building enclosure commissioning is a nationally accepted standard for verifying that the walls and roofs in new construction meet the owners requirements it helps the owner the Builder and the architects avoid headaches during construction and it can lead to a more durable building it can reduce energy costs and it can mitigate indoor environmental risks the process starts with the commissioning agent working with the owner to establish the standards which are then carefully checked against the architects drawings and the contractor submittals then the commissioning agent will go into the field as the building is built and observe the construction to make sure that all is done correctly and according to good quality as it building a closure commissioning agent it is our duty to recommend to the owner which tests are most appropriate for each unique billing at dbh MS we perform most of our testing in house in this site visit we will demonstrate similar performance testing that is available for scientifically verifying their performance of the building closure specifically infrared imaging and enclosure tightness testing often refer to as blower door testing in fright thermography is utilized as a tool to assist commissioning engineers identifying deficiency in the building closure such as thermal bridges insulation defects moisture accumulation and air leakage these common deficiencies can cause comfort issues maintenance issues and excessive energy waste for building owners infrared scans are typically most productive when a large temperature difference exists between the inside and outside as was the case in this site is closure tightness testing utilizes sophisticated equipment to induce various pressures on a building's of closure while simultaneously taking airflow readings with the collection of this data the overall tightness of the building as a function of the building's geometry can be compared against the owner desired tightness levels to verify the quality of the building enclosure in print thermography and the closure tightness testing are often performed concurrently so that air leakage sites throughout the building can be quantitatively measure through the blower door and qualitatively observed through infrared imaging infrared imaging inspections typically begin on the exterior with the building under normal operation this allows for immediate identification of large anomalies in the building enclosure while simultaneously identifying penetrations new closure that may affect bloater testing similarly an interior inspection is performed all spaces in the building enclosure this ensures that the building is properly prepared for pressure testing so that accurate results are obtained any safety hazards locating the building would also be identified at this time key items that we're looking for are open or cracked windows mechanical of combustion equipment exhaust fans hazardous materials dampers flus and water traps that connects plumbing systems to sanitary waste lines as part of the building preparation mechanical equipment will be disabled all openings in the building enclosure will be shut and latched all interior doors will be opened in all intentional openings such as outdoor air intakes for ventilation systems will be sealed after building preparation is complete and opening in the building typically a door is selected for testing equipment blower door testing equipment consists of a calibrated fan digital pressure gauge is called manometers and a custom frame to block off the remainder of the opening a laptop is often utilized to control the fan to ensure the accuracy of the results unlike in front imaging Florida testing is best suited for calm weather with little temperature difference between the indoor and outdoor it is critical that the necessary quality control checks are performed prior testing to ensure that it test is aligned with ASTM standards in this field visit the testing equipment is activated to depressurize the building while simultaneously performing an infrared scan with a smoke wand because the building is under a negative pressure air is forced into the building as if wind is blowing on all surfaces of the building from all directions at the same time this enables the infrared camera to visibly see exactly where air is entering the building in locations where conditions do not permit for inferred imaging such as reflective surfaces surfaces where the temperature differential is small or images that contain extremely hot items such as boiler flues or radiators the smoke one can be utilized and physically trace the air flow path into the building once all spaces in the building enclosure analyzed with the infrared camera we then move to quantitative airflow testing to determine the exact leakage rate of the building and closure based on the geometry of the building this leakage rate is often normalized by the amount of surface area binding the enclosure so that buildings of different shapes and sizes can be compared to one another include your tightness testing is often performed over range of pressures with positive and negative so that a regression analysis can be performed to obtain results with a high degree of certainty once testing is complete test results are compared to the owners project requirements for the building enclosure to determine if the project goals have been met further utilizing the results of the infrared imaging in the smoke one the commissioning agent is able to provide the owner with a detailed list of localized airlie these locations so that further air sealing may be accomplished by identifying the air leakage locations and the leakage rate of the building corrective action may be taken to reduce occupant comfort issues energy waste and building maintenance issues