Blower Door Testing
In order to achieve LEED certification in multi-family buildings, LEED-EBOM IEQp2: Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control requires that blower door testing be performed to verify that smoke will not penetrate into other areas of the building. This requires proper sealing of all penetrations in ceilings, walls, and floors, and blower door testing verifying this design and construction compliance.
Guidelines for performing blower door testing require that you follow ANSI/ASTM-E779-03 Standard Test Method and that sampling be performed in accordance with progressive sampling methodology defined in Ch. 4 of the Residential Manual for Compliance with California’s 2001 Energy Efficiency Standards. A CIR ruling for multi-family buildings allows for random sampling in one of every seven units. Results must demonstrate less than 1.25 square inches leakage area per 100 square feet of enclosure area (sum of all wall, ceiling, and floor areas).
