1945-64 1-2 Bedrooms

Advanced Ventilation Approaches for Social Housing (AVASH)

Advanced Ventilation Approaches for Social Housing (AVASH) UK Sampling & Survey Report Compiled by Ryan Southall for the Co-ordinator the University of Brighton.

Funded by:

Contents: Project Introduction..........................................................................................................2 Methodology.....................................................................................................................7 Breakdown of Camden’s Housing Stock.........................................................................11 Survey Report..................................................................................................................15 Summary..........................................................................................................................70

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Advanced Ventilation Approaches for Social Housing (AVASH)

Introducing AVASH AVASH is a collaborative project funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) Agency. The project partners are from the UK (University of Brighton), Denmark (Cenergia Energy Consultants, KAB Housing) and Ireland (Delap & Waller EcoCo Ltd, Cluid Housing Association). Its aim are to survey and sample social housing within the three participating countries - to assess their current performance in terms of insulation and airtightness. Then to computer model the properties to ascertain the best ventilation and insulation upgrade strategy. Surveying the properties entailed thermo-graphic analysis to determine the extent of their thermal insulation, and a blower door test to check the air-tightness of the building fabric.

AVASH Objectives: • To determine the best ventilation strategy for existing social housing in the UK, Ireland and Denmark, from the point of view of energy efficiency and occupant comfort. • To propose any additional low cost measures for immediate improvement of the building’s thermal performance.

AVASH Methodology: • The project involves the assessment of a broad range of social housing stock in each of the three countries. • Advanced sensor equipment was used to discover the state of the thermal insulation by thermal imaging.

Fig. 1. A total of 18 dwellings were surveyed in Camden.

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Advanced Ventilation Approaches for Social Housing (AVASH) • The results are being extensively disseminated throughout the participating countries and also within Poland, which is the flagship country for new building practice within Eastern Europe. • The data will be provided, in particular, to social housing providers who are considering upgrading their housing stock. The project will contribute to reducing fuel poverty, whilst enhancing living conditions and comfort, and reducing the cost of heating and limit carbon emissions. • The data will be shared with other EU projects within the Intelligent Energy Europe programme.

Who’s Doing What and Where The first phase of our work has been to isolate a representative range of dwellings from within the catchment areas of the project’s participating housing providers (KABDenmark, Cluid-Ireland and London Borough of Camden-UK). A consistent methodology has been used to promote detailed suggestions for appropriate ventilation solutions, to be adopted at refurbishment, in conjunction with improved insulation and other remedial measures.

Sampling & Survey Programme A map was first produced showing the distribution of the housing stock within The London Borough of Camden’s ownership, and the range of dwelling types. They were classified typologically (detached, semi-detached, terraced etc) and by construction (materials and forms of roof, walls, windows, doors and ground floor).

Building Fabric Survey The fabric survey was to establish the dwellings’ insulation characteristics (U-values) by measurement using thermography, and by calculation from an investigation of their form of construction and specification.

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Fig. 2. Comparison of a photo and thermographic image of the external surfaces of a sample flat in Ireland from which the internal temperatures and approximate insulation values of the walls and windows could be derived. Building Infiltration Survey The infiltration survey has established the dwellings’ infiltration characteristics (in air changes per hour) by pressurisation tests, and by calculation from an outline dimensional survey of the dwellings. Having established the format and methodology for the project similar surveys were carried out in Ireland and Denmark. The next phase is to input the data to a computer simulation model that will establish: i. An assessment of the feasibility of possible methods of insulation. ii. An assessment of the probability of achieving and adequate level of air tightness. iii. An assessment of the feasibility of remedially installing alternative advanced ventilation systems in terms of ease of installation, for example the location of clear vertical routes for ducts through the height of the building. iv. The change in energy performance of each type after remedial insulation, sealing and installation of the different ventilation alternatives. v. The resulting reduction in the Carbon Dioxide emissions for which each building is responsible. Estimates will also be made of the likely costs of these measures in each country, and the projected payback periods relative to energy prices in all three countries. The project will help to clarify the issues surrounding the choice of ventilation strategy to be made for compliance with building codes so housing authorities will know that remedial measures will give the buildings a useful life, at least for the medium term. The arguments for and against mechanical or passive systems, under particular circumstances of building construction or climate, will be clarified by this project. Our http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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intention is to provide the information that will ease the decision making process for housing providers.

Context of the Project Across Europe, achieving adequate wintertime ventilation in houses and flats has become a problem. For new construction thermal insulation requirements have been made more stringent so now the loss of heat due to ventilation is a large proportion of overall energy consumption. As a consequence, buildings are being constructed to be more air-tight resulting in concerns about indoor air quality. There is also the growing need to address the vast housing energy cost which is due to the existing stock. Given the feasible rates of renewal, the majority of existing builidngs are set to be with us for many years. Upgrading the energy performance of existing housing means improving their levels of thermal insulation and improving their air-tightness whilst safeguarding indoor air quality and comfort for the occupants. These initiatives will help the large number of residents, particularly the elderly, who are subject to ‘fuel poverty’ a problem set to increase as energy costs keep rising. These issues are highlighted in Ireland where: • • •

Average household energy expenditure was 1,500 euros (in 2004) which was 4% of disposable income ifor an average income household but 10% of income for those in lowest income bracket

Fig. 3. Energy consumption mix for domestic buildings in Ireland.

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Advanced Ventilation Strategies Energy efficiency entails improving the housing stock by upgrading boilers, increasing insulation levels, reducing air infiltration, and the introduction of advanced ventilation systems incorporating heat recovery. The most familiar method of domestic ventilation since the 1970s has been to install ‘trickle’ or slot ventilators over windows. Air is drawn in and out through these openings according to the direction of the wind. In the UK the size of trickle vents was doubled by a change to the building regulations in 1975 as a result of concerns about indoor air quality. Indoor air quality (AIQ) has been cited by the US FHA as one of their top five health concerns. In the northern maritime regions of Europe IAQ is principally a matter of controlling humidity which otherwise results in condensation and mould - a cause of allergenic illness. Adequate thermal insulation is needed to raise surface temperatures, in conjunction with adequate heating, and adequate ventilation. In addition there is the need to limit the buildup of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that offgas from many contemporary building materials. Advanced ventilation systems limit the amount of energy being thrown away when stale air is discharged from the building in winter. The amount of ventilation has to be geared to the occupancy of the building - not too much and not too little. In addition the spent moist air must have its heat removed, and reused, to limit heating requirements. As a result trickle vents will soon to become an inadequate response to the problem. Their supply of air is too uncontrolled and lacks heat reclaim. The necessary pre-requisite for all advanced ventilation strategies is that air leakage from cracks in the building fabric is limited so the ventilation system can be engineered to precise performance.

