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Airtight Construction in Delta
We love blower door tests!
We love them for two reasons. First, because clients who subject their builds to blower door tests are the ones who are committed to building highly energy efficient (airtight) homes. Second, because onsite testing, such as blower door tests, validate our own laboratory generated performance results. And let’s face it: if our windows and doors don’t perform on site, the results of our laboratory test don’t matter a whole lot.
Lentel Construction in South Delta, BC is a builder recognized for their high-quality homes. One of their clients requested a mid-construction blower door test of their home and the team at Lentel was happy to oblige. A blower door test is an air leakage test – an important test that determines whether the building envelope is air tight and energy efficient. E3 Eco Group in Vancouver was hired to conduct the test.
Before we reveal the results of the blower door test, let’s take a look at some comparison points to help interpret the reading:
- The City of Vancouver requires a maximum air leakage rate of 3.5 ACH50
- ENERGY STAR qualified new homes must not exceed 2 ACH50 in Northern Ontario (2.5 ACH50 for Southern and Mid/Eastern Ontario)
- The Canadian R-2000 Program has an airtightness standard of no greater than 1.5 ACH50
- The PassivHaus airtightness standard – a tough standard to achieve – for new builds has a maximum of 0.6 ACH50
The result of door blower test for this home was an impressive 0.7 ACH50, making it nearly as airtight as a PassiveHaus. The results (shown below) also note that the air tightness at the time of occupancy may be higher – wow! Congratulations to the Lentel team for building another energy efficient home!
