Blower door testing in Vero Beach brought me to another new construction home in the Lucaya Point community this week. I was onsite performing the field testing in partnership with Energy Code Compliance Specialists, and this house delivered an especially tight result.
The blower door measured 951.7 CFM50, equivalent to just 1.42 ACH50.
That is a very tight building envelope, and it was a great result to see in the field.
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What a 1.42 ACH50 Blower Door Test Tells Us
During blower door testing in Vero Beach, the home is depressurized to 50 Pascals and airflow through the blower door fan is measured. For this home, maintaining that pressure required only 951.7 cubic feet per minute at 50 Pascals (CFM50).
When the home’s volume is factored into the calculation, the result comes out to 1.42 air changes per hour at 50 Pascals, or ACH50.
The home uses spray foam insulation as part of its building-envelope strategy, which helps create the tight envelope reflected in the test result. Reducing uncontrolled air leakage can help limit the amount of hot, humid Florida outdoor air that enters through unintended gaps and penetrations in the building envelope.
A tight envelope is only part of the equation, though. This home also incorporates mechanical fresh-air ventilation, allowing outdoor air to be introduced intentionally rather than relying on uncontrolled leakage through the structure.
That combination, a tight building envelope and a planned ventilation strategy, is an important part of building high-performance homes in Florida.
Energy Code Testing in Lucaya Point
This particular test was completed in Lucaya Point in Vero Beach, adding another local project to the energy-code field testing I am performing throughout Indian River County.
One of the things I enjoy about doing this work is getting to see the homes themselves as they approach completion. The technical side brought me there, but this was also just a beautiful house.
The interior had some great finish details, especially the coffered ceiling and woodwork in the main living area. That carpentry added a lot of character to an otherwise bright, modern interior and immediately stood out while I was walking through the house preparing it for testing.
These details obviously don’t change a blower door result, but they’re part of what makes working in different homes and communities around Vero Beach interesting. No two projects are exactly alike.
Local Blower Door Testing in Indian River County
For this project, my onsite role was performing the field testing in partnership with Energy Code Compliance Specialists. ECCS provides energy-compliance services including infiltration testing, while Stellar Building Performance supports projects like this with local field testing throughout the Treasure Coast and surrounding areas.
With a final result of 1.42 ACH50, this Lucaya Point home provided a strong example of the kind of envelope performance that can be achieved when air sealing, spray foam insulation, and mechanical ventilation are incorporated into the home’s construction strategy.
If you’re building in Vero Beach or elsewhere in Indian River County and need blower door testing or other residential energy-code field testing, Stellar Building Performance provides local testing and documentation for builders, contractors, and homeowners.
Check out more of our Project Updates and similar project updates in the area like our recent Blower Door Test in Vero’s Highpointe.
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