Blower Door Testing is Almost Here
Florida blower door Testing / Training
The Florida Legislature has delayed the effective date of certain sections of the Florida Building Code, 5th edition until June 30, 2017. (http://laws.flrules.org/2015/222)
The included sections are:
a. R402.4.1.2 of the Energy Volume relating to mandatory blower door testing for residential buildings;
b. 403.6.1 of the Building Volume requiring a second fire service access elevator; and
c. R303.4 of the Residential Volume requiring mechanical ventilation for residential buildings.
When the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation Version 5 adopted mandatory air infiltration testing (ie, blower door testing) for new construction homes and residential units, enforcement authorities sought greater clarification on who qualified as an “approved entity” to do the testing.
Sections R402.4.1.2 and R104.5 indicate that a Florida blower door test must be done by an approved third party Energy Auditor or Energy Rater. Both titles require certification – either from the Building Performance Institute (BPI) or Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) – to qualify.
Builders, HVAC technicians, and other home performance professionals equally wondered how exactly they should go about acquiring the blower door testing skills and certification to comply with code.