Library

Article describing methods for thermally isolating a garage in a Passive House-certified multifamily building.

Fact sheet poster describing how to add exterior, continuous, rigid insulation to the exterior walls when replacing siding on an existing home.

Document reporting results from a study done to evaluate effects of automotive emissions from attached garages on the indoor environment.

Case study examining the problem of unwanted air transfer from garage to living space and the effectiveness of garage exhaust ventilation or house supply ventilation to provide a solution to that.

Report describing information for builders and retrofitters about eliminating hazards and coincidental energy losses that come from attached garages.

Document focusing on the design and wall components that contribute to a pressure equalized rain screen wall, including the frequency of the weep holes and other brick masonry rain screen wall requirements.

Article Describing methods for thermally isolating multifamily parking garages.

Web based tool providing decision-making guidance for selecting wall assembly components.

Installation manual for installing metal panel siding.

An article illustrating common errors found in fiber cement siding installations. Many of these errors and poor flashing examples apply to siding materials beyond fiber cement siding.

Article about how mortar droppings during the installation of a brick veneer can clog the weep holes in the wall assembly causing moisture damage. The article also illustrates products that can be installed in the ventilated cavity to mitigate this problem.

Report covering the rainwater performance of building assemblies.

An example of a commercially available thermally expansive fire stopping product for controlling the spread of fires in a rainscreen cavity.

Report comparing a high-performance house with a code-built control home.

Website describing results of research on impacts to garage doors from hurricanes, tornadoes, and high wind events.

Results from a research program testing airtightness, implications of air leakage and contaminant reduction over the garage-to-house interface.

Report covering the fire performance of combustible cladding over combustible insulation.

A article about the best practice method of installing fiber cement siding, to install flashing at the butt joints of the siding boards, rather than face caulking the butt joints afterwards.

Information sheet about air barriers.

Factsheet describing re-siding retrofits containing exterior insulation and window upgrades aimed at improved energy savings and comfort.

Guide detailing best practices on how to build wall assemblies with absorptive claddings such as brick, stone that drain and dry well.

Report covering reservoir claddings, back ventilation and vapor throttles.

Report describing ways to retrofit a home to make it more hurricane resistant.

Article providing guidance for installing manufactured stone veneer, including information on rainscreens.

Webpage featuring hundreds of illustrations of masonry construction details for brick, congrete, stone, tile, stucco, etc.

Report providing extensive guidance on controlling moisture in building envelopes through proper selection and installation on air, water, thermal, and vapor barriers.

A study on how fires spread through exterior building envelopes with discussion on how fires propagate in a rain screen cavity.

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.

Technical report describing the Re-Side Right initiative by the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Building America research team that proposes enhancing home efficiency during the re-siding process by incorporating an insulating layer that acts as both an air barrier and water resistive barrier...

Report describing the testing of various siding materials for their ability to resist bullets from small firearms.

Website providing the pros and cons of different siding materials for home building, including wood, vinyl, fiber cement, stucco, brick, metal, and stone.

Manual describing the installation process for Craneboard insulated vinyl siding; while installation is similar across insulated vinyl siding products, see manufacturers for specific guidance.

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...

Report covering coating and back venting wood based claddings and trim.

A story about bees building a hive in the drainage plane behind the brick veneer siding. The bees entered the wall through unprotected drainage holes.

Projectile missile testing of various wall panel configuration to understand how the different wall constructions would perform when struck with wind driven debris from a hurricane.

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.

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