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Methodology The following methodologies have been used for the thermographic and blower door testing.

Blower Door Methodology This document is based largely on the Air Tightness Testing and Measurement Association’s (ATTMA) Technical Standard 1 [1], which is freely available from the internet at the address shown in the reference. Environmental Conditions. Extreme environmental conditions should be avoided on the day of the test. Wind speeds that are higher than 6m/s (fresh breeze) should be taken into account by taking pressure readings at higher levels (35 to 100Pa). The indoor outdoor temperature at the start of the test should be recorded and multiplied by the height of the building. If this figure comes to greater that 2500mK then the static pressure caused by buoyancy could be significant and should be recorded in the report.

Building Surface Area It is important to attain accurate dimensional information about the building to be tested in order to calculate the total outside surface area of the building for air tightness calculations and for inclusion later into the modelling phase of the project. The document provides guidelines on calculating the outside surface area of the building and this should be referred to when calculating. The surface of interest is that which forms the airtight barrier of the building i.e. the upper ceiling level in a cold roof construction, or the roof as well in a warm roof construction, and includes walls, floors and roofs. Partition walls, floors and ceilings in flats, and partition walls in houses are also to be included. Building Preparation • Before conducting the test all internal doors of the property should be open and restrained to prevent closing during test. • All drainage traps should be filled with water. • All windows and doors (except the door in which the test is being conducted should be closed but no artificially sealed). • All closable trickle vents and other ventilation apertures should be closed but not sealed. Any permanently open ventilation apertures should be temporarily sealed. • Mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning systems should be turned off and temporarily sealed. • Any temporarily broken façade elements like windows should be temporarily sealed. Any variance from these guidelines should be highlighted in the final report for the building. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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Blower Door Operation For operation of the blower door follow the instructions included with the test equipment. Test Procedure It is not necessary for the occupants of the building to leave the building for the purposes of the test but access though the front door is obviously restricted during the test. Occupants should be made aware to not open or close façade elements during the course of the test. All instruments should be checked before in place that they register zero. Once the pressure tubes and pressure door are in place and the fan area covered the pressure sensors on the inside and outside of the building should be monitored over 30 seconds to ensure that average negative or positive static pressure is not over 5Pa (Δp0,1). If so this should be included also in the final report. The building can then be depressurised to between 10 and 60Pa. If an upper limit of less than 50Pa is achievable due to the leakiness of the building this should also be noted in the final report. Measurements at a minimum of 5 pressures between the maximum and minimum values should be i.e. at least 7 measurements with intervals between pressures being no higher that 10Pa. Adequate time should be given for results to stabilise especially in properties with many rooms/floors. At each pressure the flow through the fan should be recorded. Flow values at 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40 and 50Pa are typical. At the end of the test the static pressure again should be monitored over 30 seconds and an average negative or positive value should be generated (Δp0,2) Once the pressure and flow results have been generated the leakage rate can be calculated. First the measured static pressures should be used to modify the dynamic pressures at which the readings were taken. Δpenv = Δpm – (Δp0,1 + Δp0,2)/2 Where Δpm is the measured pressure, and Δpenv is the induced pressure for the subsequent calculations. N.B. As the house is being depressurised in the test then static pressures are positive if the internal pressure is lower than the outside pressure, and negative otherwise. References [1] Air Tightness Testing and Measurement Association's standard TS1 (ATTMA TS1). http://www.attma.org/ATTMA_TS1_Issue2_July07.pdf

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Thermographic Methodology This document is based largely on ‘A Practical Guide to Infra-Red Thermography for Building Surveys’ 1 [1], which is available from the BRE in the UK. Environmental Conditions. In order to assess the U-value of the building components certain environmental factors should be avoided as they will influence the heat flow results. The most important of these is that no direct sunshine should fall on the building surfaces for the 12 hours before the test. Overcast mornings are therefore the best in this respect. In addition the external façade of the building should not be visibly wet. The temperature difference between outside and inside the building should be at least 10C for the 24 hours before the test, and the temperature of each should not vary too widely. Test Procedure. Internal and external temperature should be monitored during the course of the test. Infrared images are to be taken, from the inside, of the external walls and roof. The roof section that forms the thermal barrier i.e. ceiling in a cold attic design, or attic roof in a warm attic design, should be imaged. The internal surface temperature of the walls and roof should be averaged from the thermographic images taken. Using the thermographic imaging software area of a picture or spots can be selected and the average value displayed. To get the right value the correct emissivity of the surface, and the correct atmospheric and reflected apparent temperature should be selected. If indoor studies are done then the room air temperature is the value the latter two metrics. If a heat flux mat can be used then readings of heat flux on the internal surfaces should be taken. If this is not possible than an internal surface resistance of 0.13m2K/W should be taken (a heat transfer coefficient of 7.7W/m2K). If a heat flux mat is used then the internal heat transfer coefficient is calculated by Htc = Q/(Ti-Ts) where Ti is the internal temperature of the room, Ts is the surface temperature of the wall where the heat flux mat is situated, and Q is the W/m2 reading form the heat flux mat. The U-value of the building surfaces is calculated by: U=Htc(Ti-Tsav)/(Ti-To) where Tsav is the average internal surface temperature of the component under analysis, A is the area of the component under analysis, and To is the ambient temperature. In the building report any major changes in U-value between external wall facades should be reported. If this is not the case then a single value for all walls can be given.

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If outdoor studies need to be done then the parameters of atmospheric temperature and reflected apparent temperature need at be altered to the ambient temperature, and if it’s a clear day then surfaces that see too much of the sky should be avoided i.e. building surfaces that face other building surfaces are better. The resultant building surface temperature should again be used in this equation U=Htc(Ti-Tsav)/(Ti-To) but with an Htc of 25W/m2K to calculate the U-value. Many variables exist in the assessment of wall U-Values by thermography and so in this project the approach outlined above will be augmented by an elemental method using the whole building modelling tool ESP-r to build replicas of the building structure to calculate theoretical U-Values. Errors in the thermographic analysis are largely due to the assumed heat transfer coefficients on both the inside and outside of the wall, although this can be compensated by the use of heat flux mats, and transient nature of wall heat flow that can be influenced by varying temperatures, solar incidence and wall water content. Where it is not possible to ensure the conditions set out above then the elemental method of U-value calculation should be used, providing there is enough construction data available. References [1] J.M. Hart, A practical guide to infra-red thermography for building surveys, Garston, Watford, BRE (1991).

