infiltration

Infiltration is the unintentional or accidental introduction of outside air into a building, typically through cracks in the building envelope and through use of doors for passage. Infiltration is sometimes called air leakage. The leakage of room air out of a building, intentionally or not, is called exfiltration. Infiltration is caused by wind, negative pressurization of the building, and by air buoyancy forces known commonly as the stack effect. Infiltration measures The infiltration rate is the volumetric flow rate of outside air into a building, typically in cubic feet per minute (CFM) or liters per second (LPS). The air exchange rate, (I), is the number of interior volume air changes that occur per hour, and has units of 1/h. The air exchange rate is also known as air changes per hour (ACH). ACH is the hourly ventilation rate, divided by the building volume. It can be calculated by multiplying the building's CFM by 60, and then dividing by the building volume. (CFM x 60)/volume Infiltration in finished structures can often be measured directly by using tracer-gas leak testing.