Air Leakage in Industrial Buildings—Description of Equipment

Air leakage in industrial buildings-preliminary results: The National Testing Institute is currently investigating air leakage in industrial buildings. In 1980 the Institute was asked to carry out a number of pressurization/depressurization tests in industrial buildings. The buildings that were tested were constructed according to two different principles: light-concrete elements attached to a prefabricated concrete frame and sheet metal attached to a steel frame insulated with mineral wool. The measurements were asked for by a manufacturer of building materials. The results indicate that some industrial buildings are very leaky and some are very airtight. Therefore Nordtest has asked us to develop a method for pressurization tests of large buildings and for equipment to carry out those tests. The paper will describe the equipment and present preliminary results.