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Breakdown of Camden Council’s Housing Stock. Introduction A complete list of Camden’s housing stock was provided to the University of Brighton by Chit Chong and Peter David of Camden City Council. The data came in the form of an excel spreadsheet listing house types by construction, date etc. The following report details some of the statistical breakdowns carried out on the data, and the sub-set decided upon for testing.

Complete Housing Stock Camden Council has a total of 33,872 properties on its books. A tabular breakdown by construction type is shown below in table 1. 1945-64 1-2 Bedrooms 1945-64 3+ Bedrooms 1965-74 1975+ All Non Trad Houses & Bungalows High Rise Hostel Flats Medium Rise Post 1944 Low Rise Pre 1945 1-2 Bedrooms Pre 1945 3+ Bedrooms Pre 1945 Low Rise Grand Total

82 58 435 442 24 10795 859 19943 364 173 328 369 33872

Table 1. Breakdown of Camden’s complete housing stock. The majority of Camden properties are high and medium-rise flats. The next largest group is hostel flats, which are not suitable for testing. Post war houses (1965 onwards) form a significant group with 877 properties, and a similar amount are accounted for by pre-war houses. Figure 1 below shows the above table graphically. The first 5 categories are houses while the rest are flats. The total number of flats is therefore 32831 compared to only 1041 houses.

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Breakdown of Camden Social Housing Stock by Building Type 25000

Number

20000

15000

10000

5000

Pre 1945 Low Rise

Pre 1945 3+ Bedrooms

Pre 1945 1-2 Bedrooms

Post 1944 Low Rise

Medium Rise

Hostel Flats

High Rise

All Non Trad Houses & Bungalows

1975+

1965-74

1945-64 3+ Bedrooms

1945-64 1-2 Bedrooms

0

Building Type

Figure 1. Graphical breakdown of housing stock by type. In terms of year of construction a breakdown of the housing stock is shown below in figure 2. The majority of the housing stock is post war and pre 1986 when the ‘right to buy’ legislation was introduced and councils had a reduced motivation for building new stock. This responsibility was largely transferred to housing associations at this time. Periods of increased building activity occurred post first world war, post second world war, late 60’s and late 70’s/early 80’s. Number of Properties by Year of Construction 1200

Year of Construction

1000

800

600

400

200

0 1900

1912

1933

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

Number

Figure 2. Graphical breakdown of housing stock by age. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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The housing stock has also been broken down by bedroom number. One, two and three bedroom properties dominate the housing stock. Breakdown on Camden's Housing Stock by Bedroom Number 9000 8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Bedsit

1

2

3

4

5

5+

No. Of Bedrooms

Figure 3. Graphical breakdown of housing stock by bedroom number. Due to the huge majority of flats compared to houses in Camden’s stock, flats were the preferred option for testing. The properties required needed to cover all the main types of housing provided by Camden in terms of age of construction and bedroom number/type, with 6 groups of three types required. The breakdown of the tested properties in terms of these two metrics is shown in table 2(a & b).

Bedroom number Bedsit 1 2 3

No. of properties 4 3 9 2

Age Upto 1920’s 1930’s Post war upto 1960 1960 - 1970 1970 - 1980 1980 – present day

No. of properties 3 3 3 3 3 3

Table 2(a &b). Breakdown of tested properties.

The location of the tested properties are indicated on the map (figure 4). Some properties were so close together only one indicator has been used.

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Figure 4. Area plan of Camden with location of tested properties.

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 1 1.1 The Property Property No.1 is a two storey flat taking up the bottom two-storeys of a three storey block. The block is of in situ uninsulated concrete construction 200mm thick with uninsulated floor. Windows are original with a single-glazed, black timber frame construction and are situated in the kitchen, lounge (with single patio door) and both upstairs bedrooms. Dimensions are 2x1.2m for each bedroom and kitchen window and 2.0x2.0m and 0.9x2.0m for the lounge window and glazed door respectively. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a single story flat above so the subsequent external surface area is quite small and consists of the front and back walls and the ground floor, which totals 61.4m2. The total volume of the flat is 134.4m3.

Figure 1.1. Ground and first floor windows.

Figure 1.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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1.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows and mechanical extract vents in the toilet and bathroom were sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 1 are shown below in figure 2. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 7.7ACH@50Pa or 15.2m3/hr.m2. The high disparity in the figures is due to the low external surface area of the building and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric quite large whereas the ACH metric is below average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0233Pa(P)0.6164 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 1.3. Pressure - flow data for property 1. Major leakage points in the flat were through the back lounge door (figure 3a) and around the windows in general (figure 3b) where warping of the wood, and poor original fitting lead to some significant cracks between frame sections. The general construction was quite air tight with little flow coming form the floor plates, or through service pipe access. Concrete construction of this type is often quite airtight.

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Figure 1.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

1.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 21.5°C, with an external temperature of 6.3°C at the time of testing.

Figure 1.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 7.9ºC and 2.6W/m2K Window glazing 10.1ºC and 6.3W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 2 2.1 The Property Property No.2 is a single level flat (with lower floor stairwell) taking up the top storey of a three storey block. The block is of in situ uninsulated concrete construction 200mm thick with uninsulated floor and insulated roof. Windows are original with a single-glazed, white painted timber frame construction and are situated in the kitchen, bed-sit area (with single patio door) and bathroom. Dimensions are 0.6x1.2m for the kitchen window and 1.2x0.5m for the bathroom window. In the bed-sit space window areas were 1.5x1.5m and 0.9x2.0m for the lounge window and glazed door respectively. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a single story flat above and a storage level below so the subsequent external surface area is quite small and consists of the front and back walls only, which totals 18.8m2. The total volume of the flat is only 62.1m3.

Figure 2.1. Interior of property 2.

