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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

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

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

It is pretty weird to dig a big hole and drop a building into it.  A one story house with a basement is really a two story house that you dropped into the ground burying one story.  Think about it…… Read More

Weed[2]…..we call it “weed” because it pretty much grows anywhere “in the wild”…outside.  Did I mention “outside” in pretty much uncontrolled conditions. Wow, have things changed.  Folks are moving… Read More

A little bit of history…back in the day the United States was known for its manufacturing prowess[1].  In high speed and high volume production “punching[2]” was and is the least expensive method of… Read More

…articulaciones* y esquinas y penetraciones...much more stylish…much more interesting than English.  The battle to control water entry is won at building joints and corners[1] not so much at… Read More

How can you take a system with thousands of years of history and screw it up?  Easy.  Keep improving it until it does not work.  Babylonians used it. Egyptians used it. Greeks used it.  Romans used… Read More

It is just shocking, just shocking that some molecules have a positive electrical charge and a negative electrical charge.  Water is a molecule with one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms held together… Read More