The air tightness test of the envelope is conducted by the blower door test. In simple terms, it’s a pressurization and depressurization test of the entire building.
In the absence of a quality tight building envelope, high-performance doors, and windows; you risk experiencing the effectiveness of air changes per hour.
The ability to assess the energetic performance of a building helps to identify air leaks throughout the space. This is accomplished by performing a blower door test by which the air exchange rate is determined. The ensuing value indicates how often the air volume of a building is exchanged in one hour at 50 Pascal's differential pressure.
The national value for buildings in hot and humid climates such as the Bahamas is 3ACH per hour at 50 Pascals.
