A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
A platform for research: civil engineering, architecture and urbanism
Assessing Building Envelope Air Leakage and Estimating Their Energy Consequences in Egyptian New Residential Construction
Air infiltration is responsible for a considerable amount of the energy losses in buildings. While energy codes require testing building envelopes and set minimum thresholds for infiltration, leakage goes mainly unstudied in countries with no or weak building energy codes, such as Egypt. This research reports some of the first air infiltration findings in Egypt’s residential sector. Two residential spaces are tested using a blower door test (Minneapolis Blower Door™ System) following ISO 9972:2015. The testing is complemented by a qualitative examination (thermal imaging) to identify critical infiltration routes. Despite the use of heavy building materials, such as concrete, and bricks walls, the findings indicate significant leakage in residential spaces exceeding the 10 m3/h m2 at 50 Pa suggested in regional codes and most thresholds set in European regulations. Windows and their frame-wall interfaces and air conditioning conduits that penetrate the walls are found to be critical leakage paths. We estimate that leakage results in significant energy losses, especially during the cooling season, causing up to 1.8 kW of sensible heat gains during the summer. The findings constitute an urgent call for further studies on the issue and for developing economic remedies for infiltration in existing and new structures that fit the local construction techniques.
Assessing Building Envelope Air Leakage and Estimating Their Energy Consequences in Egyptian New Residential Construction
Air infiltration is responsible for a considerable amount of the energy losses in buildings. While energy codes require testing building envelopes and set minimum thresholds for infiltration, leakage goes mainly unstudied in countries with no or weak building energy codes, such as Egypt. This research reports some of the first air infiltration findings in Egypt’s residential sector. Two residential spaces are tested using a blower door test (Minneapolis Blower Door™ System) following ISO 9972:2015. The testing is complemented by a qualitative examination (thermal imaging) to identify critical infiltration routes. Despite the use of heavy building materials, such as concrete, and bricks walls, the findings indicate significant leakage in residential spaces exceeding the 10 m3/h m2 at 50 Pa suggested in regional codes and most thresholds set in European regulations. Windows and their frame-wall interfaces and air conditioning conduits that penetrate the walls are found to be critical leakage paths. We estimate that leakage results in significant energy losses, especially during the cooling season, causing up to 1.8 kW of sensible heat gains during the summer. The findings constitute an urgent call for further studies on the issue and for developing economic remedies for infiltration in existing and new structures that fit the local construction techniques.
Assessing Building Envelope Air Leakage and Estimating Their Energy Consequences in Egyptian New Residential Construction
Environ Sci Eng
Wang, Liangzhu Leon (editor) / Ge, Hua (editor) / Zhai, Zhiqiang John (editor) / Qi, Dahai (editor) / Ouf, Mohamed (editor) / Sun, Chanjuan (editor) / Wang, Dengjia (editor) / Gouban, Sherif (author) / Tarabieh, Khaled (author) / Kamel, Basil (author)
International Conference on Building Energy and Environment ; 2022
Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Building Energy and Environment ; Chapter: 69 ; 653-659
2023-09-05
7 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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