Figure 2.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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2.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows and mechanical extract vents in the toilet and bathroom were sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 2 are shown below in figure 2.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 15.2ACH@50Pa or 50.2m3/hr.m2. The high disparity in the figures is due to the low external surface area of the building and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric quite large whereas the ACH metric is much lower, although still well above the average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0363Pa(P)0.602 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 2.3. Pressure - flow data for property 2. Major leakage points in the flat were predominantly through the windows of the flat (figure 2.4a and b) where warping and poor fitting of the wood lead to some significant cracks between the sashes and the frames. The general construction was quite air tight with little flow coming form the floor plates, or through service pipe access. Concrete construction of this type is often quite airtight but the small volume of the flat has made the leakage through the windows deliver poor air-tightness values.

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Figure 2.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

2.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The flat inside temperature was 19.5°C, with an external temperature of 5.7°C at the time of testing.

Figure 2.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 7.3ºC and 2.9W/m2K Window glazing 9.1ºC and 6.2W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 3 3.1 The Property Property no.3 is a late 1960’s single storey two bedroom flat taking up the bottom floor of a three storey block. Along with the two bedrooms the flat consists of a kitchen, bathroom, living room and corridor. The block is made of brickwork (external) and block work (both 100mm) with an uninsulated 50mm cavity. Windows are new, and of a double-glazed uPVC design. Window dimensions are 1.2x1.2m in each of bedrooms and kitchen and 1.5x1.5m in the lounge. The flat is situated at the end of a row of flats, and has a single story flat above so the subsequent external surface consists of the front, back and side wall and the ground floor, which totals 118.6m2. The total volume of the flat is 140.2m3.

Figure 3.1. Front elevation.

Figure 3.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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3.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows and mechanical extract vents in the bathroom were sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 3 are shown below in figure 3.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 5.2ACH@50Pa or 6.1m3/hr.m2. The figures are quite close in this case as the surface area of the flat, being on the end of a row, is relatively high. Both figures are below average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0175Pa(P)0.627 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 3.3. Pressure - flow data for property 3. Major leakage points in the flat were around the boiler flue, water pipes in the toilet, and a hole in the wall behind the kitchen units (figure 3.4a and b). The general construction was quite air tight with little flow coming from the floor plates, under skirting boards or from most of the plumbing service pipes. Again, the concrete construction is quite airtight.

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Figure 3.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

3.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 22°C, with an external temperature of 10.2°C at the time of testing.

Figure 3.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 10.8ºC and 1.3W/m2K Window glazing 11.5ºC and 2.8W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 4 4.1 The Property Property No.4 is similar in make-up to property 3 consisting of a late 1960’s single storey two bedroom flat taking up the bottom floor of a three storey block. Along with the two bedrooms the flat consists of a kitchen, bathroom, living room and corridor. The block is made of brickwork (external) and block work (both 100m) with an uninsulated 50mm cavity. Windows are new, and of a double-glazed uPVC design. Window dimensions are 1.2x1.2m in each of bedrooms and kitchen and 1.5x1.5m in the lounge. The flat is situated at the end of a row of flats, and has a single story flat above so the subsequent external surface consists of the front, back and side wall and the ground floor, which totals 118.6m2. The total volume of the flat is 140.2m3.

Figure 4.1. Front and back elevations.

Figure 4.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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4.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows and mechanical extract vents in the kitchen and bathroom were sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 1 are shown below in figure 4.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 4.7ACH@50Pa or 5.5m3/hr.m2. Both values are below average for UK housing and are relatively close in value due to the large external surface area. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0168Pa(P)0.617 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 4.3. Pressure - flow data for property 4. Major leakage points in the flat were around the boiler flue, bathroom service pipes, heating pipes in the walls, and around cables passing under the back door. (figure 4.4a and b). The general construction was quite air tight with little flow coming form the floor plates due mainly again to the concrete construction.

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Figure 4.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

4.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 20.3°C, with an external temperature of 6.2°C at the time of testing.

Figure 4.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 6.9ºC and 1.2W/m2K Window glazing 7.1ºC and 1.6W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 5 5.1 The Property Property no.5 is a late 1960’s two bedroom single storey flat taking up the top storey of three storey block. Along with the two bedrooms the flat consists of a kitchen, bathroom, living room and corridor. The block is made of brickwork (external) and block work (both 100mm) with an uninsulated 50mm cavity. Windows are new, and of a double-glazed uPVC design. Window dimensions are 1.2x1.2m in each of bedrooms and kitchen and 1.5x1.5m in the lounge. The flat is situated within a row of flats, and has a single story flat below the subsequent external surface consists of the front, back and the ceiling, which totals 105.4m2. The total volume of the flat is 142.1m3.

Figure 5.1. Front and rear elevations.

Figure 5.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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5.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows, mechanical extract vent in the bathroom and wall vent in the lounge were sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 5 are shown below in figure 5.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 4.5ACH@50Pa or 13.9m3/hr.m2. The high disparity in the figures is due to the low external surface area of the building and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric quite large whereas the ACH metric is below average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0168Pa(P)0.608 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 5.3. Pressure - flow data for property 5. Major leakage points in the flat were under the balcony door and round service pipes in the bathroom (figure 5.4a and b). The general construction was quite air tight with little flow coming from the floor plates, or through service pipe, apart from in the bathroom. Again this is largely due to the concrete construction.

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Figure 5.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

5.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 20.7°C, with an external temperature of 11.1°C at the time of testing.

Figure 5.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 11.6ºC and 1.3W/m2K Window glazing 12.2ºC and 2.9W/m2K

http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 6 6.1 The Property Property no.6 is a two bedroom single storey flat based in the top floor of an early Victorian terrace with solid brick (225mm thick walls), rendered at ground floor and window surrounds, and with timber joisted floors and floorboards. New plasterboard skim ceilings complete the interior finish. There is a roof space above. Windows are original sash windows with brush seals added (with the exception of the bathroom window which is a singe glazed aluminium framed window) and are situated in the kitchen, lounge (front and back), main bedroom (2 at front) and second bedroom. All sash windows are 1.2x1.8m in dimension. The bathroom window is 1.2x1.2m.

Figure 6.1. Front and back elevations.

Figure 6.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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6.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test air bricks in the kitchen and bathroom were sealed. No other bespoke ventilation points were built into the flat. The results of the blower door testing for property 6 are shown below in figure 6.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 23.7ACH@50Pa or 34.3m3/hr.m2. The disparity in the figures is due to the low external surface area of the building and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric even larger than the ACH metric which is already well above average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0869Pa(P)0.631 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 6.3. Pressure - flow data for property 6. Major leakage points in the flat were through the floorboards, sash windows, pipe entries, under bath tub and under skirting boards (figure 6.4a and b). The general construction was poor in terms of air-tightness, and this is largely due to the wooden floorboard construction and the very leaky sash windows.

