Why Test?
According to the revised building regulation document BRD, all new dwellings must have an acceptable CO2 emissions rate.
A Target Carbon Dioxide Emmisions rate (TER) will be calculated at design stage using SAP 2005 methodolgy. The TER will be based on a design "Air Permeability rate".
The maximum rate at design stage is 10m3 / HR / M2 @ 50 Pa but lower air leakage targets contribute to CO2 emmision improvements and in most cases, lower build cost.
Air leakage testing is the only way to demonstrate the dwelling has been built to the design air permeability rate, and must be carried out by a BINDT registered testing body in accordance with ATTMA TS1 (testing standards) requirements.
The percentage of dwellings to be tested depends on whether "Acreddited Construction Details" have been adopted. If ACD are used, test one of each dwelling type. If ACD's have not been used, please refer to the table below.
Number of pressure tests for dwellings that have not adopted accredited construction details |
|
|---|---|
| Number of instances of the dwelling type | Number of tests to be carried out on the dwelling type |
| 4 or less | One test of each dwelling type |
| Greater than 4, but equal or less than 40 | Two tests of each dwelling type |
| More than 40 | At least 5% of the dwelling type, unless the first 5 units of the type that are tested achieve the design air permeability, when the sampling frequency can be substantially reduced to 2% |