Articles

Article Date Published

Water Resistive Barriers: How Do They Compare?

Garth D. Hall, AIA and Kurt R. Hoigard, PE

In general, the description of any building, whether a high-rise or a warehouse, can be simplified into two basic components: 1) the building structure, which gives the building its overall shape and resists forces from sources such as wind, snow, people, furniture (live loads), and the weight of fixed building components (dead loads); and 2) the building envelope, which separates the indoor and outdoor environments, keeping the weather outside and conditioned air inside.

Nov 2005

Save Energy with Rigid-Foam Insulation

Rick Arnold

Exterior siding is typically applied directly on top of housewrap covered plywood or OSB sheathing. But a growing number of builders interested in energy-efficient construction are singing the praises of using rigid-foam insulation between the wall sheathing and the exterior siding, creating a continuous insulating layer. Contributing editor Rick Arnold explains why this extra investment in labor and materials has a significant long-term payoff and tells how to detail the installation.

Sep 2006

Continuous Insulation and Punched Openings Windows Can Be A Pain

Joseph W. Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE

Sometimes we make easy things hard. And sometimes we make hard things easy. With continuous insulation and punched opening both things are true.

Apr 2015

Building Science Insights: Stuck On You

Joseph W. Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE

One of the dirty little secrets that never gets talked about is that water leaks through building papers, building wraps and housewraps and runs down between them and the sheathings that they cover.

Apr 2013

Building Science Insights: Leaks and Holes

Joseph W. Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE

To claim that something that has holes in it can act as a water control layer is a pretty interesting argument. It is both true and untrue.

Mar 2013