- BSI
As in most things gone horribly wrong, it is a bunch of seemingly small things that come together to create an almost unimaginable nightmare—in this case the “perfect stucco storm.”Unlike most water… Read More
- BSI
Buildings don’t work the way they used to.1 Folks are always saying stuff like this. But let me make the case regarding just one factor and you decide. There are other factors of course, but I want… Read More
- BSI
Mold is pretty easy to understand. No water no mold. Any questions? Well, there are a few. For one we have more mold today, but we don’t have more water. What’s with that? We’ve always built… Read More
- BSI
- NEWS
…. at Fulton and his steamboatHershey and his chocolate bar….OK, this is one of my all-time favorite songs. George and Ira Gershwin. Performed for the first time by Ginger Rogers. But everyone… Read More
- BSI
- NEWS
General Limit States Design, Hygrothermal AnalysisAt a basic level a wall is an environmental separator. It keeps the outside out and the inside in. Easy to say, not always easy to do.To function… Read More
Very Cold, Cold, Mixed-Humid, Marine, Hot-Humid, Hot-Dry/Mixed-Dry
- BSI
If we don’t call things by their right names we don’t really understand how things work.1 If we don’t understand how things work how can we prevent problems from happening? Or how can we fix problems… Read More
- BSI
If someone invented wood today it would never be approved as a building material. It burns, it rots, it has different strength properties depending on its orientation, no two pieces are alike, and… Read More
- BSI
- NEWS
Flanged windows and foam plastic insulating sheathing.Sometimes I don’t get it. Why would anyone deliberately recommend a thermal bridge when it is completely unnecessary? The window industry must… Read More
- BSI
Of course the crazy way we speak about the Second Law does not help: “In an isolated system, a process can occur only if it increases the total entropy of the system.” Huh? It makes you want to hate… Read More
- BSI
- NEWS
I did a bunch of wood foundations in the early 1980’s. Time of Blondie, Kim Carnes and the Police. I learned a great deal…some good…. some bad. The bad taught me a lot of things to avoid. At the… Read More
- BSI
Now I am a simple kind of guy. I just bet that a roof with a couple of hundred bullet holes probably leaked I wonder what all those holes did to the roof at the Superdome? Just asking.I remind… Read More
- BSI
You have got to love salesmen. They figure things out way before physicists, usually before engineers and certainly before greenie weenies. Harry Tschumi and Les Blades,1 a pair of salesmen from… Read More
- BSI
Civilians seem to think that we have the technology to go into a space, do a test, and determine what is in the air. As simple as that sounds we can’t do it. We don’t have the technology.1 You cannot… Read More
- BSI
- NEWS
“gas separation processes and open cell low density spray foam”1Lots of attics insulated with open cell low density spray foam (Photograph 1, Photograph 2 and Photograph 3) are having problems – in… Read More
- BSI
- NEWS
Claddings and trim get the most stress imaginable next to roofing. They get rain and sun and go through huge temperature swings. Recognize these stressors? The principle “damage functions” of… Read More
Cold
- BSI
- NEWS
It is not easy to separate townhouses and row houses from one another (Photograph 1). And from garages. And of course from the outside. Photograph 1: Row Houses – Beautiful until you try to have… Read More
- BSI
So what do you do when you have an old building and the walls aren’t doing their job? What do you do when the walls look bad, leak and are falling apart? You give them a face-lift. We’ve been doing… Read More
- BSI
- NEWS
There. I said it. It just does not work. OK, it works sometimes1. But it does not work in tight building enclosures and certainly not in new houses, apartments, townhouses and row houses. … Read More
- BSI
Water causes enough trouble by itself, but when we add salt we go to a whole different level, especially where porous materials are concerned. What is the deal with porous materials? Simple, porous… Read More
- BSI
I love wine. People think that I must know something about the stuff because I drink a lot of it. I don’t really know that much, but I do know what I like: red, and French and with a cork. Most of… Read More
- BSI
Crawlspaces stink, they rot, and are just plain icky. Photograph 1 shows the modern crawlspace, which is a forest of water droplets on the underside of fiberglass batt insulation. The exposed wood… Read More
