[Equest-users] eQUEST infiltration rate

Fri Oct 30 14:17:36 PDT 2020

Hi Nick,
Please see section 2.4.1 of the City of Vancouver Energy Modelling Guidelines (attached) for instructions on how to convert blower door test data to infiltration rates for energy modelling.
With kind regards,
Torsten

Torsten Ely | M.Sc, Dipl–Ing, CPHD
Energy and Sustainability Analyst
RDH Building Science Inc.
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From: Nicholas Caton <Nicholas.Caton at se.com>
Sent: Friday, October 30, 2020 7:07 AM
To: Daric Adair <Daric.Adair at hendersonengineers.com>; Phil Jordan <phil.jordan at clearesult.com>; Keith Swartz <KSwartz at seventhwave.org>
Cc: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] eQUEST infiltration rate

I am not as read up on this matter as I have been in years past*, but I think an important thing to consider here is that 90.1 is prescribes envelope leakage corresponding to pressures typical of blower door tests, which in turn reflect pressures corresponding to rather extreme weather (wind velocity) conditions.  Concurrently, eQuest is set to normalize infiltration around more modest wind pressures, with intent to allow natural ventilation to vary with hourly windspeed data from the weather BIN.  Apples and oranges, in a sense.

I’ve attached messages from a prior [equest-users] thread, with contributions from myself and Keith Swartz.  If ever someone were equipped/able to update the doe2 reference manual and provide commentary around infiltration inputs relative to 90.1 prescriptions and real-world envelope airtightness testing… they might find these to be a helpful resource =).

Kind regards!

~Nick

* At one point, in the course of one of the lowdown showdown competitions, I worked on developing a excel tool to bridge eQuest infiltration inputs and real-world blower testing results.  That involved reading up a lot on blower testing methodology and how envelope airtightness is prescribed/executed in different municipalities and countries around the world.  This entailed a sort of “literature review” of prescriptive standards / green building standards / etc…  If I learned anything, it was that this is a hard sort of tool to build that isn’t ultimately region/standard specific (down to an AHJ level), as variances in how blower test performances are performed/recorded can generate very different ideas of what constitutes good/acceptable/poor levels of infiltration for prescriptive purposes.  This was however a number of years ago and it’s possible some national/international consistency may have developed (particularly among jurisdictions where infiltration testing is done with some regularity).  I’d love to hear from anyone in such an area who has “figured out” a defensible approach to marrying real-world blower testing (with specific methodology) to energy model inputs.

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D6AEC7.66253E10]
Nick Caton, P.E. (US), BEMP
  Senior Energy Engineer
  Energy Manager, Yokota Airbase
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785 . 410 . 3317
… TBD …
nicholas.caton at se.com<mailto:nicholas.caton at se.com>
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ニック　ケートン, P.E. (US), BEMP
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15200 Santa Fe Trail Drive
Suite 204
Lenexa, KS 66219   USA
[cid:image002.png at 01D6AEC7.66253E10]
[cid:image003.png at 01D6AEC7.66253E10]

From: Equest-users <equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org>> On Behalf Of Daric Adair via Equest-users
Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2020 10:39 PM
To: Phil Jordan <phil.jordan at clearesult.com<mailto:phil.jordan at clearesult.com>>; equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org>
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] eQUEST infiltration rate

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The 0.038 cfm/ft2 is the Wizard Default. We typically override it to a higher value, but not to 0.4 cfm/sf. That’s at a pressure well above typical building pressurization. We’ve used 0.04 and 0.05 in the past with no questions asked. ASHRAE 90.1-2016 G3.1.1.4 has defined a method to determine the infiltration rate.

Thanks,
DARIC ADAIR PE, CEM, BEMP
Mechanical Engineer, Energy Analyst

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From: Phil Jordan <phil.jordan at clearesult.com<mailto:phil.jordan at clearesult.com>>
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2020 11:15 AM
To: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org>
Subject: Re: [Equest-users] eQUEST infiltration rate

Is that the default the wizard uses? I believe it’s been 0.4 cfm/ft2 (@ 0.3 in. of water) for the past few cycles of 90.1 at least (Section 5.4.3).

Regards,

Phil Jordan

From: Equest-users <equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org>> On Behalf Of Lapierre, Patrick via Equest-users
Sent: Monday, October 26, 2020 9:09 AM
To: equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org<mailto:equest-users at lists.onebuilding.org>
Subject: [Equest-users] eQUEST infiltration rate

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Hello all,

Does anyone remember where in ASHRAE is referenced the default value for infiltration (0.38 cfm/ft2) that eQUEST uses?
I can’t seem to trace it back, yet I’m pretty sure it comes from ASHRAE.

Thank you,

  [cid:image004.jpg at 01D6AEC7.66253E10] <https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bpa.ca%2F&data=04%7C01%7CNicholas.Caton%40se.com%7C437513de1c964654e74708d87b46dfba%7C6e51e1adc54b4b39b5980ffe9ae68fef%7C0%7C1%7C637394891615825262%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=a280uuG8T%2F9Yo2In%2BamB4z75MsZFfiCwPn95N6k%2Fsww%3D&reserved=0>
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