Air leakage (the uncontrolled movement of air from a building) affects user comfort, energy consumption and air quality but is not easy to detect. frameCHECK offers air leakage consultancy and testing to domestic and commercial buildings.
An air leakage test quantifies air flow, leaks and resulting heat loss within a building. The Building Regulations continue to require tougher U-Values but the energy wasted due to unwanted air leakage now needs to be considered too. A typical house may lose around one-third of its heat through air leakage.
- Measuring air leakage is a quantifiable way of showing that reasonable provision has been made for air leakage.
- Building Regulations Approved Document L1 currently requires that reasonable provision should be made to reduce unwanted air leakage in all new buildings.
- Commercial buildings, including hotels, care homes and offices over 1000m² must be tested to comply with Building Regulations Approved Document L2.
- It is expected that the Building Regulations will soon change to require all new buildings to be tested.
- Air leakage design evaluation and quality checks during construction can improve quality and stop potential problems at an early and cost-effective stage.
The frameCHECK air leakage consultancy considers:
- building design
- robust detailing
- construction materials
- quality of construction
- location of air leaks using blower fan door and computer software
- overall building air leakage rate (testing to CIBSE TM23 or client’s requirements).
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