2026-09-19T12:06:05Zhttps://dspace.mit.edu/server/oai/requestoai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/726272026-06-06T01:04:57Zcom_1721.1_7582com_1721.1_7581col_1721.1_131023
Durschlag, Hannah (Hanna Rebekah)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture
n-us-tn
2012-09-11T17:27:29Z
2012-09-11T17:27:29Z
2012
2012
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/72627
806323627
Thesis (S.M. in Building Technology)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2012.
This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-63).
Air leakage has been shown to increase building energy use due to additional heating and cooling loads. Although many construction types have been examined for leakage, an exploration of a large number of Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) houses has not yet been completed. This thesis first collects 43 blower door tests of recently built ICF houses in North America. These are then examined and compared with a large collection of blower door tests of wood-stud construction. There is a 1.2% difference between ICF and wood-stud air leakage, with a very similar range. This range is mainly attributed to leakage from the attic space and cracks around windows based on a thorough investigation of two specific ICF houses in Nashville, TN. Using an EnergyPlus building model, the difference in air leakage between a typical ICF and wood-stud house in Chicago and Phoenix is not found to cause a significant gap in energy use. However, the range in air leakage does affect the amount of energy a single-family house consumes.
by Hannah Durschlag.
S.M. in Building Technology
78 p.
eng
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
M.I.T. theses are protected by
copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but
reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written
permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.
http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
Architecture.
Air leakage of Insulated Concrete Form houses
Air leakage of ICF houses
Thesis
application/pdf
false
Publication
unknown
unknown
<Publication xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/1.1/" id="8e1fe23e-1623-4567-a21c-84190f870599">
<Type xmlns="https://www.openaire.eu/cerif-profile/vocab/COAR_Publication_Types">http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843</Type>
<Language>eng</Language>
<Title>Air leakage of Insulated Concrete Form houses</Title>
<Subtitle>Air leakage of ICF houses</Subtitle>
<PublishedIn>
<Publication>
</Publication>
</PublishedIn>
<PublicationDate>2012</PublicationDate>
<Authors>
<Author>
<DisplayName>Durschlag, Hannah (Hanna Rebekah)</DisplayName>
<Affiliation>
<OrgUnit>
</OrgUnit>
</Affiliation>
</Author>
</Authors>
<Editors>
</Editors>
<Publishers>
<Publisher>
<DisplayName>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</DisplayName>
<OrgUnit />
</Publisher>
</Publishers>
<License>http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582</License>
<Keyword>Architecture.</Keyword>
<Abstract>Air leakage has been shown to increase building energy use due to additional heating and cooling loads. Although many construction types have been examined for leakage, an exploration of a large number of Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) houses has not yet been completed. This thesis first collects 43 blower door tests of recently built ICF houses in North America. These are then examined and compared with a large collection of blower door tests of wood-stud construction. There is a 1.2% difference between ICF and wood-stud air leakage, with a very similar range. This range is mainly attributed to leakage from the attic space and cracks around windows based on a thorough investigation of two specific ICF houses in Nashville, TN. Using an EnergyPlus building model, the difference in air leakage between a typical ICF and wood-stud house in Chicago and Phoenix is not found to cause a significant gap in energy use. However, the range in air leakage does affect the amount of energy a single-family house consumes.</Abstract>
<Access xmlns="http://purl.org/coar/access_right"
>
</Access>
</Publication>