Thermal coupling between conduction and infiltration/exfiltration airflows has been found to be significant in building envelopes under controllable conditions by several investigators. On average 20% to 40% infiltration/exfiltration heat recovery has been reported. However, field tests for real buildings under uncontrollable conditions, where both infiltration and exfiltration can occur simultaneously, do not exist.

The objective of this research project is to determine a method to measure the energy impact of infiltration/exfiltration airflows in residential buildings subject to natural weather conditions, which include a wide range of driving forces (wind and indoor-outdoor temperature differences) and to apply that method to a test sample. This work will produce a test method, Infiltration Heat Recovery (IHR) data, and an analytical procedure to characterize IHR. The IHR data and analytical method resulting from this project will be suitable for inclusion in the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals.