All buildings leak air. Air infiltration through the building envelope walls, roofs, windows and especially at joints and junctions, can be problematic for a building, especially a commercial building. Air leakage negatively impacts a building’s energy use and other performance factors. While tens of thousands of air tightness tests have been conducted on houses in Manitoba already, only a handful have been conducted on commercial buildings.
If left unaddressed, air leaks in the building envelope can cause many problems, most notably in energy use, durability and occupant comfort; it can also lead to premature building envelope failure.
This seminar will provide an overview of the ongoing air leakage study being conducted by a team of diverse building science experts from the Red River College’s Applied Research and Commercialization group (AR & C).
The AR & C group set a number of research objectives and goals, which include developing air leakage testing protocols, determining baseline air leakage rates in a range of buildings, and comparing pre- and post-building retrofit air leakage rates to determine feasibility and cost effectiveness of air sealing. The presenters will also discuss the impact of air leakage on building performance, the project description and objectives, as well as get into several case studies, the test methodology, results and lessons learned with each project.
Speakers:
Kevin Knight is a building envelope authority with 30 years experience in field inspection and
testing, commissioning, research, education and training. Kevin is the President of Retro-Specs Ltd, the Founding Principle of Edifice Tutorial Inc, and is an Instructor at the Red River College on Building Science and Energy Efficiency. Since 2012 Kevin has been an affiliated consultant with Wiss, Janney Elstner providing education and training programs.
Gary Proskiw of Proskiw Engineering Ltd. is a mechanical engineer with 35 years of experience in building science, energy management, research and training. His work has included investigations of building problems in residential, industrial and commercial structures with an emphasis on air leakage. Proskiw has served on the Part 9 Committees of the National and Manitoba Building Codes of Canada, as well as several CSA and CGSB committees. Gary has a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Building Science.
Rob Spewak is the Senior Research Manager with Applied Research and Commercialization at Red River College. He is responsible for coordinating all applied research activities at the college between industry partners and faculty, staff and students. In 2009, Rob co-wrote a successful NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) funding application entitled "Improving the Energy Performance of Buildings." Several applied research projects have taken place as a result of this funding, including two major projects with Manitoba Hydro focused on concentrating solar power and large building air leakage testing.
