Building Envelope Allies just performed an air barrier test of a 37,000 sf building for the Army Corps. This building has 2 sections: an office area and a warehouse area, which can often complicate the air barrier test because warehouse areas are much more difficult to test and maintain a minimal amount of air leakage.
Air Barrier Test Concerns
First, the building has a warehouse and an office section and there were concerns that the warehouse area would not be sealed tightly due to the construction type, which is often the case. The second concern was the building’s standing seam metal roof. The client was not convinced that they could get the roof sealed tightly.
Building Envelope Allies used six fans to test the building (both the office and warehouse areas). The building did not pass the test on the first run, though it was close. After some adjustments and tweaking, the air leakage was easily reduced and the building was brought into compliance.