Schools, as a group, are the third largest users of energy in buildings in Canada. The Division of Building Research, National Research Council of Canada therefore welcomed the opportunity in the autumn of 1975 to participate with the Carleton Board of Education in a program to reduce energy use in schools.

A major problem encountered initially was the lack of data on air infiltration for school buildings. A program of air leakage measurements in schools was therefore carried out. Results of the measurements were then applied to a simplified model of a school building, from which air infiltration and its contribution to total heating consumption could be calculated.