TECHNICAL NOTE 19/2001

Air Tightness Testing

A Guide for Clients and Contractors

by Nigel Potter

For quality buildings and to meet Part L2 of the

Building Regulations
 BUILDING AIR TIGHTNESS

AIR TIGHTNESS TESTING

A Guide for Clients and
Contractors

CONTENTS
COVER PHOTOGRAPH: ANTHONY WELLER, ARCHIMAGE

Building air tightness: The facts Page 04

How to comply with Building Regulations Page 06
Going for quality Page 08
The role of thermography Page 13
Air tightness checklist Page 14
PHOTOGRAPH: RODERIC BUNN

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form
or by any means electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written
permission of the publisher.

BSRIA TN 19/01 October 2001 ISBN 0-86022-592-5 Printed by the Chameleon Press Ltd Air Tightness Testing 03

BSRIA TN 19/2001
 BUILDING AIR TIGHTNESS:THE FACTS

THE FACTS
In April 2002 the Building Regulations will
demand that all new buildings in England
and Wales with a gross floor area above
PHOTOGRAPH: RODERIC BUNN

1000 m2 are constructed and tested to an

air tightness standard.

BSRIA operates a special fleet of Fan Rovers. Each fan unit unit is
designed to supply air at flow rates up to 33 m3/s. This is the first time that legislation has
been introduced to prevent the
construction of leaky buildings.

04
04 Air Tightness Testing

BSRIA TN 19/2001
 BUILDING AIR TIGHTNESS:THE FACTS

The urgent need to save energy
and reduce global emissions of
carbon dioxide demands that build-
ings are designed and constructed to
be more airtight.
The logical place to start is with
the integrity of the building fabric.
Why is this important? It is important
because the air infiltration or
ventilation heat loss is proportional to
the air tightness of the building. The
more air tight the building, the lower
the air infiltration rate. The more
leaky the building, the greater the
heat loss.
In winter, heating systems will
struggle to maintain temperatures,
particularly on cold and windy days.
In summer, air conditioning systems
will be unable to stop hot air
entering the building, leading to
warm conditions and unhappy
workers.
From 2002 most new commercial
and industrial buildings will need to
comply with a maximum air
permeability of 10 m3/(h.m2) of the
building envelope. This means that
buildings will need to be tested
during construction to ensure that
the standard is being met, and if not,
that remedial works are carried out
and the building re-tested.
Compliance with the Building
Regulations will be the same for all
building types. A warehouse unit
with simple frost protection, for
example, will require the same air
tightness as a fully air conditioned
office building.
Over the last 15 years BSRIA has
pressure-tested over 1000 buildings,
and has amassed plenty of experi-
ence in identifying air leaks and how
the problems can be solved.
This BSRIA guide to building air
tightness testing contains all a client
or contractor needs to know about
the air tightness criteria, and presents
some of the pitfalls to avoid during
design and construction.

PHOTOGRAPH: ANTHONY WELLER, ARCHIMAGE

Analysis of a building's air tightness performance is carried out inside one of BSRIA's specially adapted
Fan Rovers. Each smoke test takes only a few minutes, and enables the pressure test engineers to check
that any unintentional gaps in the building fabric have been adequately sealed.

Air
Air Tightness
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 HOW TO COMPLY WITH BUILDING REGULATIONS

