The blower door in action.
(Photo: Submitted)
The Office for Sustainability has some work to
do to bring the newly restored Sustainability House, located at 238 Harmon
Avenue, up to 21st century energy-efficiency standards. As part of the office’s ongoing partnership
with U.S. Energy Corps, Viridian recently conducted an energy
audit at the Sustainability House.
Viridian is an energy consulting firm
with locations in Little Rock and Fayetteville. The purpose of
the energy audit was to assess the energy efficiency of the house and what
could be changed to make the office more energy efficient, a process called
weatherization. Weatherization, also known as weatherproofing, is
protecting a building from the elements with low-cost improvements such as
weather stripping, caulking, etc. to save energy. It also includes assessment
of occupant safety through gas ventilation assessment.
As would
be expected for a house many decades old, the opportunities for
increasing efficiency are dramatic. Viridian assessed the conditions of the
house and set to work gathering building information.
The two Viridian energy
technicians, William Beaver and Gary Kahanak, depressurized the building using
a blower door in order to find leaks in doors, walls, windows, and other
general areas. They tested the water heater for back drafting by creating
worst-case conditions, measuring air changes per hour and using a tool to
“sniff” for combustible gases. The water heater passed all of the tests,
but needs to be reevaluated once the weatherization takes place and there is
less combustion air coming into the building through leaks. For
more pictures, please visit this link.
Energy
Corps arranged for the audit of the Sustainability House and took on the task
of weatherizing. The final recommendations were to air seal the windows
and doors on the main floor and basement and acquire a carbon monoxide
detector. Student interns and volunteers will implement the
recommendations on a Saturday in February.
If you would like to participate please contact Carlos Ochoa at sustain@uark.edu.