Aeroseal’s Tried and Tested Intelligent Leak Detection Assures Audit Success
Escalating global energy rates, social awareness, as well as individual commitments to sustainability are creating an environment where finding ways to reduce energy consumption and emissions has never been a higher priority. The Aeroseal engineering team has been hard at work to provide solutions to support these priorities.
To meet mandates, building owners must identify the source (or sources) of their building’s energy loss. An assessment of the building’s energy use, demand, and overall output can create a clear understanding of what to target for energy efficiency improvements. Building audits help the building owner outline their energy consumption and set strategies for cutting costs. Audits will also determine the building’s impact on the environment.
Auditors examine the exterior, interior, building envelope, and mechanical systems to capture an accurate assessment of the building’s energy losses. Poor performance and inefficiencies in the air distribution system are commonly attributed to faults in airtightness. Air that is lost to leaky ducts equates to energy loss, and duct leakage is present in many commercial buildings. According to ASHRAE, 75% of air duct systems leak 10% to 25% of air from the system. Generally, these leaks are small and nearly indiscernible. Leaks can even be in areas of the ductwork that are inaccessible. It would take exceptional effort to navigate the ductwork and find all leak sites, and it is likely that there would still be undetected leaks.
In new construction, builders follow practices and procedures that comply with all building standards at the national and state level. During the building phase, they check the structure’s components and assure it has a solid building envelope that will pass tests for airtightness and energy efficiency. However, in older buildings, it can be both daunting and difficult to find and fix these issues. It presents a predicament for building owners and project managers physically and functionally, considering the challenging work involved in retrofitting buildings and resolving weaknesses.
Common methods for measuring duct leakage are very intrusive and time-consuming. These include Pressurize Duct Testing and ASHRAE Standard 215 testing procedures. Duct Pressure testing requires that the Air Handler Unit (AHU) be shut down, causing a negative impact on occupant comfort and IAQ. Using ASHRAE Standard 215 to measure leakage requires the AHU to continue to operate during testing. However, the traditional method of using a duct traverse to measure incoming air requires a straight section of duct long enough to get an accurate measurement and a lot of hole drilling. So, this procedure is also very intrusive.
Aeroseal has introduced a new duct leakage auditing technology: Intelligent Leak Detection (ILD). This duct leakage auditing method creates highly accurate leakage measurements without the added disruption and cost of the methods above.
The ILD system is fast, simple, accurate, and safe. By injecting very low flow rates of CO2 gas (between 1 and 3 CFM) and measuring the small increase in the CO2 levels over the baseline, our proprietary software calculates the flow rate at the injection point. This part of the process replaces the traditional duct traverse to determine incoming flow. Then, by measuring the flow that makes it out of the diffusers, we can calculate the supply duct leakage. With an accurate measurement, the cost of the leakage can be calculated with confidence.
A building’s ventilation system is a crucial component in the body of the building. This is why sealing the building’s leaks is one of the most important energy conservation measures, representing a key path to payback on projects, energy savings, and meeting building codes and performance standards. Auditing buildings with Aeroseal’s Intelligent Leak Detection will simplify leakage detection for achieving airtightness. Ultimately, this will give you the confidence to implement the best solution to help your building meet code with a measurable impact on energy efficiency.
For more information on Intelligent Leak Detection, click here.