4th International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering, Management and Scineces”

September 29-30 (ICETEMS-2021) Peshawar, Pakistan

Energy Wastage and Recovery Options in Buildings using Blower Door and
Building Information Modeling
Inam Ullah1, Muhammad Amar Zaib Khan1, Adeed Khan2, Latif Ullah1, Mohammad Adil1
1
University of Engineering & Technology, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
engginam22@gmail.com, iamarzaib@gmail.com, 16pwciv4735@uetpeshawar.edu.pk,
adil@uetpeshawar.edu.pk
2
Iqra National University, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtukhwa, Pakistan
adeed@inu.edu.pk

Abstract
It is very important to measure the energy wastage of a building, Reducing the Energy Wastage will
ultimately reduce the annual energy usage of a building. Airtightness is one of the necessary parameters
that affect the energy consumption of a building. Airtightness is the resistance of the building envelope to
infiltration with closed ventilation, which is measured using a blower door, a blower door is a machine that
measures Air Tightness of a building
In this study, the effect of airtightness on the overall energy consumption of a building is checked. Two
buildings (1 commercial and 1 residential each) were selected in Peshawar region and its Airtightness was
measured using Blower Door Machine. The Building Information Models (BIM) of two buildings were
used to analyze the peak heating and cooling loads of buildings with measured ACH (Air changes per hour)
with standard ACH according to Building Air Tightness requirements.
It was concluded that in residential buildings 25 % of cooling and 21 % of heating loads can be reduced by
optimizing the leakage. Similarly, in commercial buildings, 15 % of cooling and 30 % of heating loads can
be reduced by optimizing the leakage. In the case of this commercial building, 15 % of the heating load
was equivalent to 4 tons of Air Conditioning usage.

Keywords
Building Information Model (BIM), Blower Door, Energy Efficiency, Energy Wastage

1. Introduction
The Buildings consume about 41.1% of primary energy and 74% of the electricity in the U.S (LI & Wen,
2014), In Pakistan Residential building sector has around 47% share in total energy consumption (Owais et
al., 2018), Building Energy usage can be reduced by making it more energy efficient.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) has a wide range of applications in building industry. A Building
Information is a rich model which contains all the information of a building and building components unlike
CAD drawings and model which is the collection of lines and geometries. This information is utilized for
different purposes one of which is Energy Modeling and Analysis. The BIM Model is capable of calculating
the heating and cooling loads of a building.
Perfect tight envelope of a building is one of the basic principle of Energy efficient buildings. Airtightness
is the ability of building envelope to mitigate the airflow into or out of the building (Kraus and Kubečkova,
2013).

Uncontrolled leakage of air from windows and doors leads to both heating and cooling losses. These losses
decreases the thermal efficiency of a building which results in the heating and cooling demands eventually
makes the building less energy efficient.

Lawerence Berkeley laboratory developed a model to convert fan pressurization measurement ACH @ 50
Pascal to Natural ACH. The correlation factor N depends upon the climate, height of the building, wind
shielding and building leakiness correction factors (“Airtightness of energy efficient buildings - Designing
Buildings Wiki,” n.d.), This Model have been used in our study to convert ACH @ 50 pascal to natural
ACH

2. Methodology
To measure the energy consumption and energy loads of a residential and a commercial building, two
different methods were used. The first method is an experimental procedure using a Blower Door Technique
and the second method was using Building Information Model.

2.1 Blower Door Technique:

This method involves the Installation of a Blower Door on the openings of a room or building. The
blower door is installed on the door or any other opening of a room and the rest of openings are all
closed and room is airtight. This is used to measure the airtightness of a room or building and is
also used to measure the flow of air between different zones of a building. It helps in identifying
the leakage in a closed space. The standard method used for this test is ASTM E779-19. This test
has further two types, pressurization and de-pressurization. In this study the de-pressurization test
is used. A negative 50 Pascal pressure was achieved with this technique and the Air Changes per
Hour (ACH) of each room was measured for the commercial and the residential buildings.

Figure 1: Blower Door Installed on room door

 2.2 Building Information Model:
The commercial and residential building was measured manually and modeled in Autodesk Revit
including all the material and occupants information. The Building Information model was then
collaborated with the climate zone for accurate heating and cooling loads. The complete space was
defined as per real conditions, the classrooms, halls, corridors etc. were all modeled accordingly.
This information which is part of the Building Information Model is used to calculate the Energy
Modeling and Analysis. This also helps in the identification of the heating and cooling loads of a
building. The Building Information Model of a commercial building is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Building Information Model of a commercial Building

Figure 3 shows the BIM Model of a residential house. These models were created using Autodesk Revit.

Figure 3: Building Information Model of a residential building

3. Results
The tests mentioned above were carried out and the following results were obtained.

3.1 Blower Door Technique:

Using standard ASTM E 7779-19 the air tightness test was performed and the results calculated are
tabulated in Table 1 given below.