BUILDING REGULATIONS
From March 2002, Approved Pressure testing commercial and industrial
Document L2 of the Building
Regulations will require all new
buildings with a gross floor area
buildings is no longer an option  the
above 1000 m2 to be tested for Government has introduced legislation that will
air permeability.
Air permeability is the total enforce standards of building air tightness.
flow rate of air needed to
pressurise a building to a test
pressure of 50 pascals divided by
the envelope area of the build-
ing. The envelope area is defined
as the area of the ground floor This will affect everyone involved in the construction
plus the area of the external walls
and roof. process, including clients, consultants and contractors.
This definition of envelope
area is in accord with a new
standard, BS EN 13829:2001(1).
The procedure referred to in the
Building Regulations is CIBSE
Technical Memorandum 23, but the
technicalities of both methods
are identical.
For 18 months after Part L2
comes in to effect, the Govern-
ment is prepared to accept a
standard of reasonable compli-
ance. If the building fails the
first test, then reasonable provi-
sion would be demonstrated if a
building conforms to one of two
performance criteria:
air permeability has been
improved by 75% of the
difference between the first test
and the target standard of 10 m3/
(h.m2) at 50 pascals.
the air permeability on re-
testing is within 15% of 10 m3/
(h.m2) at 50 pa.
1
BS EN 13829:2001 Thermal performance of
buildings: Determination of air permeability of
buildings - Fan pressurisation method.

06 Air
Air Tightness
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Testing

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 HOW TO COMPLY WITH BUILDING REGULATIONS

PHOTOGRAPH: RODERIC BUNN

35

30 First
test
Air permeability in m3/(h.m2)

25 First
test
20
First
test
15
Second
10 Second test
Second test
test
Initial test result
5
Interim acceptable standard

ABOVE: How reasonable compliance will work. Whatever the ABOVE: Tight and constricted access need not be a problem for the BSRIA pressure
performance level reached on the first test, it will have to be improved by test rig, which is able to squeeze into the narrowest of city streets.
75% or be within 15% of 10 m3/(h.m2) at 50 Pa.

Air
AirTightness
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 GOING FOR QUALITY

The air tightness
requirements in Part
L2 will not be enough
for air-conditioned or
low energy buildings.
So what's the answer?
In 1998 BSRIA published Air
Tightness Specifications, 10/98. The
specifications were based on air
leakage indexes, and the envelope
area does not include the ground
floor, in line with UK practice.
With the advent of Part L2 of
the Building Regulations, there will
now be confusion between air
permeability, which includes the
floor area, and air leakage index,
which does not. Unfortunately,
the ratio between the two param-
eters varies depending on the
footprint-height ratio.
As the majority of large UK
buildings have a concrete ground
QUALITY
Naturally ventilated offices
The air infiltration rate for a naturally ventilated office building
should not greatly exceed the rate of ventilation required for
the occupants during high wind speed conditions. During less
than high wind speed conditions, the occupants should be able
to open ventilators or windows to provide adequate ventilation.
The ventilation design for naturally ventilated buildings is
actually quite complex, especially during periods of low wind
speeds and moderate internal/external temperature differences.
However, the openings in the structure should be purpose-
made and mostly limited to occupant control or fixed trickle
ventilator openings.
The air leakage of the structure should be at a sufficiently low
level to avoid causing draughts and discomfort, and increasing
space heating requirements.
A moderate air leakage index of 10 m3/(h.m2) is
recommended with all windows and trickle ventilators closed.
If a high surface
area to volume ratio is
inherent in the design
of a building, for
example by the
inclusion of
courtyards, then a
tighter specification
may be required.
Type Maximum air leakage index
3
Air permeability m /(h.m )
2

floor which is impermeable, the 3 2

m /(h.m ) at 50 pascals
effective air tightness of the Normal Best practice Normal
Offices
structure will vary. Taller buildings
Naturally ventilated 10 5 7
will effectively be required to be Mixed mode 7.5 5
more airtight than low-rise build- Air conditioned/low energy 5 2.4 3.5
ings. Factories/warehouses 10 3 7
Naturally ventilated buildings Superstores 5 0.85 3
with courtyards will need to be Museums and archival stores 2 1.4 1.4
Cold stores 0.5 0.25 0.35
more airtight than a deep-plan air-
Dwellings 10 5 7
conditioned building.
ABOVE: The BSRIA recommended air tightness criteria for buildings in terms of air leakage index, along
with a very approximate equivalent air permeability:

