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Measuring lift door air leakage rates in modern high-rise residential buildings.

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Title: Measuring lift door air leakage rates in modern high-rise residential buildings.
Authors: Basford, Andrew1 (AUTHOR) andrew.basford@ofrconsultants.com, Turner, Adam1 (AUTHOR), Spearpoint, Michael1 (AUTHOR)
Source: Building Services Engineering Research & Technology. Jul2025, Vol. 46 Issue 4, p499-510. 12p.
Subjects: Pressure measurement, Elevators, Tall buildings, Computational fluid dynamics, Pressure drop (Fluid dynamics), Apartment buildings
Abstract: This paper investigates air leakage rates between the common corridor and the lift shaft within modern high-rise residential buildings via the lift doors. A literature review has been undertaken which indicates that leakage areas for lift doors are suggested as being between 0.047 and 0.060 m2 with only the latest version of BS EN 12101-13:2022 indicating that a reduction may be necessary to 0.020 m2 for more modern buildings. Leakage areas have been investigated for a 22 storey residential building by recording on-site flowrate and pressure measurements whilst a lift car is in operation as well as attempting to measure the gaps across a set of lift doors. The maximum instantaneous flowrate measured was −89 L/s into the shaft and +99 L/s out of the shaft. The largest pressure change recorded was a depressurisation of −22.5 Pa and the highest pressure recorded was +19.5 Pa. These values result in a maximum calculated leakage area of 0.020 m2 for this building. This value is approximately half of the lift leakage area previously quoted in BS EN 12101-6:2005, however is closer to the suggested tight lift door value of 0.020 m2 in BS EN 12101-13:2020 and would indicate that these are more appropriate for use in analyses of modern buildings. Practical application: When undertaking computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling of smoke control systems within the common corridors of residential buildings, leakage values can be used for lift doors based on values quoted in BS EN 12101-13:2022. For a pressurisation system design, it is more onerous to use larger values, however, when designing a mechanical extract or depressurisation system, a lower leakage rate is potentially more onerous. This paper shows that the use of lower lift door leakage values from the standard as being more appropriate for use as input conditions within CFD simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Building Services Engineering Research & Technology is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Engineering Source
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DbLabel: Engineering Source
An: 186497810
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PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
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  Data: Measuring lift door air leakage rates in modern high-rise residential buildings.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Basford%2C+Andrew%22">Basford, Andrew</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> andrew.basford@ofrconsultants.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Turner%2C+Adam%22">Turner, Adam</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Spearpoint%2C+Michael%22">Spearpoint, Michael</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pressure+measurement%22">Pressure measurement</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elevators%22">Elevators</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Tall+buildings%22">Tall buildings</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Computational+fluid+dynamics%22">Computational fluid dynamics</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Pressure+drop+%28Fluid+dynamics%29%22">Pressure drop (Fluid dynamics)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Apartment+buildings%22">Apartment buildings</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: This paper investigates air leakage rates between the common corridor and the lift shaft within modern high-rise residential buildings via the lift doors. A literature review has been undertaken which indicates that leakage areas for lift doors are suggested as being between 0.047 and 0.060 m2 with only the latest version of BS EN 12101-13:2022 indicating that a reduction may be necessary to 0.020 m2 for more modern buildings. Leakage areas have been investigated for a 22 storey residential building by recording on-site flowrate and pressure measurements whilst a lift car is in operation as well as attempting to measure the gaps across a set of lift doors. The maximum instantaneous flowrate measured was −89 L/s into the shaft and +99 L/s out of the shaft. The largest pressure change recorded was a depressurisation of −22.5 Pa and the highest pressure recorded was +19.5 Pa. These values result in a maximum calculated leakage area of 0.020 m2 for this building. This value is approximately half of the lift leakage area previously quoted in BS EN 12101-6:2005, however is closer to the suggested tight lift door value of 0.020 m2 in BS EN 12101-13:2020 and would indicate that these are more appropriate for use in analyses of modern buildings. Practical application: When undertaking computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling of smoke control systems within the common corridors of residential buildings, leakage values can be used for lift doors based on values quoted in BS EN 12101-13:2022. For a pressurisation system design, it is more onerous to use larger values, however, when designing a mechanical extract or depressurisation system, a lower leakage rate is potentially more onerous. This paper shows that the use of lower lift door leakage values from the standard as being more appropriate for use as input conditions within CFD simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Building Services Engineering Research & Technology is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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        Value: 10.1177/01436244251325223
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 12
        StartPage: 499
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Pressure measurement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Elevators
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Tall buildings
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Computational fluid dynamics
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Pressure drop (Fluid dynamics)
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      – SubjectFull: Apartment buildings
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Measuring lift door air leakage rates in modern high-rise residential buildings.
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            NameFull: Basford, Andrew
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            NameFull: Turner, Adam
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            – D: 01
              M: 07
              Text: Jul2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
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