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We have hurricanes, we have floods, we have wildfires….It is hard enough to deal with these as it is…but when we also want high levels of thermal performance…We are going to look at roofs…not because… Read More

Wall assembly design and construction needs to consider rain, temperature, humidity as defined by the hygro-thermal regions, annual rainfall and the interior climate classes as environmental loads… Read More

Yes, we have done unvented conditioned attics before….but mostly with spray foam and rigid foam insulations.  But we do not have to use spray foam and rigid foam insulations.  You can use almost… Read More

Concrete slab-on-grade foundations should be easy to insulate…but they are proving not to be easy to insulate.  We were here more than a half decade ago (BSI-059: Slab Happy, April 2012) and again a… Read More

To state the obvious…controlling rainwater entry is the single most important factor in the design and construction of durable buildings.  Let me repeat….controlling rainwater entry is the single… Read More

We looked at exterior spray foam previously (BSI-048: “Exterior Spray Foam”, April 2011). Exterior spray foam typically is used in commercial applications.  Most residential applications use interior… Read More

Crawlspaces continue to be a mess ever since we decided to insulate them and put air conditioned buildings on top of them1.  We were here before (BSI-009: “New Light in Crawlspaces”, May, 2010)…but… Read More

An edited version of this Insight first appeared in the ASHRAE Journal.By Joseph W. Lstiburek, Ph.D., P.Eng., Fellow ASHRAE The issues with stucco are pretty well understood and we have discussed… Read More

 Ten years ago (“BSI-024: Vocabulary”, October 2009) I issued a challenge regarding water control layers asking folks for ideas regarding a performance metric for water control layers.  I suggested… Read More

So does the air control layer go on the outside or the inside?  How about both sides?  How about one in the middle? Do I want one water control layer?  How about two or three?  Yes, yes, I know…if… Read More