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Fan-Rover Demonstration

It was a cold and wet January day but at least 50 hardy construction professionals and Building Control Officers braved the elements recently to witness a typical airtightness test on a commercial building.

This was followed by a whole-building smoke test, which is used to highlight any areas of weakness in the building’s fabric should it fail to meet its designed airtightness criteria.

The photo below shows that there were several design features that were detrimental to the airtight envelope of this particular warehouse/office construction.

Gerald Coulter of the DFPNI Building Regulations Unit and David Pickavance, Airtightness Manager, BSRIA Ltd.

Junctions between different materials, changes in direction and service penetrations are just three areas that will require specific attention to detail when considering airtightness.