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Figure 6.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

6.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 21.2°C, with an external temperature of 10.6°C at the time of testing.

Figure 6.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 11.5ºC and 2.1W/m2K Window glazing 13.5ºC and 6.8W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 7 7.1 The Property Property no.7 is a 1920’s single storey one bedroom ground floor flat in a four storey block. The block is constructed of solid load bearing brick 450mm thick, with solid concrete ground floor and concrete slab ceiling. Partitions are brick, 100mm thick, and plastered throughout. Windows are the original timber sash windows with white painted frames in the larger rooms with timber framed single glazed casement windows in the smaller rooms. Window dimensions are 1x1.2m for the bedroom, lounge and kitchen and 0.3x1.2m for the shower room. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a single story flat above so the subsequent external surface area is quite small, especially as the flat is so compact, and consists of the front and back walls and the ground floor, which totals 63.6m2. The total volume of the flat is 94.2m3.

Figure 7.1. Front elevation.

Figure 7.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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7.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows in the bedroom and living room were sealed along with the bathroom extract and two wall vents in the living room. The results of the blower door testing for property 7 are shown below in figure 7.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 5.2ACH@50Pa or 7.8m3/hr.m2. Both metrics are below the average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0139Pa(P)0.687 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 7.3. Pressure - flow data for property 7. A major leakage point in the flat was around the meeting rails of the windows (figure 7.4a and b) largely due to the design of the window and their age. The general construction was quite air tight, and very compact, with little flow coming form the floor plates, or through service pipe access, again due to the concrete construction.

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Figure 7.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

7.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 19.7°C, with an external temperature of 7.8°C at the time of testing.

Figure 7.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 8.6ºC and 1.7W/m2K Window glazing 10.7ºC and 6.1W/m2K http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 8 8.1 The Property Property no.8 is a single storey mid floor flat in a three storey early 1900’s block. The block is made of 380mm thick brickwork with internal plaster. Internal partitions are solid brick 100mm thick. Floors and ceilings are suspended wood boards. Windows are in some cases original (white painted timber single glazed sash windows, and in others replacement, but to the same specification. The exception is the WC/bathroom which has a narrow double side hung casement window. Ventilation apertures are provided in the head of the sash frames. Window dimensions are 1.0x2.0m for each of the bedrooms and lounge, 1.2x2.0 for the kitchen window and 0.7x1.2m fpr the window shared between the WC and bathroom. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a single story flat above and below so the subsequent external surface area is quite small and consists of the front and back walls only, which totals 55.6m2. The total volume of the flat is 156.5m3.

Figure 8.1. Front and internal views.

Figure 8.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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8.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows and wall vent in the lounge were sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 1 are shown below in figure 8.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 10.5ACH@50Pa or 29.5m3/hr.m2. The high disparity in the figures is due to the low external surface area of the building and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric much larger. In terms of ACH the flat is average for the UK market in terms of air-tightness. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.055Pa(P)0.541 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 8.3. Pressure - flow data for property 8. Major leakage points in the flat were around the windows and through the floorboards. The general construction was quite porous but better than many houses of this build type.

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Figure 8.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

8.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 20.5°C, with an external temperature of 11.3°C at the time of testing.

Figure 8.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 11.9ºC and 1.6W/m2K Window glazing 13.7ºC and 6.5W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 9 9.1 The Property Property no.9 is a 1970’s three bedroom duplex flat taking up the bottom two-storeys of a three storey block. The flat is raised above a parking area. The block is constructed of brick and block for the walls with a 50mm cavity and concrete slab at floor level. Partitions are blockwork and all internal walls are plastered. Windows are new uPVC and double glazed. Window dimensions are 1.2x1.5m for each bedroom, 1.6x1.4m for the kitchen, 1.2x0.5m for the bathroom, and 2.3x2.2m for the lounge. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a single story flat above so the subsequent external surface area is quite small and consists of the front and back walls and the ground floor which is above an open parking space. This totals 83.7m2 external surface area. The total volume of the flat is 198.1m3.

Figure 9.1. Front and back elevations.

Figure 9.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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9.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows and mechanical extract vents in the kitchen and bathroom were sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 9 are shown below in figure 9.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 3.5ACH@50Pa or 8.2m3/hr.m2. The high disparity in the figures is due to the high volume to surface area ratio of the flat and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric quite large whereas the ACH metric is well below average for UK housing, and indeed conforms to best practice. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0182Pa(P)0.599 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 9.3. Pressure - flow data for property 9. Major leakage points in the flat were under the kitchen sink and behind the toilet via pipe entrances (figure 9.4a and b). The general construction was very air tight with little flow coming form the floor plates, or windows. This would again seem to be due to the concrete construction.

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Figure 9.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

9.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 19.8°C, with an external temperature of 11.8°C at the time of testing.

Figure 9.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 12.1ºC and 0.9W/m2K Window glazing 12.6ºC and 2.5W/m2K

http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 10 10.1 The Property Property no.10 is a raised ground floor bed-sit flat situated in a mid Victorian corner house divided up by floor. The house has 350mm thick brick rendered external walls with plaster internally. Internal partitions are plaster and lath, as is the ceiling. Metal single glazed windows in kitchen and bathroom, original wooden sash windows in bed-sit room. Window dimensions are 0.8x1.6m for the bed-sit area and kitchen and 0.6x1.2m in the bathroom. The flat is situated in a corner building with two external walls, and has a single story flat above so the subsequent external surface area is quite small and consists of the two side walls and the raised ground floor, which totals 63.2m2. The total volume of the flat is 67.6m3.

Figure 10.1. Sash windows.

Figure 10.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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10.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test wall and window ventilators in the kitchen, bathroom and bedsit room were sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 10 are shown below in figure 10.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 24.7ACH@50Pa or 26.5m3/hr.m2. Both figures are well above average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0224Pa(P)0.501 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 10.3. Pressure - flow data for property 10. Major leakage points in the flat were through the floorboards and the original sash windows. Some leakage was also found around service pipes in the kitchen and toilet. The general construction was quite porous as is typical in this type of construction where suspended floorboards provide the majority of the leakage. The sash windows are also very leaky, as is typical.

