The original 5th Edition (2014) Florida Energy Conservation Code was the first Florida code to require residential building air leakage testing and also stipulate a maximum air leakage rate of five air changes per hour at a test pressure of 50 Pascals (5 ACH50). The original 5th Edition of the Florida Mechanical and Residential Codes in turn required whole-house mechanical ventilation (WHMV) for homes with an ACH50 of less than 5. Due to cost and other concerns from industry however, implementation of these code provisions was delayed to allow for additional discussion and research. Mandatory residential building air leakage testing finally went into effect in Florida via a supplement to the 5th Edition code on July 1, 2017, but with the maximum allowed air leakage increased from 5 ACH50 to 7 ACH50 and the WHMV requirement trigger decreased from less than 5 ACH50 to less than 3 ACH50. So the testing requirement went into effect allowing a range of leakage rates between 3 and 7 ACH50 for which WHMV is not required.
A field study was funded by the Florida Building Commission to assess compliance with these new code requirements, specifically to learn:
•If the requirement to test residential air leakage is being followed
•If code stipulated individuals are providing the leakage testing
•If accurate air leakage rate test values are being reported
•If WHMV is being installed where required.
The paper provides the results of this study which include a comparison of study-measured air leakage test values with originally reported leakage test values for 15 single family study homes, along with tester qualification verification and WHMV installation information for these homes. The paper also discusses air leakage test form availability and reported leakage values from a separate study task for which test forms were requested from 14 Florida jurisdictions from which it was not possible to recruit study homes.
Citation: 2020 Virtual Conference Papers
Product Details
- Published:
- 2020
- Number of Pages:
- 9
- Units of Measure:
- Dual
- File Size:
- 1 file , 700 KB
- Product Code(s):
- D-VC-20-C009
