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Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Washington DC

DOI 10.25984/2204223
Publicly accessible License 

BSC TO5 Task 2.1 Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Capitol Heights, MD 20743

A building comprising five vertical townhome units was built in the Washington, D.C., area; the townhomes were three-story slab-on-grade units (1700-2000 ft2) with a rear-facing "tuck under" garage. The three-story townhome design results in 3 ACH50 being equivalent to a stringent surface-area based target (0.16-0.17 CFM50/ft2 building enclosure).

The party walls between units were area separation walls, with a 2-hour fire resistance rating (Underwriters Laboratories U347 assembly; equivalent to U373 and U336). This assembly has a 1-in. vertical air cavity on each side of a 2-in. vertical gypsum panel in the middle of the assembly, resulting in an airflow network that is connected over multiple floors (despite nominal draft stopping), and has potential connections to exterior conditions.
The test townhomes were built with several experimental airtightness details, including taping of exterior sheathing as an air barrier closure detail (in particular, at area separation walls). Various measures were applied to the units for this experiment, including a "control" conventional construction unit and some units with "improved" detailing (without taped sheathing).

Citation Formats

TY - DATA AB - BSC TO5 Task 2.1 Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Capitol Heights, MD 20743 A building comprising five vertical townhome units was built in the Washington, D.C., area; the townhomes were three-story slab-on-grade units (1700-2000 ft2) with a rear-facing "tuck under" garage. The three-story townhome design results in 3 ACH50 being equivalent to a stringent surface-area based target (0.16-0.17 CFM50/ft2 building enclosure). The party walls between units were area separation walls, with a 2-hour fire resistance rating (Underwriters Laboratories U347 assembly; equivalent to U373 and U336). This assembly has a 1-in. vertical air cavity on each side of a 2-in. vertical gypsum panel in the middle of the assembly, resulting in an airflow network that is connected over multiple floors (despite nominal draft stopping), and has potential connections to exterior conditions. The test townhomes were built with several experimental airtightness details, including taping of exterior sheathing as an air barrier closure detail (in particular, at area separation walls). Various measures were applied to the units for this experiment, including a "control" conventional construction unit and some units with "improved" detailing (without taped sheathing). AU - Ueno, Kohta A2 - Lstiburek, Joseph DB - Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI) DP - Open EI | National Renewable Energy Laboratory DO - 10.25984/2204223 KW - building america KW - air leakage KW - blower door testing KW - demising wall KW - fire-resistance rated assembly KW - guarded leakage KW - nulling KW - residential KW - small multifamily KW - large multifamily KW - air sealing KW - airtightness KW - new construction KW - BuildingAmerica KW - mixed humid KW - modular LA - English DA - 2016/04/27 PY - 2016 PB - Building Science Corporation T1 - Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Washington DC UR - https://doi.org/10.25984/2204223 ER -
Export Citation to RIS
Ueno, Kohta, and Joseph Lstiburek. Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Washington DC. Building Science Corporation, 27 April, 2016, Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://doi.org/10.25984/2204223.
Ueno, K., & Lstiburek, J. (2016). Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Washington DC. [Data set]. Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). Building Science Corporation. https://doi.org/10.25984/2204223
Ueno, Kohta and Joseph Lstiburek. Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Washington DC. Building Science Corporation, April, 27, 2016. Distributed by Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI). https://doi.org/10.25984/2204223
@misc{OEDI_Dataset_5504, title = {Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Washington DC}, author = {Ueno, Kohta and Lstiburek, Joseph}, abstractNote = {BSC TO5 Task 2.1 Field Testing of Compartmentalization Methods for Multifamily Construction - Capitol Heights, MD 20743

A building comprising five vertical townhome units was built in the Washington, D.C., area; the townhomes were three-story slab-on-grade units (1700-2000 ft2) with a rear-facing "tuck under" garage. The three-story townhome design results in 3 ACH50 being equivalent to a stringent surface-area based target (0.16-0.17 CFM50/ft2 building enclosure).

The party walls between units were area separation walls, with a 2-hour fire resistance rating (Underwriters Laboratories U347 assembly; equivalent to U373 and U336). This assembly has a 1-in. vertical air cavity on each side of a 2-in. vertical gypsum panel in the middle of the assembly, resulting in an airflow network that is connected over multiple floors (despite nominal draft stopping), and has potential connections to exterior conditions.
The test townhomes were built with several experimental airtightness details, including taping of exterior sheathing as an air barrier closure detail (in particular, at area separation walls). Various measures were applied to the units for this experiment, including a "control" conventional construction unit and some units with "improved" detailing (without taped sheathing).}, url = {https://data.openei.org/submissions/5504}, year = {2016}, howpublished = {Open Energy Data Initiative (OEDI), Building Science Corporation, https://doi.org/10.25984/2204223}, note = {Accessed: 2025-04-25}, doi = {10.25984/2204223} }
https://dx.doi.org/10.25984/2204223

Details

Data from Apr 27, 2016

Last updated Nov 1, 2023

Submitted Apr 27, 2016

Organization

Building Science Corporation

Contact

Kohta Ueno

Authors

Kohta Ueno

Building Science Corporation

Joseph Lstiburek

Building Science Corporation

Research Areas

DOE Project Details

Project Name Building America

Project Number FY15 AOP 1.9.1.19

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