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Figure 10.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

10.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 18.3°C, with an external temperature of 4.4°C at the time of testing.

Figure 10.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 5.3ºC and 1.6W/m2K Window glazing 7.1ºC and 4.9W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 11 11.1 The Property Property no.11 is a 1930s ground floor flat two bedroom raised ground floor flat with double aspect and entrance from an unheated stairwell. The flat is situated in a three storey block. The external walls are constructed from solid brick (350mm thick), with concrete beams and floors above with a timber ground floor (but lino covered all rooms). There is plaster throughout internally, and solid block partitions. New double glazed uPVC windows with trickle vents throughout. Window dimensions are 2.2x1.6m (bay) for the main bedroom, 1.2x1.6m for the second bedroom, 1.2mx1.2m for the kitchen, 0.5x1.2 for the bathroom, 0.4x1.2m for the WC, and 1.2x1.2m for the lounge window. The flat is situated next to a passage way, and has a single story flat above so the subsequent external surface area consists of the front, back and side walls and the ground floor, which totals 95.0m2. The total volume of the flat is 75.9m3.

Figure 11.1. Front elevations.

Figure 11.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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11.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test wall and trickle vents in the living room and bedrooms were sealed along with a glazed in ventilator in the living room. Extract fans were sealed in the bathroom and kitchen. The results of the blower door testing for property 11 are shown below in figure 11.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 7.5ACH@50Pa or 6.0m3/hr.m2. In this case the external surface area of the flat is quite high and delivers a lower m3/hr.m2 metric than the ACH. Both figures are quite good in terms of average UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0423Pa(P)0.614 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 11.3. Pressure - flow data for property 11. Major leakage points in the flat were through the skirting boards with some coming in through service pipe access in the kitchen and bathroom. The general construction was quite air tight in this case, which is unusual for a property with suspended floorboards.

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11.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 21.4°C, with an external temperature of 6.4°C at the time of testing.

Figure 11.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 7.2ºC and 1.3W/m2K Window glazing 8.1ºC and 2.1W/m2K

http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 12 12.1 The Property Property no.12 is a 1920’s three bedroom duplex flat situated on the top two floors of a four storey block. The block is constructed from 350mm thick solid brick walls with concrete slab floors with the exception of the uppermost floor, which is timber. Partitions are solid block and plastered throughout. Timber single glazed windows throughout, casements in the upstairs bedrooms and kitchen, sash in the living room and on stairs. Window dimensions are 1.5x1.6m in the kitchen, 1.75x1.4m in the lounge, 1.1x1.2m in each of the bedrooms and bathroom, and 1.2x1.5m on the stairwell. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a single storey flat below so the subsequent external surface area consists of the front and back walls and the ceiling, which totals 61.4m2. The total volume of the flat is 134.4m3.

Figure 12.1. Front and rear elevations.

Figure 12.2. Building plan.

http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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12.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the kitchen, bathroom and two back bedrooms were sealed. A large wall vent and trickle in the lounge was also sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 12 are shown below in figure 12.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 9.7ACH@50Pa or 18.3m3/hr.m2. The high disparity in the figures is due to the low external surface area to volume ratio of the building and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric quite large whereas the ACH metric is average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0632Pa(P)0.565 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 12.3. Pressure - flow data for property 12. Major leakage points in the flat were through the sash windows and service pipe access (figure 12.4a and b). Apart from these leakage points the building fabric was airtight, due in the main to the concrete ground floor. The timber intervening floor was internal to the flat and therefore did not provide significant leakage.

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Figure 12.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

12.3 Thermography Thermographic images were taken of the outside of the flats but as the flat was on the top floor the required resolution to determine window and brick temperatures was not achieved. In this case standard U-values for the construction components i.e. 350mm brick work and single glazed sash windows have been used. This gives 1.9W/m2K and 5.5W/m2K respectively.

Figure 12.5. Example thermographic images.

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 13 13.1 The Property Property no.13 is a 1970s one bedroom first floor flat with access via an unheated double sided corridor, concrete floors above and below, with concrete internal painted partitions. The windows are of the original steel frame, single glazed design including lean to section in living room and glazed door opening onto balcony. The glazed door to the balcony is 1.6x2.0m, whilst the living room has 4.0x1.3m vertical windows, 4.0x1.5m sloping windows, and a glazed balcony door also 1.6x2.0m in size. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a single story flat above and below so the subsequent external surface area is quite small and consists of the front wall only which totals 19.2m2. The total volume of the flat is 116.0m3.

Figure 13.1. Interior views.

Figure 13.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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13.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test wall and trickle vents in the living room were sealed, long with wall vents in the bedroom, kitchen and hall. The results of the blower door testing for property 13 are shown below in figure 13.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 6.2ACH@50Pa or 37.5m3/hr.m2. The very high disparity in the figures is due to the low external surface area to volume ratio of the flat and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric very large whereas the ACH metric is below average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0221Pa(P)0.566 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 13.3. Pressure - flow data for property 13. Major leakage points in the flat were around a wall panel in the bathroom (figure 13.4a), around the bath panel and around external doors (especially the balcony door, which had dropped (figure13.4b)), windows and fuse box in the kitchen. The general construction was very air tight with little flow coming from the floor plates, or through service pipe access due in large part to the concrete construction, and the placement of the flat which is surrounded by other flats within a large block.

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Figure 13.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

13.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 20.1°C, with an external temperature of 6.2°C at the time of testing.

Figure 13.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 7.9ºC and 3.1W/m2K Window glazing 10.6ºC and 7.9W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 14 14.1 The Property Property no.14 is similar to property no.13 to provide a comparison of air-tightnesses across a single development. It is therefore a 1970s one bedroom first floor flat with access via an unheated double sided corridor, concrete floors above and below, with concrete internal painted partitions. The windows are of the original steel frame, single glazed design including lean to section in living room and glazed door opening onto balcony. The glazed door to the balcony is 1.6x2.0m, whilst the living room has 4.0x1.3m vertical windows, 4.0x1.5m sloping windows, and a glazed balcony door also 1.6x2.0m in size. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a single story flat above and below so the subsequent external surface area is quite small and consists of the front wall only which totals 19.2m2. The total volume of the flat is 116.0m3.

Figure 14.1. Interior views.