08 Air Tightness Testing

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 GOING FOR QUALITY

Air-conditioned and low energy offices

In air-conditioned buildings, ventilation air is provided

mechanically. Therefore all natural air infiltration is an
additional energy load and can cause local discomfort.
It is impractical to demand a perfectly sealed building, but
based on test data, an air leakage index of 5 m3/(h.m2) is
clearly achievable and is recommended as the maximum limit
for air-conditioned and low energy buildings.
For moderate to large office buildings this would result in
infiltration rates of approximately 015 - 02 air changes per
hour during average wind speeds and temperatures, rising to
approximately 05 air changes per hour during high wind
speeds.

Factories/warehouses

The average air leakage of UK factory/warehouse buildings

often exceeds 30 m3/(h.m2).
An air leakage index of 10 m3/(h.m2) is a cost-effective
compromise. However, the purpose of the building should
dictate the degree of envelope integrity. For instance, some
warehouse buildings incorporate dehumidification for stock
preservation. These buildings would require a very much
tighter specification to ensure that the internal conditions are
maintained.

Superstores

These are air-conditioned buildings and should be built to an

air leakage index of 5 m3/(h.m2), and preferably 3 m3/(h.m2).
The use of open entrances for ease of customer access
requires, among other design considerations, that these
structures strictly comply to this specification. Many
supermarket chains are regularly achieving very high standards
of building air tightness.

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 GOING FOR QUALITY

Museum & archival storage buildings

Many of these buildings incorporate items which require

very close control over temperature and humidity, and the
exclusion of pollutants. Where small-tolerance control and
high-grade air filtration is required, an effective air tightness
performance specification will also be necessary.
An air leakage index of 2 m3/(h.m2) is recommended and
will be essential for such installations.

Dwellings

There are a number of low energy schemes for new houses

which have been recommended for a number of years. The
Medallion 2000 scheme recommends an air tightness test
requiring the structure to meet a maximum air leakage of
seven air changes per hour when subject to an internal/
external pressure difference of 50 Pa.
The above is quite a good standard, except that the
standard of construction will need to be better for small
dwellings compared with larger dwellings. BSRIA would
therefore recommend an air tightness performance of 10 m3/
(h.m2), except for mechanically ventilated dwellings which
should achieve 5 m3/(h.m2).

Cold stores

The critical requirement to minimise air leakage into cold

stores leads to a very stringent criterion. An air leakage index
of 05 m3/(h.m2) is now recommended.

10 Air Tightness Testing

BSRIA TN 19/2001
 GOING FOR QUALITY

Builders' shafts

The air leakage of builders' shafts as ventilation ductwork

often runs into difficulties with regard to specification and
indeed achievement of a specification.
The HVCA's DW144 Specification For Sheet Metal Ductwork
recommends a maximum air leakage for low pressure Class A
ductwork of 054 l/s/m2 (194 m3/(h.m2)) at a pressure
differential of 100 Pa and for medium pressure Class B
ductwork of 018 l/s/m2 (065 m3/(h.m2)) at a pressure
differential of 100 Pa.
It would be unreasonable to expect a builder's shaft to
conform to medium pressure ductwork and quite difficult to
achieve low pressure ductwork standards. However, they
should not exceed the air leakage standard for a good
building and preferably not exceed the standard for a very
good building. The table below summarises these
specifications for the same test pressures.
3 2 3 2
m /(h.m ) m /(h.m )
at 100 Pa at 50 Pa

HVCA class B ductwork 0.65 0.46

HVCA class A ductwork 1.94 1.37
BSRIA very good building 3.54 2.5
BSRIA good building 7.07 5.0
Average UK office building 30.83 21.8

Museum display cases

The current standard is based on a requirement to achieve

01 air changes per day and is usually measured using tracer
gas techniques.
A pressurisation standard has not yet been firmly
established by BSRIA. The reason for this is that the volume
to surface area ratio changes rapidly with display case size,
and the joints (which are potential air leakage paths) are
clearly defined and the air leakage index method doesn't
apply.
Note that an air tightness standard is not constant to
achieve 01 air changes over a wide size range.
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BSRIA TN 19/2001
 GOING FOR QUALITY

