Understanding the Relationship Between Blower Door Testing and Rescheck Compliance
- bpatrick247
- Sep 30, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 21, 2024
Exploring the Importance of Blower Door Testing and Rescheck Compliance
Understanding Blower Door Testing and Rescheck Compliance
The fight for more energy efficient buildings is becoming more important than ever. With energy costs rising and the environment constantly threatened, it’s about more than just saving money. Cutting back on utility bills is just one step to reducing your carbon footprint, reducing said footprint will benefit the world in ways that can't be counted in dollars. That’s why it's necessary to understand how Blower Door Testing and Rescheck Compliance contribute to this.
Blower Door Testing: What you need to know
Just a small summary of the requirements
To put it simply, this is a diagnostic tool that measures how tight your house is. A fan is used to create pressure between inside and outside of your house. Once airflow is measured you’ll be able to determine where leaks occur and which area needs work.
Why it’s important
Leaks come with all sorts of problems; discomfort, poor indoor air quality, energy loss. You name it. This tool will help identify areas by quantifying airflow through gaps or cracks as well as any other opening that should’ve been sealed properly.
Key items used
A calibrated fan is placed on a doorway that generates pressure once turned on. Once activated, airflow will either be pushed into or out of your home depending on whatever pressure difference you want to generate. A pressure gauge will measure both making note of any differences along with airflow readings. Each measurement is recorded so you know how tight your home was built.
Rescheck Compliance: A full guide
What's needed for compliance
The Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) sets energy code requirements that people must meet in order to comply with them. Specifically designed software analyses building specs like insulation, windows and HVAC systems to determine whether they meet the prescribed energy code or not.
Benefits that come with using Rescheck reports
While these serve as documentation they’re also essential for permits and certifications when required. It’ll have a complete rundown of the building’s envelope, insulation levels, window properties and anything else about its structure. This is essentially showing you put in the effort to build something that consumes less energy.
How is Blower Door Testing connected to Rescheck Compliance?
The effect of one on the other
Think of Blower Door Testing as a measurement tool for air tightness. The test will identify areas where air can leak from and into your home. Energy requirements should be met if or near these standards in order to comply with Rescheck. Builders will then use recorded data from this test to fix areas like how your house is insulated or any gaps that were left during construction.
Why are they important together?
Air leakage plays a big role in how much energy a building consumes. If either infiltration or exfiltration is too high it’ll increase your heating and cooling systems workload just to keep a steady temperature. As you might imagine, that's not good at all. Running this test on buildings helps them better their overall energy efficiency along with meeting requirements for Rescheck compliance.
Major benefits of using Blower Door Testing for Rescheck Compliance
Testing for more accurate measurements on air leakage
If you want your home to meet Rescheck standards then guess what? You need a blower door test! Why? Because it measures air leakage in buildings. It can tell you where the leaks are and how much energy is escaping or coming in. This translates to money saved by saving energy. If you’ve been dealing with an inefficient house, this might be the answer!
Questions:
What is Blower Door Testing and why is it important for Rescheck Compliance?
The thing about Blower Door Testing is that it’s a method that measures the air tightness of a building by creating a pressure difference. Which helps you figure out how much energy is leaking from your building. This method is key when it comes to RESCHECK Compliance because it gives you crucial data on your buildings air tightness, which plays a big role in determining its energy performance and compliance with energy efficiency standards.
So what exactly does Rescheck Compliance do? And why does it ensure energy efficiency?
Rescheck Compliance is just a verification process that ensures buildings meet the required energy efficiency standards set by local building codes and regulations. It’s pretty simple actually, all they do is check if things like insulation, windows, doors, and HVAC systems meet or exceed the prescribed energy efficiency levels. All in all the goal of Rescheck Compliance is sustainability, reduce energy consumption, and make sure buildings are designed and constructed to minimize their impact on the environment.
What challenges come with achieving Rescheck Compliance through Blower Door Testing?
Blower Door Testing sounds great but like everything else there are some challenges associated with it. The most common ones include inadequate sealing of the building envelope, improper installation of insulation, and discrepancies between the building design and actual construction.