Figure 14.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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14.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle wall and trickle ventilators were sealed in the living room, whilst wall vents in the kitchen, hall and bedroom were also sealed. A heating grill in the living room was also sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 14 are shown below in figure 14.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 7.7ACH@50Pa or 46.5m3/hr.m2. The flat is slightly leakier than the previous flat but this indicates that air leakage rates are quite consistent across the development. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0282Pa(P)0.556 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 14.3. Pressure - flow data for property 14. Major leakage points in the flat were around the external windows and doors figure 14.4a), wall and bath panels in the bathroom, and fuse box in the kitchen (figure 14.4b). The general construction was again very air tight with little flow coming form the floor plates, or through service pipe access, due to the construction and the presence of flats all around the flat in question. The windows were again the major weak point in the fabric, and they were in a slightly worse condition than the previous flat.

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Figure 14.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

14.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 19.1°C, with an external temperature of 6.2°C at the time of testing.

Figure 14.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 7.7ºC and 2.9W/m2K Window glazing 10.1ºC and 7.6W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 15 15.1 The Property Property no.15 is a 1980’s first floor bed-sit flat with access from an internal double sided corridor. Floors are concrete both above and below, with internal block partitions, plastered throughout. External walls are externally clad concrete (150mm) with a cavity and insulation (50mm each) with interior blockwork (100mm) and plaster. Aluminium single glazed top-hung, casement and fixed windows are situated in the bed-sit area. The two larger bed-sit windows are 2.4x1.6m in size, and the two smaller ones are 0.4x1.6m in size. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a single story flat above and below so the subsequent external surface area is very small and consists of the back wall only, which totals 36.8m2. The total volume of the flat is 59.9m3.

Figure 15.1. Interior views.

Figure 15.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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15.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test ventilation grills to extract ducts in the kitchen and bathroom were sealed, along with the trickle vents situated in the living room windows. The results of the blower door testing for property 15 are shown below in figure 15.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 16.9ACH@50Pa or 80.5m3/hr.m2. The high disparity in the figures is due to the very low external surface area of the building which delivers an extremely high m3/hr.m2 metric. The air-tightness by ACH is also quite poor. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0146Pa(P)0.606 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 15.3. Pressure - flow data for property 15. The majority of the leakage to the flat came in through the poor fitting aluminium windows (figure 15.4a). Remaining leakage cam in though a service pipe hole behind the toilet and the bath panel (figure 15.4b). The general construction was quite air tight with little flow coming from the floor plates, due to the concrete construction, but the very poor fitting windows brought the air-tightness well above the average.

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Figure 15.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

15.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 20.4°C, with an external temperature of 8.5°C at the time of testing.

Figure 15.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 8.8ºC and 0.6W/m2K Window glazing 11.4ºC and 6.1W/m2K http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 16 16.1 The Property Property no.16 is a 1950s two bedroom ground floor flat with double aspect in a three storey block. It is constructed of 300mm solid brick external walls, concrete floor above and concrete ground floor, plastered internally, with solid blockwork partitions. New double glazed UPVC windows with trickle vents have been installed throughout and are situated in the kitchen, lounge (with single patio door) and both bedrooms. Dimensions are 1.2x1.2m for bathroom and kitchen windows, 1.0x1.2m for the second bedroom window 1.8x1.3m for the main bedroom window, 1.2x1.3m for the lounge window and 0.7x1.2m for the WC window. A feature of this flat is the remains of fireplace with open flue situated in the living room The flat is situated at the end of a row of flats, and has a two story flat above so the subsequent external surface area consists of the front and back walls, ground floor and one side wall, which totals 114.1m2. The total volume of the flat is 147.3m3.

Figure 16.1. Interior views.

Figure 16.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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16.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows and mechanical extract vents in the kitchen and bathroom were sealed. An open fireplace flue in the lounge was also sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 16 are shown below in figure 16.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 3.8ACH@50Pa or 4.9m3/hr.m2. As the external surface area is relatively high in this case the two metrics are similar in magnitude and both represent very good levels of air-tightness in terms of the average UK housing stock. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.129Pa(P)0.635 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 16.3. Pressure - flow data for property 16. There were no major leakage points in the flat although there was some leakage around the windows, soil vent pipe in the WC and service pipes in the kitchen. The general construction was quite air tight with little flow coming from the floor plates due to the concrete construction. The new windows also proved to be quite airtight.

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16.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 19.7°C, with an external temperature of 7.2°C at the time of testing.

Figure 16.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 8.2ºC and 2.0W/m2K Window glazing 8.5ºC and 2.6W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 17 17.1 The Property Property no.17 is a 1970’s two bedroom two storey duplex flat taking up the bottom twostoreys of a four storey block. The flat is constructed of brick walls with concrete slab floors at each level. Internally the partitions are blockwork, with all walls internally plastered. Windows are fairly new; PVC framed and double glazed, and are situated in the kitchen, lounge, bathroom and both bedrooms. Window dimensions are 1.6x1.2m(kitchen), 2.4x2.1(lounge), 1.2x0.6m (bathroom), 1.6x1.5m (2 in the main bedroom and one in the second). Another notable feature of the building is the very bad settlement cracks around the stairwell. The flat is situated between two other flats, and has a flat above so the subsequent external surface area is quite small and consists of the front and back walls and the ground floor, which totals 83.7m2. The total volume of the flat is 168.4m3.

Figure 17.1. Front and rear elevations.

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Figure 17.2. Building plan.

17.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents above all the windows were sealed along with the mechanical extract vents in the bathroom. Three airbricks in the kitchen were also externally sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 17 are shown below in figure 17.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 6.7ACH@50Pa or 13.5m3/hr.m2. The high disparity in the figures is due to the low external surface area of the building and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric quite large whereas the ACH metric is below average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0265Pa(P)0.6313 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

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Figure 17.3. Pressure - flow data for property 17. Very bad settlement cracks around stair well contributed to leakiness as well as around poor fitting windows (figure 17.4a), pipe service points in the bathroom and kitchen (figure 17.4b), beneath skirting boards on external walls and where the window frames join the walls. The general construction was quite air tight with little flow coming from the floor plates. Concrete construction of this type is often quite airtight.

Figure 17.4 (a & b). Main air leakage points.

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17.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 23.0°C, with an external temperature of 6.5°C at the time of testing.

