The Blower Door Test
On October 9th we scheduled the Blower Door Test – an energy efficiency rating conducted by Colleen Groll of Seattle’s O’Brien & Company, http://www.obrienandco.com/. Its aim is to tell you how tight your building is and to locate air leakage sites. A blower door consists of a calibrated fan for measuring an airflow rate, and a pressure-sensing device to measure the air pressure created by the fan flow. The combination of pressure and fan-flow measurements is used to determine the building’s air tightness.
The blower-door fan is temporarily sealed into an exterior doorway using the door-panel system. The fan is used to blow air out of the building, which creates a small pressure difference between inside and outside. This pressure difference forces air through all holes and penetrations in the building enclosure. The tighter the building (e.g. fewer holes), the less air is needed from the blower door fan to create a change in building pressure.
After much sealing of light and plumbing fixture outlets, we succeeded in conducting our test that revealed a reading of 1.94. According to Colleen, the apartment might be too tightly built for adequate outdoor air circulation. Robert pointed out that the exterior air vent had been sealed during the test, so that probably would not be the case.
The blower door test is one part of a home energy rating – an analysis of a home’s construction plans and onsite inspections. Certified energy-efficient homes qualify their eligible contractors for a credit of up to $2,000. Most builders will pass this credit along to their clients.
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