Book Description

This Information Paper covers the development of new tracer gases and techniques for measuring ventilation rates in buildings. Effective ventilation of buildings is essential to ensure compliance with regulations relating to energy efficiency, good indoor air quality and the health and well-being of the occupants. Ventilation rate measurements in buildings are therefore important to inform the design, construction and operation of healthy buildings and to help solve ventilation and indoor air quality-related issues when they arise. However, many tracer gases traditionally used in ventilation rate measurement techniques have now been restricted or prohibited due to their global warming potential. To address this, BRE has identified, tested and validated new, more environmentally friendly ventilation tracer gases and has further developed the perfluorocarbon tracer (PFT) ventilation rate measurement technique to enable inter-zonal flows (ie air flows between different rooms) and the variation in building ventilation rate with time to be quantified.

Contents

Introduction

Ventilation rate measurement techniques and tracer gases

Project objectives

Current ventilation standards and guidelines

Chemicals selected as tracer gases

Ventilation rate measurement techniques

- Long-term ventilation rate measurements using the PFT technique

- Short-term ventilation rate measurements using butane

Comparative studies between new and old tracer gases

Further development of the PFT ventilation rate measurement technique

- Inter-zonal flow measurements using the PFT technique

- Monitoring short-term changes in ventilation rate using the PFT technique

Conclusions

References

A4 8pp