Investigation the Effect of Design Parameters on Air Tightness with Examples of Balikesir Houses

Abstract

Energy savings have been a major driver for improving building airtightness in the last period. Air infiltration has an important influence on energy efficiency and significantly influences the indoor air quality and pollutant distribution in residential buildings. Pressure difference lead to air permeability through the building envelope via cracks and un-controlled air leaks, which increase not only energy consumption, also cause noise from the outside and entering particles harmful to human health. Therefore, the issue of airtightness of the building envelope has been included in the standards and regulations. Building airtightness is influenced by various design parameters such as window/wall ratio, type of joinery, size of usage area, wall material and the insulation application also the quality of workmanship. In this study, the airtightness performance of 43 different residentials in Balıkesir was deter-mined by the BlowerDoor test measurement and in the context of airtightness the architectural design parameters impact was investigated. The air exchange rate (n50) values of 43 residences were obtained between 1.94 - 49.02 h-1 and compared with the existing standards. In addition, “usage area” was determined as the most effective parameter, followed by the size of the usage area, the transparency rate of the facades, the wall material type and the insulation status.