Moisture Control

Moisture Control for Durable & Energy Efficient Cold-formed Steel Walls

Used appropriately with other control layers, the thermal control layers (insulation) of a cold-formed steel wall assembly can actually contribute to improved durability and energy efficiency. This presentation looks at five key building science topics together with new code requirements and design tools to help navigate and coordinate building code requirements for moisture control and energy code requirements for insulation.

Building Envelopes for Healthy & Resilient Buildings in a Post-COVID-19 Pandemic World

The way we think about the health and safety of a building has changed. Building science leads the way in developing best practices and interventions that will result in the healthier buildings of tomorrow. This presentation provides a practical understanding of the topic and includes cost-effective, actionable guidance on how to design and construct healthy and resilient building envelopes in a post-COVID-19 pandemic world.

Healthy Buildings

In this report, we will consider interventions that may be more enduring, proactive, and pre-emptive. During periods of crises they can supplement the interventions mentioned above. At all other times they can provide more “routine” health benefits that are more convenient and less dependent on maintaining social awareness and compliance. These interventions relate to controlling the environment where we spend most of our lives: indoors.

Moisture Control Guidelines for Light-Frame Walls

This presentation provides actionable guidelines to effectively consider, evaluate, and manage the balance of wetting and drying potential in common above-grade, light-frame wall assemblies in a broad range of climate conditions. This objective involves the appropriate use and integration of a wide variety of light-frame wall construction methods and materials including various cladding types, water-resistive barrier types, insulation types, and vapor retarder types or classes. 

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Model Moisture Control Guidelines for Light-Frame Walls: A Building Code Supplement for Builders, Designers, and Building Officials

This Research Report provides actionable guidelines to effectively consider, evaluate, and manage the balance of wetting and drying potential in common above-grade, light-frame wall assemblies in a broad range of climate conditions.  This objective involves the appropriate use and integration of a wide variety of light-frame wall construction methods and materials including various cladding types, water-resistive barrier types, insulation types, and vapor retarder types or classes. 

Tolerable Moisture Content of Materials - ASHRAE 160

This presentation to the ASHRAE 160 hygrothermal modeling committee explains why it is important to protect OSB and other moisture-sensitive sheathing materials from excessive seasonal moisture content cycling. Building codes and current hygrothermal modeling criteria do not completely address this problem. Appropriate use of exterior continuous insulation in coordination with interior vapor retarders offer the “driest” solutions.

Residential Exterior Wall Superinsulation Retrofit Details and Analysis

This paper is from the proceedings of the Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings XI International Conference, December 5-9, 2010 in Clearwater, Florida. The issues of climate change, energy security, and economics are all strong drivers for improving energy efficiency levels in a variety of sectors. In residential construction, although some inroads have been made in new houses, the stock of existing housing represents a huge opportunity for energy retrofits.