I think most of us know of this man, one of the founders of The Energy Conservatory and designers of the Minneapolis Blower Door. I recently had the opportunity to chat with Gary. My intent with the interview is a little different from other interviews that have featured Mr. Nelson. I wanted to ask questions from a practitioner working in the field point of view. Continue reading “Building Science-An Interview with Gary Nelson”
Energy Audit-Measuring for Blower Door Testing
Whether you are using equipment from Minneapolis Blower Door, Retrotec, or any other blower door manufacturer, one of the first steps in conducting a blower door test is to measure the home’s floor area, volume, and surface area. Coming up with the floor area is the simplest, length times width. Calculating volume also isn’t hard, width times length time height, simple right? Not always, getting the volume of a geodome or a complex cathedral ceiling often takes some time. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Measuring for Blower Door Testing”
Energy Audit-Homemade Blower Door
A blower door is an expensive tool. A full kit including frame, panel, fan and manometer will cost more than $3500. Add in the other tools for finding air leaks and you could easily drop over $5000. And then you still need to have some training to understand how to operate and interpret the results. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Homemade Blower Door”
Diagnostic Tools-Blower Doors
This week, I’m going to start a new category of subject matter to discuss, the tools I own and use when conducting energy audits, assessments and performing home diagnostic testing. We are going to start with my number one diagnostic tool, the blower door. Continue reading “Diagnostic Tools-Blower Doors”
Energy Audit-Blower Door Testing-A Deep Dive
I’ve talked about blower door testing several times on Green Building Advisor and on this blog. This discussion will dive deeper into blower door testing, when it should be completed, the different tests done with the blower door, and interpreting the information. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Blower Door Testing-A Deep Dive”
Opinion-5 Reasons to Own A Blower Door
By now most of us know what a blower door does and the basics of how they work. All energy auditors and raters own one. A few insulating contractors I know also have purchased their own blower door. As a contractor, does it make sense to invest a sizable amount of money and then take the time to learn how to operate this piece of test equipment. Continue reading “Opinion-5 Reasons to Own A Blower Door”
Energy Audit-Advanced Blower Door Testing-Zonal Pressures
Most of us by now know what a blower door is. A tool to measure the air tightness of a house. I’ve owned my Minneapolis Blower Door since 2009. Many states have adopted mandatory tightness testing on all new construction. In my area, the minimum is three air changes per hour at 50 Pascals (3 ACH50), Continue reading “Energy Audit-Advanced Blower Door Testing-Zonal Pressures”
Building Science-A Visual for Blower Door Testing
I recently tested the Code Minimum House for air tightness at the rough framing stage. We ended up where I was hoping at this first test, .55 ACH50, 140 CFM. Given the volume of the home, the leakage area is equal to approximately 15 square inches. Continue reading “Building Science-A Visual for Blower Door Testing”
Energy Audit-Comparing a Great Blower Door Test to a Code Minimum Test
I recently blower door tested the tightest new home I have tested to date. .82 air changes per hour at 50 pascals (ACH50), nearly one-quarter of the code required 3 ACH50 requirement. After the test, the builder and I decided to open a window to see how much additional leakage it would take to get the home to the code minimum 3. Continue reading “Energy Audit-Comparing a Great Blower Door Test to a Code Minimum Test”
Construction Design-Simple Air Sealing Strategies
I built my first home for a customer back in 2000, I’ve learned a lot since then. One of the areas I’ve learned the most is in building tightness. These days I’m working more as an energy auditor. Conducting code compliance blower door testing on new homes and conducting energy audits, some with blower door testing on older homes. I get to see where homes leak. Continue reading “Construction Design-Simple Air Sealing Strategies”