Air leakage in buildings have been shown for years to be a significant percentage of energy costs for buildings. Over the last few years air leakage has been recognized as contributing to moisture problems in buildings with potentially thousands of galls of water being carried into the building envelope by air leakage. Whole building testing has been an option in the International Codes and in ASHRAE standard 90.1 for some time, but now individual states are understanding the benefits of conducting a whole building blower door test as it is the only test to determine the installed performance of a air barrier system. The accuracy of a whole building test is dependent on the qualification of the personnel conducting a test. The Air Barrier Association of America developed a training and certification program for Blower Door Technicians during 2021 and will be launching the program in January 2022 in Seattle Washington. This session covers the work leading up to the training and certification program development, provides an overview of both the training program and the ISO 17024 certification program, and outlines two new programs being developed in 2022 to support the whole building testing program.

Learning Objectives:

1. Determine the need for an updated whole building test method.
2. Provide an overview of the Blower Door Technician training program.
3. Outline the reasons for a certification program.
4. Explain the benefits of an ISO 17024 certification process.

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Laverne Dalgleish

Mr. Laverne Dalgleish is the Executive Director of the Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA). As such, he works to champion energy conservation in buildings while educating the building owners and designers about the benefits of energy conservation such as durability, comfort, reduced maintenance, reduced HVAC equipment costs and the positive impact on the environment.

Mr. Dalgleish travels North America on a weekly basis to educate building owners and designers on the benefits of effective and working air barrier systems in buildings. This education mission includes working with standards development organizations, training and education groups, government policy departments, and quality assurance program developers for the construction industry. Mr. Dalgleish is the Secretariat of two ISO Committees, ISO TC61 SC10 Cellular Plastics and ISO TC163 SC3 Thermal Insulation Products. He is also Chair of the ULC Thermal Performance in the Building Environment Standards Committee.

Mr. Dalgleish was the key developer of the ABAA Quality Assurance Program for the installation of air barrier systems in buildings. This program is based on ISO9000 and ISO 12576-2 but brings the ISO requirements together with practical applications for the air barrier industry.