Library

The next generation of building enclosures is a key step toward achieving high-performance goals through decreasing energy load demand and enabling advanced space-conditioning systems. Yet the adoption of high-R enclosures and particularly high-R walls has been a slow-growing trend because...

Website providing guidance about mold and moisture for homes, schools, multifamily and commercial buildings.

Online course providing an overview of mold prevention and mold remediation.

Report on a study monitoring moisture conditions of double-stud wall assemblies with different insulation in Devens, Massachusetts.

Article describing mulch requirements and benefits.

Building science insight into crawlspaces.

Report covering wind loading on roofing assemblies.

Fact sheet from Wisconsin Focus on Energy explaining how to prevent future ice dams on homes by learning about their formation and mitigation of contributing factors.

List of recommendations from IBHS on how to protect homes from ice dam formation.

An example of a form a building codes department created to ensure builders are fully aware and have taken steps to provide drainage so that water doesn’t accumulate behind siding. This example is from the city of Newberg, Oregon.

Article describing moisture and ice dam issues in attics and how to air seal the attic floor.

Fact sheet describing methods for flashing and air-sealing windows and doors.

Fact sheet describing flashing of roof penetrations to make a home more resistant to high winds, hurricanes, and rainwater intrusion.

Report from FEMA describing techniques for floodproofing structures.

Standard describing a simple, relatively cost-effective approach to evaluating the ability of a variety of materials to support microbial growth using a small chamber method. A preview of the standard is available at the link, with the full version available for purchase.

Guide describing the installation of windows in walls that have foam plastic insulating; guide provides several methods for attaching, supporting, and flashing windows in walls with rigid foam sheathing. (Note: The link only goes to the table of contents for the guide, the full guide can be...

Specification describing criteria for manufactured polymeric materials used to provide a rainscreen function, a means for the drainage of liquid moisture and the ventilation of vapor moisture that enters an above-grade exterior wall assembly which was published in the year 2019, and is available for...

Article describing ways to protect roofs from water infiltration by using self-adhering underlayment in vulnerable locations such as roof valleys, eave edges (to help deal with ice dams), rake edges, roofs to vertical walls (such as dormers), sidewall protection, the bottom of dormer valleys, and...

Fact sheet describing best practices for flashing doors and windows to minimize air and water intrusion.

Fact sheet describing water management in a residential building.

Article describing the evolution of the IRC to permit class 3 vapor retarders (latex paint) in walls coupled with exterior continuous insulation to allow drying and reduce condensation risk.

Article describing tips for effectively installing weatherstripping on windows and doors.

Case study about a structural sheathing product composed of enhanced EPS rigid foam with OSB adhered on one side.

Guide providing information about controlling rainwater through use of drainage planes.

Article describing a method for flashing roof vent boots, describing how to flash the pipe, how to flash over and under the pan, and finish by shaping the shingles, as well as addressing potential water leakage by adding an additional seal with EPDM flashing tape with a butyl adhesive backing to the...

Guide providing information on controlling attic ductwork sweating.

A presentation about the need for rainscreens including the damage water and moisture ingress into a home’s siding and framing can cause, and ways to design a resilient wall that drains and ventilates well.

Resource that provides a checklist of program criteria for water-efficient new homes under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) WaterSense program.

Article describing how to weatherproof dormers using peel-and-stick membranes when flashing a dormer.

Article describing an overview of weatherstripping requirements.

An article written by Don Jackson of The Journal of Light Construction on how to detail brick veneer siding wall.