1 Building Bridges to Net Zero Implementing Passive House in Multifamily Buildings A Systems Based Approach to Quality and Continual Improvement. Adam Romano, AEA
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Building Bridges to Net Zero
Implementing Passive House in Multifamily Buildings
A Systems Based Approach to Quality and Continual Improvement.
Adam Romano, AEA
2MULTIFAMILY BUILDINGS 2015: BUILDING BRIDGES TO NET ZERO
John Tooley, Advanced Energy
“We’re striving for the right work done right, right?”
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Systems Thinking
A system is a whole that derives its characteristics from the interactions of its
essential parts… and none taken separately.
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Multifamily Buildings are a SystemA multifamily building is a system which derives its characteristics
from the interactions of its essential parts… and none taken separately.
Occupants
Structure
Mechanicals
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Building System
Occupants•Adults •Children •Seniors•Pets
Mechanicals•Heating/Cooling •Ventilation•Distribution •Controls
Structure•Walls•Air Barrier•Windows/Doors•Insulation•Foundation
Environment •Air Flow •Heat Flow •Moisture Flow
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Building a Passive House Requires System Thinking
Image courtesy of Passive House Academy
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Passive House
Occupant•Comfortable•Indoor Air Quality •Economical to Operate
Mechanicals•Heat Recovery Ventilation•Appropriately Sized Mechanicals
Structure•Optimized Orientation• Durable •Resilient
Enclosure•Air Tight Continuous Insulation•Thermal Bridge Free
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It’s the Interactions of the Essential Parts
Addressing the parts taken separately, will not improve the system as a whole.
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The characteristic of a car is to take us from point A to point B
A car is a system made up of essential parts.
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It’s the Interactions of the Essential PartsNo essential part can take us from
point A to point B, only the car as a
whole can.
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Define Quality Define Quality
• Passive House Standard
Blame Free WorkplaceBlame Free Workplace
• Process Focused • Prevention Culture
• Learn from Failure
Train for Competency Train for
Competency
• Visual • Auditory • Tactile • Kinesthetic
Commit to Continual
Improvement
Commit to Continual
Improvement
• Identify the Problem
• Implement the Optimal Solution
• Track the Results
Manage the
Interactions
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Process Focused“Inspection with the aim of finding the bad ones and throwing them out is too late, ineffective, and costly. Quality comes not from inspection, but from improvement of the process”‐ Dr. William Edwards Deming
“Common people managing a superior process are better than superior people managing a poor process”‐ Toyota
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All Work is a Process
Process fails more than people.
Blame should fall on the process, not on the people.
Quality is impossible if people are afraid to tell the truth.
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Focus on Quality
The desired outcome of quality must be conformance to requirements.
(Passive House Standard)
Work Done Right
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Process Fails More Than People
Prevention Culture
Learn from Failure
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Passive House Airtightness• Passive House Requirement: 0.6 ACH50
• Define Quality: ABAA Master Specification (conformance to requirements)
– Material Performance – Assembly Performance – Connections to Adjacent Materials– Execution of Air Barrier Installation– Quality Assurance Program
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Design Enclosure Assembly
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Design Mock-Up
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Build and Test Mock-Up
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Train for Competency
The biggest cause of training failure is not applying what was learned on the job site. Training must be reinforced on site in order to be effective
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Execute Air Barrier Installation
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Quality ControlCommit to Continual Improvement
• ASTM D 4541: Standard Test Method for Pull‐Off Strength of Coatings Using Portable Adhesion Testers. – Destructive testing using a 4” disk and an
adhesion tester. – Force as applied in a steady and incremental
fashion (1 revolution per min.) – The gauge will display the force being applied
and the limit stop dial will register the peak force just before there is a separation.
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Quality ControlCommit to Continual Improvement
• ASTM E 1186: Standard Practices for Air Leakage Site Detection in Building Envelopes and Air Barrier Systems. – Detection Liquid Air Testing – Sound Transmission– With pressure differential established (min +/‐ 25pa)
• IR Thermography (min ∆T 10oF)• Smoke Tracers
Image courtesy of Air Barrier Association of America
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Quality ControlCommit to Continual Improvement
• ASTM E 783: Standard Test Method for Field Measurement of Air Leakage Through Installed Exterior Windows and Doors.– AAMA 502: requires the field measured leakage to be no more than 1.5 times the laboratory testing.
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Quality ControlCommit to Continual Improvement
• ASTM E 779: Standard Method for Determining Air Leakage Rate by Fan Pressurization.– Multipoint Regression Test – USACE modified 75pa, 10 points,
pressurization and depressurization. • 0.25 CFM75/ft
2 of Enclosure Area
• EN 13829: Thermal Performance of Buildings – Determination of Air Permeability of Buildings – Multipoint Regression Test – Passive house modified:
• Pressurization and depressurization• Because of favorable area to volume
ratio for large buildings (>141,258ft3) building are encouraged to meet 0.03 CFM50/ft
2 of Enclosure Area
Image courtesy of Air Barrier Association of America
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Quality ControlCommit to Continual Improvement
The Balanced Fan Depressurization/Pressurization method has been developed to allow for the airtightness testing of specific spaces within the multifamily building.
This method requires pressurizing the test apartment, followed by all of the adjacent spaces (adjacent apartments and hallway) one at a time, so that the air leakage to those spaces can be isolated.
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Closing Points• Focus on systems thinking.
– Manage the interaction of the essential parts.
• All work is a process, change the process if its not working. – Remember, process fails more than people.
• Focus on quality.– Work done right.
• Train for competency. – Reinforce training on site.
• Commit to continual improvement. – Plan, Do, Check, Act.