Prediction model of air infiltration in single-zone buildings with high airtightness

Abstract

Air infiltration through building envelopes has a considerable impact on the comprehensive performance of buildings, especially in terms of their energy demand and indoor air quality. Therefore, it is important to accurately predict building air infiltration rates under various scenarios. High airtightness is one of the typical characteristics of passive ultra-low energy buildings. With the rapid application of passive technology in building energy efficiency, the airtightness of new urban buildings has been significantly improved. The centralized air leakage path distribution assumption of current prediction model for building air infiltration rate is inconsistent with the actual situation of high airtightness buildings, which reduces its prediction accuracy and application range. Therefore, it is of great practical significance and academic value to carry out the research on the prediction model of air infiltration rate of buildings with high airtightness.This paper presents an air infiltration prediction model for single-zone buildings with adventitious openings. The building envelope was broken down into permeable parts and impermeable parts, and the air leakage pathways were assumed to be uniformly and continuously distributed in the permeable envelope. A linear pressure distribution over the building facade was assumed, and the airflow rate was integrated in the vertical and horizontal planes to theoretically predict the air infiltration rate. The feasibility of the proposed model was tested by comparing the air infiltration rates simulated by this model with those determined using the tracer gas attenuation method of an airtight building. The initial test results suggest that this model is mathematically robust and is capable of modeling the air infiltration of a building in a wide variety of scenarios. Reasonable agreement was found between the tested and simulated results. This study can provide basic theoretical support for the coupling performance analysis of high airtightness buildings.