Ventilation and air infiltration into buildings represent a substantial energy demand which can account for between 25% to over 50% of a building's total space heating (or cooling) needs. Unnecessary or excessive air change can therefore have an important impact on global energy use. On the other hand insufficient ventilation may result in poor indoor air quality, with consequential health problems, or poor thermal comfort. Designing for optimum ventilation performance is hence a vital part of building design.

Organised with support from the European Cool Roof Council, ES-SO, venticool and AIVC.

More information to come on the QUALICHeCK website

Around 55 participants from 16 countries attended the international workshop on “Ventilation and Airtightness in Buildings: Voluntary and Regulatory Frameworks to Improve Quality and Compliance” which was held in Lund, Sweden on March 16-17, 2015, with AIVC as co-organiser. 

A summary of the workshop and the pdfs of the presentations are freely available on the QUALICHeCK website.

AIVC is preparing a Technote on Residential Ventilation and Health. The Technote is now under review by the AIVC. Providing good indoor air quality to home occupants can have a substantial impact on occupant health and ventilation is a key tool for achieving that goal.

The AIVC is very pleased to welcome the United Kingdom as new participating country! The UK will be represented in the board by Benjamin Jones, Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham and Maria Kolokotroni, Professor at Brunel University London.The AIVC at present counts 18 countries composing the AIVC Board demonstrating the growing interest on air infiltration and ventilation issues in new and renovated buildings.

The international conference on “EPBD Review: Elements for better compliance and quality of works” will be held in Brussels on Friday 4 September 2015. One specific objective is to exchange about the public consultation process for the evaluation and review of the EPBD which will run until 31 October 2015.

The evaluation questionnaire of the QUALICHeCK workshop “Voluntary and Regulatory Frameworks to Improve Quality and Compliance”, 16-17 March 2015, Workshop in Lund, Sweden, was sent out to 55 attendees of the event. The summary of the main outcomes was the result of the feedback from 28 of the participants who filled in the evaluation form. It is now available to download here.  

This report provides guidance on understanding the air leakage requirements in the 2012 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and gives suggestions on how to meet the air sealing measures. It also provides information from Building America’s Air Sealing Guide, Best Practices and case studies on homes that are currently meeting the provisions.

The guide is available to download here.

The Energy in Buildings and Communities (EBC) newsletter carries regular reports of energy policy development and research activities taking place in various countries. It contains updates on ongoing and planned research projects, features new publications and website information, as well as topical articles of a general nature. It is intended for those active in fields relating to operational energy saving for buildings and communities.

The EBC news Issue 61, June 2015 contains the following articles:

This report deals with Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), thermal comfort and daylight requirements in Belgium (Brussels Region), Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden and the UK (England and Wales) and focuses on the respective building codes for new and existing residential buildings.