Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Washington DC

Description

BSC TO5 Task 2.1 Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Capitol Heights, MD 20743 A building comprising five vertical townhome units was built in the Washington, D.C., area; the townhomes were three-story slab-on-grade units (1700-2000 ft2) with a rear-facing "tuck under" garage. The three-story townhome design results in 3 ACH50 being equivalent to a stringent surface-area based target (0.16-0.17 CFM50/ft2 building enclosure). The party walls between units were area separation walls, with a 2-hour fire resistance rating (Underwriters Laboratories U347 assembly; equivalent to U373 and U336). This assembly has a 1-in. vertical air cavity on each side of a 2-in. vertical gypsum panel in the middle of the assembly, resulting in an airflow network that is connected over multiple floors (despite nominal draft stopping), and has potential connections to exterior conditions. The test townhomes were built with several experimental airtightness details, including taping of exterior sheathing as an air barrier closure detail (in particular, at area separation walls). Various measures were applied to the units for this experiment, including a "control" conventional construction unit and some units with "improved" detailing (without taped sheathing).

Resources

Name Format Description Link
0 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206702%20%28W%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.bld
0 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206704%20%28Mid%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.bld
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206704%20%28Mid%20Adams%29%20Test%2001%20Report.pdf
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206704%20%28Mid%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.pdf
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206708%20%28E%20Jefferson%29%20Test%2001.pdf
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206700%20%28W%20Jefferson%29%20Test%2001.pdf
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206700%20%28W%20Jefferson%29%20Test%2001%20Report.pdf
0 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206706%20%28E%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.bld
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206706%20%28E%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.pdf
34 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206708%20%28W%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.png
0 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206708%20%28E%20Jefferson%29%20Test%2001.bld
0 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206700%20%28W%20Jefferson%29%20Test%2001.bld
34 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206704%20%28W%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.png
34 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206702%20%28W%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.png
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206708%20%28E%20Jefferson%29%20Test%2001%20Report.pdf
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206702%20%28W%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.pdf
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206702%20%28W%20Adams%29%20Test%2001%20Report.pdf
34 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206700%20%28W%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.png
53 Airtightness results and data - measured using blower door test https://data.openei.org/files/5504/Multifamily%20Airtightness%20Scratch%20Work%20Results.xlsx
33 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206706%20%28E%20Adams%29%20Test%2001%20Report.pdf
34 Building data files including testing reports, pictures, and data files. https://data.openei.org/files/5504/2014-02-17%206706%20%28W%20Adams%29%20Test%2001.png
33 The 2012 IECC has an airtightness requirement of 3 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals test pressure for both single family and multifamily construction in Climate Zones 3-8. Other programs (LEED, ASHRAE 189, ASHRAE 62.2) have similar or tighter compartmentalization requirements. , thus driving the need for easier and more effective methods of compartmentalization in multifamily buildings. Firewalls, demising walls, or area separation walls have been identified as the major source of difficulty in air sealing/compartmentalization, particularly in townhouse construction. The current research examined the use of the taping of exterior sheathing details to improve air sealing results in townhouse and multifamily construction, when coupled with better understanding of air leakage pathways. http://www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/building_america/compartmentalization_methods_multifamily.pdf

Tags

  • building-america
  • large-multifamily
  • new-construction
  • buildingamerica
  • airtightness
  • fire-resistance-rated-assembly
  • nulling
  • residential
  • mixed-humid
  • air-leakage
  • air-sealing
  • guarded-leakage
  • modular
  • demising-wall
  • blower-door-testing
  • small-multifamily

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