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Testing the House

From "Best Built Home"
episode DBBH-105F

Host Lynda Lyday examines the different ways a builder can test a house to ensure it's performing the way it was designed to in this second segment. These tests are important for good air quality, and they help to keep the home's structure safe. This testing will also guarantee the house was built properly, which results in a monthly cost savings on energy bills. There are four tests -- the blower door, duct blaster, flow hood and carbon monoxide. Together they make sure a homeowner will be safe and healthy in their new house.

It's extremely important that your new home is tested before you move in. Be sure to ask your builder if the tests discussed in this segment are performed on your house by an independent company!

A best built home is one that's built healthy and safe to live in, but it's impossible to ensure a healthy and safe house if your builder hasn't run tests to see if it's working the way you've intended.

Homebuyers like Rob and Amanda Vargo, who you first met in Episode DBBH-101 -- "The Best Home", may not know about the vigorous testing that goes on, but they can attest to the results!

"I think all the rooms feel pretty even with the temperature," Amanda said. "We lived in an apartment before we moved here -- we thought that it was efficient until we moved here, and then we realized that this is the more efficient way to go. It's not drafty. It feels a lot more comfortable."

Rob added, "it's more environmentally friendly, more energy efficient -- not only to our pocketbook but just to the environment in general."

"In each home we test the tightness of the home -- how tight the [building] envelope is so to eliminate air infiltration, cold drafts and things like that and how the equipment is going to perform under that scenario," Tim Hasse, customer advocate for Oakwood Homes, said.

Everything is tested, including the indoor air quality via sophisticated equipment and computers (figure A). "It's really an education process for us as a builder for our vendors. We want to know how our house is going to perform," Tim said. "We want to know where we need to improve and what those areas are -- and then, obviously, we know we're delivering to our customers the best house possible."

Paul Kriescher, from Lightly Treading Energy & Design, said, "We've helped Oakwood [Homes] decide what areas they need to test, but it's really built on a national program from the EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] -- the Energy Star® program for homes (figure B)." This governmental program has to do with energy efficiency, but they've also adopted practices from a Department of Energy program called Building America, which has much more to do with indoor-air quality and comfort aspects.

The Energy Star program results in at least a 30-percent energy savings compared to a home that was simply built to code.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

Figure D

Checking a Home's Energy Efficiency

To check a home's energy efficiency, the program starts with a blower-door test, which allows them to see air leakage in the home. How it does that is by framing a doorway with a fan and pushing air out of the house with everything else closed up around the house. There's a 22-mph wind pressure, and at that pressure point, they can measure the air flow that's going out and any air flow that's leaking out has to be replaced by air leaking in. Then the tester goes around with a small smoke stick (figure C) to see where the leaks are coming from so the homeowner will know where the "invisible" source of discomfort and energy loss originates.
In a typical home air leaks happen in many places, such as around chimneys, recessed lights in ceilings, doorways and in older homes, around windows.
The second examination that they do is called a duct leakage test, which is similar to the blower-door test. They hook up a fan to the duct work (figure D) and see where the air leaks are and quantify the duct leaks. The reason for this test is that if the duct is leaking the homeowner won't have the benefits, comfort-wise and energy-wise, of a tight system.
Next, the home's air flow is checked and this is called the air-flow test, which means they check the furnace both in cooling and heating mode to see how the system is operating. They're looking first to see how much air flow is happening right at the furnace, and then they're measuring at each of the supply and return registers (see the first image at top, right) to see if there's a balance of that air flow.
Most people experience discomfort when temperatures vary in the home; ideally every room in the house should be within three or four degrees of each other.
The final test has to do with the home's air quality and it's called the zonal-leakage test. What the testers are looking for is to see how well connected the attic is to the house (and they "don't" want it connected to the house) and how well the garage is connected -- and other areas such as crawl spaces, storage spaces, etc. They do this test to see if there are any carbon-monoxide poisons or other pollutants in the house. Basically they want to make sure there "isn't" that air exchange happening from space to space that could make the home uncomfortable or unhealthy.

"I have pets and I have allergies, not to my pets but to dust and things," Amanda said. "This air system keeps everything a lot cleaner and comfortable. I'm not fighting my allergies nearly as much as I used to since I moved into this house."

These days builders are looking out for homeowners more than ever, and their higher standards are resulting in a better built home.

Expecting more from your builder is a good practice and can help you get a better house. Sometimes builders take it a step further and get involved with voluntary programs just to build you a healthier and safer house. In the next segment host Lynda Lyday visits homeowners whose builder had their house certified by the American Lung Association.