera Jesica Dios-Viéitez María Jesús del Víctor José Montesdeoca Manuel Padilla-Marcos Miguel Ángel Meiss Alberto Air leakage and its impact on the energy performance of dwellings has been broadly studied in countries with cold climates in Europe, US, and Canada. However, there is a lack of knowledge in this field in Mediterranean countries. Current Spanish building regulations establish ventilation rates based on ideal airtight envelopes, causing problems of over-ventilation and substantial energy losses. The aim of this paper is to develop a methodology that allows the characterization of the envelope of the housing stock in Spain in order to adjust ventilation rates taking into consideration air leakage. A methodology that is easily applicable to other countries that consider studying the airtightness of the envelope and its energetic behaviour improvement is proposed. A statistical sampling method has been established to determine the dwellings to be tested, considering relevant variables concerning airtightness: climate zone, year of construction, and typology. The air leakage rate is determined using a standardized building pressurization technique according to European Standard EN 13829. A representative case study has been presented as an example of the implementation of the designed methodology and results are compared to preliminary values obtained from the database.
Electronic ISSN:
1996-1073
Topics:
Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
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