Studies on exterior wall air tightness and air infiltration of tall buildings

Abstract

The National Research Council of Canada has taken measurements of the air leakage characteristics of the exterior walls of eight multi-storey office buildings located in Ottawa, Canada. Varying in height from 11 to 22 stories, with curtain wall construction and fixed glazing, they were built during the sixties and early seventies. The results of the measurements are reported in this paper. A method for calculating infiltration rates caused by stack action has been developed and is applied to heat loss calculations using the measured wall leakage values.