Air tightness testing is a process in which the building envelope is tested to quantify the air tightness. The test measures air leakage rates through a building envelope under controlled pressurization and depressurization.

Building testing is not a mandatory test prescribed in building codes, but a performance-based option that many designers are requiring. The only requirements for whole building testing are in the State of Washington, the United States General Services Administration and all United States Army Corps of Engineers projects.

There are many standards worldwide that detail how to perform this test, some of these include:

• The United States Army Corps of Engineers Air Leakage Test Protocol for Building Envelopes
• ISO 9972:2006 - Thermal performance of buildings -- Determination of air permeability of buildings -- Fan pressurization method
• ASTM E779 - Standard Test Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization
• ASTM E1827 - Standard Test Methods for Determining Airtightness of Buildings Using an Orifice Blower Door
• ATTMA - Measuring Air Permeance of Building Envelopes (Dwellings)
• ATTMA - Measuring Air Permeance of Building Envelopes (Non-Dwellings)

For more resources on whole building testing, please visit the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG), a program from the National Institute of Building Science (NIBS) website at www.wbdg.org.

ABAA - Whole Building Testing Standards Development

In 2011, the Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA) Whole Building Air Tightness Testing Standards Committee was asked by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (US ACE) to review and amend the Air Leakage Test Protocol for Building Envelopes. Over the course of a few months, this protocol was amended and a revised document was sent to the US ACE and will be placed online by October 1, 2011. This same committee is now working on a ASTM-style format for whole building testing which will be taken to ASTM meetings at the end of October 2011 for their review.

For more information on this ABAA committee, please contact us at abaa@airbarrier.org.

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