Figure 17.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 8.6ºC and 3.2W/m2K Window glazing 8.3ºC and 2.7W/m2K

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AVASH Test Report for UK Property 18 18.1 The Property Property no.18 is a 1970s ground floor bedsit with double aspect. The wall construction is internal blockwork with external brickwork, with internal plaster throughout. Ground and first floors are made of concrete. Partitions are solid block work. New aluminium double glazed windows with trickle vents are installed front and back, and are situated in the kitchen and bed-sit area. Dimensions are 1.6x1.2m for the kitchen window and 2.2x2.4m for the bed-sit window/door. The flat is situated between and under three other flats, and so the subsequent external surface area is quite small and consists of the front and back walls and the ground floor, which totals 33.5m2. The total volume of the flat is 79.9m3.

Figure 18.1. Front and back elevationss.

Figure 18.2. Building plan. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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18.2 Pressure Testing For the blower door test trickle vents in the windows and mechanical extract vents in the kitchen and bathroom were sealed. Two airbricks in the kitchen were also sealed. The results of the blower door testing for property 18 are shown below in figure 18.3. Analysis of this data gives an air-tightness value of 4.5ACH@50Pa or 10.7m3/hr.m2. The high disparity in the figures is due to the low external surface area of the building and makes the m3/hr.m2 metric quite large whereas the ACH metric is well below average for UK housing. Fitting a power law trend line onto the data (plotted in terms of Pa and m3/s) generates the following relationship: Q(m3/s) = 0.0084Pa(P)0.6294 Which will be used to model the airtightness of the building with ESP-r in the next phase of the project.

Figure 18.3. Pressure - flow data for property 18. Major leakage points in the flat were under the back bed-sit door and window (figure 18.4) where poor fitting of the frame to the floor was responsible. This was the only significant leakage found in the flat however and the concrete floor construction and internal plastering made the flat very airtight.

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Figure 18.4. Main air leakage points.

18.3 Thermography Thermographic analysis of the flats was done externally. The building inside temperature was 22.0°C, with an external temperature of 8.0°C at the time of testing.

Figure 18.5. Example thermographic images. Average external surface temperatures, averaged using ThermaCam QuickReport software, and subsequent U-values were: External wall 8.8ºC and 1.4W/m2K Window glazing 9.4ºC and 2.5W/m2K http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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19 Summary A wide range of Camden’s social housing stock has been sampled for their air-tightness and thermal insulation values. Figure 19.1 shows a breakdown of the air-tightness values for the 18 sampled properties in terms of ACH@50Pa. Air-tightness of the Tested Properties in ACH@50Pa

30 25

ACH

20 ACH

15 10 5 0 1

3

5

7

9

11

13

15

17

Property No.

Figure 19.1. Air-tightness summary (ACH). There is a wide range of air-tightness metric exhibited by the properties, which is largely due to the variety of construction and window type. Concrete wall/floor based constructions tend to have a much better air-tightness than brick timber constructions, and indeed most of the concrete constructions are below the average for UK housing of 10ACH@50Pa. The air-tightness of the flats is also improved as most are located with other flats around them making the fabric generally more airtight. Brick timber constructions, which tend to be the older properties, can have very high leakage of up to 25ACH@50Pa. Figure 19.2 shows the air-tightness in terms of m3/hr.m2. The variation in result is much greater with this metric as some properties have a very low external surface area compared to their volume, due to the location of other flats on one or more sides, which raises the value to as high as 80m3/hr.m2. This metric is good for quantifying a fabric’s performance but is not so useful for gauging the overall contribution of leakage to a building’s ventilation rate. Errors on these measurements are ±5% on the fan flow and ±1Pa on the pressure measurement. Estimated error on the property volume calculation is ±5%.

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Air-tightness of the Tested Properties in m3/hr.m2 90 80 m3/hr.m2

70

ACH

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Property No.

Figure 19.2. Air-tightness summary (m3/hr.m2). Insulation values for the external walls are shown below in figure 19.3. Wall U-Values of the Tested Properties 3.5

U-Value (W/m2.K)

3

Wall U-value

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Property No.

Figure 19.3. Wall U-Values. The age of most of the flats can be seen in the U-value figures which are much higher than would be allowed by current regulations. Most of the flats have no insulation, or even cavities within the wall structure, often being just solid brick or solid concrete. Without a cavity the potential for increasing the insulation values of the properties are limited.

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Below in figure 19.4 is the window U-values for the tested properties.

Figure 19.4. Window U-values. Window U-values are strongly connected to the age of the windows installed. Older single glazed windows tend to have a U-value around 6W/m2K, whilst newer replacement windows tend to have U-values of around 2.5W/m2K. Some variation is also due to the frame type, with metal frames delivering higher overall U-values than wooden ones. Results from an elemental calculation using ESP-r are shown below in table 19.1 and a comparison between elemental and thermographic results are shown in figure 19.5. Close agreement between the thermographic and elemental analysis occurs in most of the cases. Some variation in the window U-Value performance is due to ESP-r only taking into account glazing and not frame U-value. Average errors between the thermographic and elemental methods are 12% for the walls and 17% for the windows.

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Property 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Wall type 200mm concrete 200mm concrete brick - 50mm cavity - block brick - 50mm cavity - block brick - 50mm cavity - block solid brick 225mm solid brick 450mm solid brick 380mm brick - 50mm cavity - block solid brick 350mm solid brick 350mm solid brick 350mm 200mm concrete 200mm concrete Concrete - cavity - insulation - block solid brick 300mm solid brick 225mm brick - 50mm cavity - block

Window Type Single glazed timber Single glazed timber Double glazed uPVC Double glazed uPVC Double glazed uPVC Single glazed timber Single glazed timber Single glazed timber Double glazed uPVC Single glazed timber Single glazed timber Single glazed timber Single glazed metal Single glazed metal Single glazed metal Double glazed uPVC Double glazed uPVC Double glazed uPVC

Wall U-Value Window U-Value 3.2 5.7 3.2 5.7 1.2 2.8 1.2 2.8 1.2 2.8 2.5 5.7 1.6 5.7 1.8 5.7 1.2 2.8 1.9 5.7 1.9 5.7 1.9 5.7 3.2 5.7 3.2 5.7 0.6 5.7 2.1 2.8 2.5 2.8 1.2 2.8

Table 19.1. Elemental U-Value results using ESP-r.

Figure 19.5.Thermographic and elemental Wall U-values. http://www.brighton.ac.uk/art/avash/index.html

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Figure 19.6. Thermographic and elemental Window U-values.

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