Building Air Barrier Testing and Verification Using Infrared Thermography and Blower Doors as Part of the Building Commissioning Process

This paper is in response to the many calls received from clients experiencing problems with buildings that are inexplicably hard to heat, have moisture problems and/or have mold or other indoor air quality concerns. This paper, and the information contained, was compiled in an effort to bring architects, contractors, construction managers and building owners to a basic understanding of how buildings operate and how thermography can be utilized to verify the built environment. It is also an attempt to bring some building physics principles into this subject along with a basic understanding of how these theories and concepts affect energy efficiency, building sustainability and indoor air quality. There are engineering firms and real estate attorneys in our area that have expressed a great deal of interest in utilizing thermal imaging along with building pressurization/de-pressurization in their punch lists. It is my hope that the information in this paper can be utilized as a basic foundation to help bring qualitative thermal audits to the building commissioning processes. This paper reflects the procedures I have used in our region of the US.