This project explored a variety of strategies to identify and quantity air leakage issues in buildings. Measuring air leakage in duct systems and building envelopes has historically been low on the list of priorities for energy efficiency audit initiatives due to the challenges with traditional testing methods. Often the building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system must be shut down requiring the work to be done after hours which can add cost and logistical challenges. This project set out to develop and test lower cost air leakage detection tools to provide building managers with the information necessary to make better decisions for investment in energy efficiency measures. The objectives were to test several methods for detecting air leakage in ducts and building envelopes and compare to the current state-of-the-art approaches.

The technology uses low cost internet of things (IoT) devices and existing building management data to evaluate air leakage issues. The project team investigated the potential of using this data to track airflow in buildings and through building envelopes. This project also developed a tracer gas tool that can reduce time required to measure air leakage in duct systems following American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers Standard 215.

This project largely focused on methods for identifying air leakage in buildings, however, an air sealing retrofit was also performed to measure the potential for energy savings. Duct sealing was performed in one building on the Submarine Base, Bangor in Washington State. The retrofit was very promising showing an estimated $3,300 in annual fan energy savings with a retrofit cost of only $6,700 resulting in a short simple payback of close to two years. The retrofit involved sealing duct leakage and resetting building control setpoints. It was found that the building controls later converted to different setpoints when changing to a summer operating schedule. 

Several implementation issues were noted when deploying this technology. In many buildings, the review of IoT data highlighted commissioning problems related to ventilation and controls. This shows a secondary value of the IoT approach since it forces building managers to review ventilation rates and controls allowing those to be addressed. Setting up building controls setpoints properly can often result in improved energy efficiency and indoor air quality in buildings.

As explored within the results, the cost savings to the Department of War (DoW) can be quite high when retrofit project savings are extrapolated to many installation buildings, many of which within the DoW are in need of such retrofit and would benefit from space-conditioned air leakage mitigation. When gathered, this information helps installation energy managers be more informed about the state of their buildings along with remediating strategies, helping them and the DoW as a whole save time and money. (Project Completion - 2024)