Air Sealing Attics in Multifamily Buildings
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Measure Guideline: Air Sealing Attics in Multifamily Buildings C. Otis and S. Maxwell Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) June 2012 NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, subcontractors, or affiliated partners makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof. Available electronically at http://www.osti.gov/bridge Available for a processing fee to U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0062 phone: 865.576.8401 fax: 865.576.5728 email: mailto:[email protected] Available for sale to the public, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 phone: 800.553.6847 fax: 703.605.6900 email: [email protected] online ordering: http://www.ntis.gov/ordering.htm Printed on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 20% postconsumer waste Measure Guideline: Air Sealing Attics in Multifamily Buildings Prepared for: Building America Building Technologies Program Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy U.S. Department of Energy Prepared by: Casey Otis and Sean Maxwell Steven Winter Associates, Inc. 61 Washington Street Norwalk, CT 06854 of the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) NREL Technical Monitor: Cheryn Engebrecht Prepared under Subcontract No. KNDJ-0-40342-02 June 2012 [This page left blank] Contents List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................ vi List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................. vii Definitions ................................................................................................................................................. viii Foreword ..................................................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................... ix Progression Summary ................................................................................................................................ x 1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 What is an Attic? ..................................................................................................................1 1.2 Challenges of Multifamily Attics.........................................................................................2 1.3 Air Sealing Costs and Benefits ............................................................................................2 2 The Building Inspection ....................................................................................................................... 3 2.1 Construction Type and Access to Perform Work ................................................................3 2.2 Assessing the Need for Air Sealing .....................................................................................4 2.3 Identifying Air Leaks ...........................................................................................................5 2.3.1 Inspection Methods ..................................................................................................6 2.3.2 Risks .........................................................................................................................7 2.4 Determining the Location of the Air Barrier? ....................................................................10 2.5 Establishing an Air Barrier ................................................................................................11 2.6 Developing an Air Sealing Work Scope ............................................................................12 3 Materials .............................................................................................................................................. 15 3.1 Polyurethane Foams ...........................................................................................................15 3.2 Caulk ................................................................................................................................17 3.3 Mastic ................................................................................................................................17 3.4 Non-Air Barrier Materials ..................................................................................................18 4 Measure Implementation Details....................................................................................................... 19 4.1 Electrical Penetrations .......................................................................................................19 4.2 Partition Walls and Top Plates ...........................................................................................20 4.3 Plumbing or Mechanical Chases ........................................................................................20 4.4 Exterior Walls ....................................................................................................................21 4.5 Dropped Soffits ..................................................................................................................22 4.6 Wall Transition ..................................................................................................................23 4.7 Recessed Lights .................................................................................................................24 4.8 Chimney Chases.................................................................................................................25 4.9 Gaps at Duct Penetrations ..................................................................................................26 4.10 Fire-Rated Assemblies ....................................................................................................27 4.11 Access Panels and Hatches .............................................................................................29 5 Projects/Case Studies ........................................................................................................................ 30 5.1 Low-Rise Town Home .......................................................................................................30 5.2 Mid-Rise Masonry Building ..............................................................................................32 5.3 High-Rise Apartment Building ..........................................................................................34 Appendix A: Measure Implementation Checklist................................................................................... 36 References ................................................................................................................................................. 37 v List of Figures Figure 1. There is a wide variety of multifamily buildings. .................................................................... ix Figure 2. Examples of multifamily buildings ............................................................................................ 1 Figure 3. This complex of row houses has attics with excellent access for air sealing, as roof trusses provide plenty of maneuvering space. ................................................................................. 3 Figure 4. Access to the attic in this multifamily building will be more difficult but not impossible. 3 Figure 5. This multifamily building has almost no clearance for workers to enter the attic, so the only way to properly seal the cavity is from below by removing the ceiling. ................................ 4 Figure 6. Dirty insulation suggests air movement. The insulation is acting as a filter. ...................... 4 Figure 7. The process of ice dam formation ............................................................................................ 5 Figure 8. Without removing the attic insulation, this wall chase would have been missed ............... 6 Figure 9. Remote inspection with a borescope (from left to right): Borescope tool; Finding existing insulation; Finding major air leaks despite past insulation work. .................................................. 6 Figure 10. Using existing roof vents to investigate the roof cavity (from left to right): An existing roof vent; Vent removed; View from hand-held digital camera.