Methodology for the Study of the Envelope Airtightness of Residential Buildings in Spain: A Case Study
Fecha
2018-04Autor
Feijó-Muñoz, Jesús
Poza-Casado, Irene
González-Lezcano, Roberto Alonso
Pardal, Cristina
Echarri, Víctor
Assiego de Larriva, Rafael
Fernández-Agüera, Jesica
Dios-Viéitez, María Jesús
Montesdeoca Calderín, Manuel
Padilla-Marcos, Miguel Ángel
Meiss, Alberto
Metadatos
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Energies 11(4) : (2018) // Article ID 704
Resumen
Air leakage and its impact on the energy performance of dwellings has been broadly studied in countries with cold climates in Europe, US, and Canada. However, there is a lack of knowledge in this field in Mediterranean countries. Current Spanish building regulations establish ventilation rates based on ideal airtight envelopes, causing problems of over-ventilation and substantial energy losses. The aim of this paper is to develop a methodology that allows the characterization of the envelope of the housing stock in Spain in order to adjust ventilation rates taking into consideration air leakage. A methodology that is easily applicable to other countries that consider studying the airtightness of the envelope and its energetic behaviour improvement is proposed. A statistical sampling method has been established to determine the dwellings to be tested, considering relevant variables concerning airtightness: climate zone, year of construction, and typology. The air leakage rate is determined using a standardized building pressurization technique according to European Standard EN 13829. A representative case study has been presented as an example of the implementation of the designed methodology and results are compared to preliminary values obtained from the database.