Floor voids

Where floor voids are used for ventilation plenums as used in

displacement ventilation systems, the BSRIA recommended air
tightness criterion is 1 litre per second per square metre of
floor area.
It is important that the conditioned air in the floor voids
supplies air to the occupied zone. The system can be severely
compromised if air leaks into cavities, risers and/or different
zones of a building.

Pressurised stairwells

The current British Standard should be used. This is BS 5588

Part 4: 1998 Code of Practice for Smoke Control using Pressure
Differentials. The air flow-rate requirements for pressurised
stairwells are not simply to provide 50 Pa in the stairwell with
all doors closed.
BS 5588 also requires specified air flow rates with the
lobby doors open. This requirement may force the need for
pressure stabilisers when doors are closed to avoid over-
pressurisation. No generalised air tightness specification can
therefore be given.

UK average BSRIA has undertaken tests on various building

Part L2 target
BSRIA recommended types without an air tightness specification. The UK
35 Best practice average air leakage index for offices, whether air-
Air leakage index in m3/(h.m2)

30 conditioned or naturally ventilated, is 21 m3/(h.m2).

25 Factories and warehouses average 32 m3/(h.m2), and
20 superstores 265 m3/(h.m2). Educational buildings
15 tend to average the same as offices.
10
The figure opposite compares this data with the
various standards along with current best practice. It
5
can be seen by the area of purple in the factory/
0
Offices Superstores Factories/ warehouse sector that the greatest decrease in air
warehouses tightness will be required in this sector. The area of
holes in many buildings will need to be halved to
ABOVE: A comparison of prevailing air tightness standards. comply with Part L2 of the Building Regulations.
12 Air Tightness Testing

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 THE ROLE OF THERMOGRAPHY

THERMOGRAPHYSURVEYS
Thermal imaging is
widely used to confirm
the presence and
continuity of thermal
insulation.

How can it help to

reduce heat losses?

A thermal image makes it easy to see

where insulation is missing, or where air
is leaking into a building. A special
infrared digital camera can be used to ABOVE: Heat loss around a socket outlet and skirting.
take such images from thousands of
surface temperature measurements.
Any object not generating or absorb-
ing heat will tend towards the surround-
ing air temperature, so cold air leaking
into a building will cause cold patches on
the wall, floor or ceiling. Conversely,
discontinuous thermal insulation will
cause warm patches on the outside wall
or roof.
While thermographic testing can iden-
tify thermal bridges and missing insula-
tion, it cannot quantify air leakage. How-
ever, its main benefits are:
quick inspection
results easily shown in pictures
thermal insulation defects identified
can show where insulation is damaged
or missing.

Further information ABOVE: Heat losses at the junction of wall and roof.
BS EN 13187:1999, Thermal performance of buildings
Qualitative detection of thermal irregularities in building
envelopes Infrared method.

Barnard N & Pearson C C, Guidance and the standard

specification for thermal imaging of non-electrical building
services installations, BSRIA, March 2000.

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 AIR TIGHTNESS TARGET CHECKLIST

CHECKLIST
The first issue is to decide which
BSRIA's key surfaces are to form the airtight
membrane. The inside surface of the
checklist for structure is usually the airtight
surface.
typical air leakage The airtight surface should be brought
paths. inside rooms which will be ventilated to
outside such as boiler rooms, plant
rooms, electrical switch rooms and lift
shafts.
Atriums, risers, stairwells and lobbies
are normally included within the build-
ing envelope and should be air-sealed
accordingly.
The following checklist is by no
means exhaustive, but the points cover
the major issues that need to be addressed
to ensure a building is airtight.
It cannot be stressed too highly that
the use of insulation materials , tapes and
expanding foam offer no guarantee of
air tightness. Indeed, these materials can
mask serious gaps in the envelope that
can be difficult to identify later.

