{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,7]],"date-time":"2025-11-07T09:37:31Z","timestamp":1762508251958,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":40,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,12]],"date-time":"2020-10-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1602460800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Infrastructures"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The measurement of ventilation rates is crucial in understanding buildings\u2019 performances, but can be a rather complex task due to the time-dependency of wind and buoyancy forces, which are responsible for the pressure differences that induce air movement across the envelope. Thus, assessing air change rate through one-time measurements during brief periods of time may not be a reliable indicator. In this paper, the variability in the measurement of ventilation rates using the decay technique was evaluated. To that end, two compartments of a typical single-family detached dwelling were selected as a case study and 132 tests were performed, considering two different boundary conditions (door closed and door open). This work allowed the large variability of the results to be highlighted, as the coefficient of variation ranged from 20% to 64%. Wind speed had a key effect on the results, especially because during the measurements indoor\u2013outdoor temperature differences were not so significant. The possibility of using occupant-generated carbon dioxide as tracer gas was also analyzed, but problems of cross-contamination were identified.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/infrastructures5100085","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,13]],"date-time":"2020-10-13T09:22:43Z","timestamp":1602580963000},"page":"85","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":20,"title":["A Discussion Regarding the Measurement of Ventilation Rates Using Tracer Gas and Decay Technique"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Ricardo M. S. F.","family":"Almeida","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Civil Engineering, Campus Polit\u00e9cnico de Repeses, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, School of Technology and Management, 3504-510 Viseu, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1343-5578","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eva","family":"Barreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CONSTRUCT-LFC, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Pedro","family":"Moreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias s\/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,10,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"European Parliament, and Council of the European Union (2003). Directive 2002\/91\/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on the energy performance of buildings. Off. J. Eur. 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