Blower Door Testing – nZEB Ready Platform

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Learning programme			Blower Door Testing

Goals/Objectives
Total number of hours	14	Total number of credits		N/A
Minimum EQF for participants		4
Pre-curriculum conditions		Knowledge about conventional practices in the construction sector and relevant skills for designing conventional buildings and / or for assessing the energy performance of buildings, according to current practices, obtained in their basic training or specialization programs and / or advanced training followed in continuous training.

Learning Outcomes

Learning unit/ topic	Knowledge	Skills	Responsibility & autonomy
1	Introduction to building airtightness evaluation
	*Factual and theoretical knowledge* on facts, principles, processes and general concepts on the necessity of airtightness, vapour control and windtightness in a building, and the multitude of benefits they bring, *Factual and theoretical knowledge* on facts, principles, processes and general concepts relating to different approaches that can be used to regulate and control air, vapour and wind movement including materials best-suited to different construction types (membranes versus plasters versus specialist sheeting)	*A range of cognitive and pratical skills* required to understand the problem of building airtightness and the problems related to it. *A range of cognitive and practical skills* required to explain the principle of the pressurisation test method and explain the benefits of completing both positive and negative pressurisation tests	*Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision for formulating a logical procedure/sequence of work with reference to airtightness. *Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision for completion of tasks related to ensuring absolute continuity of the three key layers providing vapour control, airtightness and windtightness and without tears or unsealed penetrations *Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision for and confidence to stop progress on project advancement if necessary if construction details and / or materials being proposed are regarded as being risky
2	Blower door testing method
	*Factual and theoretical knowledge* on facts, principles, processes and general concepts relating to different approaches that can be used to regulate and control air, vapour and wind movement including materials best-suited to different construction types (membranes versus plasters versus specialist sheeting; *Factual* and theoretical *knowledge* on the direction of both air pressure drive and vapour pressure drive in different climates for the purposes of correctly locating specialist membranes.	*A range of cognitive and practical skills* required required to operate fans (such as ‘wincon’) to create a pressure difference between inside and outside for the purposes of pre checking airtightness in advance of the official pressurisation tests *A range of cognitive and practical skills* required to explain the importance of the q50 value in large buildings	*Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision related to performing a blower door test in accordance with international norms, including calculating the net volume and building envelope area. *Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision related to ensuring that vapour diffusiveness increases from inside to outside and avoiding use of vapour-proof layers towards the exterior.
3	Blower door equipment
	*Factual and theoretical knowledge* on the blower door manufacturers and equipment,blower door components, blower door software	*A range of cognitive and practical skills* required to operate, test and interpret the result using blower door technology	*Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision for operating blower door equipment. *Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision for choosing the right airtightness materials.
4	Leakage detection and identification of sealing solutions
	*Factual and theoretical knowledge* regarding principles, processes and general concepts on typical weak points in the case of airtightness, vapour control and windtightness *Factual and theoretical knowledge* on facts, principles, processes and general concepts on the difference and relationships between vapour control, airtightness and wind resistance	*A range of cognitive and practical skills* required to identify leaks in a building envelope using a variety of methods including smoke sticks and thermography where practicable *A range of cognitive and practical skills* required to identify the airtight layer and its constituent parts in drawings and buildings *A range of cognitive and practical skills* required to seal elements such as wooden joists which penetrate the insulation layer into a cold exterior wall and the potential for rot over time arising from mould and condensation	*Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision related to use of a thermographic camera during negative pressurisation testing to identify leaks which might be otherwise difficult to identify
5	Blower door measurements in large buildings
	*Factual and theoretical knowledge* regarding the facts, principles, processes and general concepts relating to different approaches that can be applied to large buildings.	*A range of cognitive and practical skills* required to assess leakage detection and to evaluate data issued from measurements. *A range of cognitive and practical skills* required to estimate costs.	*Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision related to performing a blower door test for large buildings in accordance with international norms, including calculating the net volume and building envelope area. *Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision related to explanations for problems and obstacles measurement that could be encountered at construction sites.
6	Blower door testing in practice
	*Factual and theoretical knowledge* regarding blower door testing in practice considering climate conditions, building preparation, measurements and calculations.	*A range of cognitive and practical skills* required to perform a blower door test on sample airtight booth.	*Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or *management and supervision* related to achive a blower door test in real conditions . *Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision for completion of tasks related to preparation of construction project for airtightness test to ensure optimal use. *Responsibility* and *self-management* and/or management and supervision for completion of tasks related to identification of when it is best suited to carry out interim airtightness tests, based on the principle of being able to fix leaks before areas are closed up.

Detailed content of the topic (module)

Learning unit/topic	Teaching methods (classical, video presentation, ppt presentation)	Type of activity (course, applied activity, practical activity)	No. of hours
Introduction to building air tightness evaluation Air Leakage Issues in Buildings The Forces Behind Air Leakage Understanding the Air Barrier Air Leakage Solutions Duct System Leakage Information Test Equipment Training Options for Test Reporting	Ppt presentation	Course	1
Blower door testing method Legal requirements according to EN ISO 9972 and EN 13789:2002 Basic blower door calculations: air change rate n50, building volume Pressurization vs. depressurization testing Thermal and pressure barriers Thermal boundary Building preparation	Ppt presentation	Course	3
Blower door equipment Terminology Blower door components Blower door manufacturers and type of equipment Set up Equipment operation Blower door software Testing Results interpretation Airtightness indicators levels Automated Blower Door test	Ppt presentation Blower Door equipment	Course Demonstration	2
Leakage detection and identification of sealing solutions Air leakage principles Common air leakage points Leakage detection Construction types and framing Convective loops Sealing air leakage	Ppt presentation Testing equipment, mock-ups	Course Demonstration	2
Blower door Measurements in large Buildings Determining the necessary number of Blower door fans Particularities in building preparation and leakage detection, e.g. thermal imaging Assessing and evaluating data, documenting measurements Explanations as to problems and obstacles measurement teams may encounter at construction sites Cost estimation.	Ppt presentation	Course	2
Blower door testing in practice – performing a blower door test on a sample airtight booth, including: climate condition checks, building preparation, blower door installation, building measurements and calculations, leak detection, full pressurisation and depressurisation tests, software input and results generation	Individual work of participants, discussion on results	Practical activity (Workshop)	4
Total no. of hours	14

References:

EN ISO 9972:2015 Thermal performance of buildings — Determination of air permeability of buildings — Fan pressurization method

EN 13789:2002 Thermal Performance of buildings – Determination of air permeability of buildings – Fan pressurization method

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