December 12th, 2017
Multifamily buildings, especially wood-frame structures up to 3 stories, are receiving increased focus from production builders. In general, the techniques and technologies developed under the BuildingAmerica program are directly applicable to these types of structures. However, performance guidelines for multifamily buildings that address enclosure tightness, compartmentalization, ventilation, space conditioning, and domestic hot water production have not been developed. In this research task, Building Science Corporation provided design input, specifically the compartmentalization design of apartment units and their associated mechanical systems for a multifamily wood frame structure. Building Science Corporation also provided construction review, testing and modeling of this multifamily wood framed structure to begin developing multifamily performance guidelines.