Blockwork
All blockwork leaks, from 01 to 60 m3/(h.m2).
Plastered blockwork does not leak and so the quality
of the blockwork is immaterial. With raised floors and
suspended ceilings, the quality of blockwork is
important particularly if these areas are not plastered.
BSRIA has tested over 100 blockwork walls, and so
the manufacturers should have data on the air leakage
of their blockwork. Painting good quality blockwork
reduces air leakage, but painting poor quality
blockwork has little effect.
Ceilings
For ceilings where concrete is poured on to profiled
metal sheeting, the underside will have indents in the
profile. These should be sealed with mastic or similar.
Curtain walling systems
Curtain walling systems are usually quite good
between their abutments to each other, but joints to
other building systems need to be sealed. Joins to the

Pipework & electrical services

floor and roof sections, plus corner junctions and
abutments to masonry need to be detailed.

Pipework and electrical penetrations through the

envelope, including plant rooms, electrical switch
rooms, external lighting systems, and power and
communications, require sealing. Where steelwork is
encased for fire protection, it is important to air-seal
it to the structure prior to the fire protection.
Dry lining systems
Dry lining systems should be sealed to the floor, roof
and walls and all service penetrations sealed. Care
should be exercised where internal walls meet these
external walls to avoid a lattice of air leakage paths.

Hollow concrete beams Lift shafts

Hollow concrete beams should be sealed at the ends Lift shaft doors should have adequate seals. There
before delivery to site as internal penetrations of the should also be an adequate seal beneath the raised
beams can allow air to pass in to the cavity. floor adjacent to the lift.

14 Air Tightness Testing

BSRIA TN 19/2001
 AIR TIGHTNESS TARGET CHECKLIST

Profiled metal decking Steelwork penetrations

The underside of profiled metal decking roofs is the Steelwork penetrations through the inside surface
air tight membrane and all joints will require to be of the structure need to be air sealed adequately.

effectively sealed during the laying of the sheets.
Perforated liner sheets and relying on the vapour
barrier should be avoided as they under-perform.
Loading bay doors

Windows and door frames

Loading bay doors should preferably be of the panel
type with adequate seals. Security shutters are not
always airtight.

Windows and door frames need to be effectively
sealed to the inside surface of the structure and the
cavity preferably sealed before the final finishes are
Water traps & condensate traps
made.
Water traps and condensate traps should be filled

Wall to ceiling and roof joints

with water before testing the structure.

All wall to ceiling and roof joints need to be sealed

Mineral wool
effectively, and all expansion joints between concrete Do not use mineral wool or equivalent to fill gaps in
beams and blockwork to blockwork should be deep the building fabric or where air could leak from one
filled with an airtight compound. zone into another.

Riser shafts Tape and expanding foam

Riser shafts also need to be effectively air sealed to The use of tape to seal joints in buildings is not
avoid air penetrating the cavity and or the building's acceptable. Similarly, the use of expanding foam
plant rooms. should also be avoided.

Air Tightness Testing 15

BSRIA TN 19/2001
 PHOTOGRAPH: RODERIC BUNN

BSRIA has 15 years

experience in testing
buildings for air
tightness, and we are
happy to provide
customers with a
method statement
and a quotation on
request.

All you need to supply is the

required air tightness
specification, the location of the
building and the footprint and
height of the building. If the
building is of complicated shape
including courtyards, for
example, then a plan of the
building would be useful.

Contact:
Nigel Potter
BSRIA Ltd
Old Bracknell Lane West
Bracknell
Berkshire RG12 7AH

T: +44 (0)1344 426511

F: +44 (0)1344 487575
E: airtightness@bsria.co.uk

For further information and technical

notes on this subject please contact
our web site at www.bsria.co.uk

15