Table 1: Blower Door Results for a Commercial Building

Air Changes
Enclosure
Airflow at 50 at 50 pa, n50 Volume Floor
Room No Area
pa, cfm @ 50 (Per hour at (m3) Area (m2)
(m2)
50 pa)
ACAD 101* 1040.6 13.98 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 102 875.1 11.94 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 103 1040.6 13.98 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 104* 1267.5 17.02 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 105 998.79 10.19 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 106* 1157 11.8 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 107 1171.5 11.78 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 108 1157 11.8 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 201* 1116.7 15 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 202* 1040.6 13.98 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 203 1116.7 15 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 204 1267.5 17.02 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 205* 998.79 10.19 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 206 1344.3 13.71 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 207* 1171.5 11.78 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 208 1200.1 12.24 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 101* 1040.6 13.98 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 102 875.1 11.94 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 103 1040.6 13.98 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 104* 1267.5 17.02 126.5 41.4 160.4
ACAD 105 998.79 10.19 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 106* 1157 11.8 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 107 1171.5 11.78 166.6 56.1 203.1
ACAD 108 1157 11.8 166.6 56.1 203.1

Only the Room No’s with no (*) are measure, the rooms with (*) are taken from similar rooms data.
 Figure 4: Installation of Blower Door in the door of a classroom

3.2 Using Building Information Modeling:

The following results were obtained after modeling and analysis both commercial and residential
buildings in Autodesk Revit.

The average test results from the blower door test in a commercial building, Air Changes per Hour (ACH)
@ 50 Pascal was 13.2. The LBL N Factor was calculated as 9.71 for this commercial building so the natural
ACH becomes 13.2/9.71 = 1.36. The tables below shows the comparison of heating and cooling load for a
1.36 natural ACH and 0.52 (standard natural ACH) as recommended by ASTM E779-19 (“ASTM E779 -
19 Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization,” n.d.).

Table 2: Heating and Cooling Load for 1.36 ACH

Heating and Cooling Load for 1.36 ACH

Peak Cooling Total Load (Btu/h) 413,147.4
Peak Cooling Airflow (CFM) 12,290
Peak Heating Load (Btu/h) 111,755.3
Peak Heating Airflow (CFM) 2,361

Table 3: Heating and Cooling Load for 0.52 ACH

Heating and Cooling Load for 0.52 ACH
Peak Cooling Total Load (Btu/h) 366,606.1
Peak Cooling Airflow (CFM) 12,222
Peak Heating Load (Btu/h) 75,991.4
Peak Heating Airflow (CFM) 2,158

For the commercial building difference in Peak Cooling Load was 46541.3 (BTU/h) and the difference
between Peak High Heating load was 35763.9 (BTU/h).
The average test results from the blower door test in a residential building, Air Changes per Hour (ACH)
@ 50 Pascal was 34. The LBL N Factor was calculated as 14.28 for this residential building so the ACH
becomes 34/14.28 = 2.38. The tables below shows the comparison of heating and cooling load for a 2.38
natural ACH and 0.52 (standard natural ACH) as recommended by ASTM E779-19 (“ASTM E779 - 19
Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization,” n.d.).

Table 4: Heating and Cooling Load for 2.38 ACH

Heating and Cooling Load for 2.38 ACH

Peak Cooling Total Load (Btu/h) 18,330.4
Peak Cooling Airflow (CFM) 452
Peak Heating Load (Btu/h) 15,855.7
Peak Heating Airflow (CFM) 483

Table 5: Heating and Cooling Load for 0.52 ACH

Heating and Cooling Load for 0.52 ACH
Peak Cooling Total Load (Btu/h) 13,396.2
Peak Cooling Airflow (CFM) 452
Peak Heating Load (Btu/h) 10,067.6
Peak Heating Airflow (CFM) 454

For the residential building difference in Peak Cooling Load was 4934.2 (BTU/h) and the difference
between Peak High Heating load was 3328.6 (BTU/h).

4. Conclusions and Recommendations

Following is the list of conclusions and recommendations based on the results from the Door Blower Test
and Building Information Modeling Analysis.

• In residential building it is concluded that the reduction in cooling loads due to infiltration control
is around 25% of the total cooling load and the reduction in heating load is around 21% of the total
heating load.
• In commercial building it is concluded that the reduction in cooling loads due to infiltration control
is around 12% of the total cooling load and the reduction in heating load is around 32% of the total
heating load.
• It is recommended that we should focus on the construction of energy efficient buildings to stop
the wastage of energy.
• The building should be airtight to decrease the Air changes per hour which results in the energy
losses.
• There should be no cracks or openings in windows and doors to stop the inflow and outflow of air
from the room.
• Door and Windows should be sealed properly.
5. References

1. Airtightness of energy efficient buildings - Designing Buildings Wiki [WWW Document], n.d.
URL https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Airtightness_of_energy_efficient_buildings
(accessed 9.21.21).

2. ASTM E779 - 19 Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization
[WWW Document], n.d. URL https://www.astm.org/Standards/E779.htm (accessed 9.21.21).

3. Kraus, M., Kubečkova, D., 2013. Airtightness of Energy Efficient Buildings 2, 74–80.
https://doi.org/10.5176/2251-3701_2.2.74

4. Owais, S., Gul, S., Akbar, R., Sajid, M.B., Khalil, W., 2018. Energy Consumption in Residential
Sector of Pakistan.

5 LI, X., & Wen, J. (2014). Review of building energy modeling for control and operation
ScienceDirect. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1364032114003815