Mixed-Humid, Hot-Humid
- BSI
The reason we go to Kentucky for bourbon and not to Pennsylvania is because of the Revolutionary War debt. The new republic started off in a lot of debt because of the Revolutionary War. I know it is… Read More
- BSI
* Credit to architect Edward Mazria: I think he said this first, if he didn't say it first he sure says it well.Many “green” buildings don’t save energy (see “MIS-LEED-ING” sidebar). Why? They have… Read More
- BSI
- NEWS
Moving air handlers from attics is a good idea…even better add more attic insulation at the same time…what could go wrong?The worst thing you could do is install furnaces and air conditioning systems… Read More
- BSI
For a bunch of supposedly clever folks we sure do dumb things. One of the big ideas of the past couple of decades or so is to keep the heat out during cooling and keep the heat in during heating. The… Read More
- BSI
Ever wonder how we can build a 50 story glass tower that doesn’t leak, but we can’t seem to build a two-story house that doesn’t leak? The answer is a little bit of counter intuitive thinking.We have… Read More
- BSI
Here is a pop quiz for you folks that are bored of Jeopardy. California is desert. Florida is a swamp. We build concrete slab-on-grade in both places. Which place has more slab moisture problems? Yes… Read More
- BSI
Buildings today are hollow and multilayered with numerous air gaps or void spaces. Chases, shafts, soffits and drops abound. Everything is connected to everything else, typically unintentionally.… Read More
- BSI
The perfect wall is an environmental separator—it has to keep the outside out and the inside in. In order to do this the wall assembly has to control rain, air, vapor and heat. In the old days we… Read More
- BSD
- NEWS
The energy used in institutional, commercial, and industrial buildings in cold climates (zone 4 and above) is substantial. Most of this energy is used after construction is complete; hence, reducing… Read More
Cold
- BSD
Condensation within walls during cold weather is a common performance problem. Most such condensation is due to air leakage, not diffusion. Although air barrier and vapor control layers can reduce… Read More
Very Cold, Cold
- BSD
Putting metrics on building energy performance is a required step to make any progress on low-energy use and/or “green” buildings. However, there are many confusing and contradictory metrics… Read More
- BSD
The difference between site and source energy is a vital concept to understand when looking at the energy performance of buildings—failing to account for the difference will result in an apples-to-… Read More
- BSD
This digest offers a detailed explanation of the causes of carpet discoloration, particulate deposits on surfaces and "ghosting" of wood stud members on the interior gypsum board surfaces of exterior… Read More
- BSD
Unvented roof assemblies, such as conditioned attics and unvented cathedral ceilings, are becoming common in North American construction. These assemblies are created by eliminating ventilation… Read More
- BSD
Driving rain on building facades is on of the largest sources of moisture that impacts durability of enclosures. Several approaches to predicting driving rain on buildings have been developed over… Read More
- BSD
Stucco and EIFS are common cladding systems that appear similar from the exterior. These systems have very different attributes however. This Digest explains the reasons why face-sealed EIFS are… Read More
- BSD
The current building industry focus on durability is in part a reaction to the current perceived lack of it. Warranty claims and callbacks are increasingly leading to a rise in litigation and… Read More
- BSD
The American Foursquare, a Sears, Roebuck & Co. kit home, was a staple of small American towns between 1908 and 1940. More than 100,000 of them were built in America. Homes built prior to 1980… Read More
Cold
- BSD
Moisture is involved in most building problems. The most serious tend to be structural damage due to wood decay, unhealthy fungal growth, corrosion, freeze-thaw, and damage to moisture sensitive… Read More
- BSD
Ice dams are a common roof performance problem in buildings that experience snowfall and at least a month of below freezing temperatures. The combination of sufficient roof pitch, adequate insulation… Read More
Very Cold, Cold, Mixed-Humid
- BSD
Ice rinks and arenas are a common building type in many communities. The trend over the last 25 years has been to operate these arenas for greater periods of the year, often throughout the summer.… Read More
- BSD
Pitched roofs of either wood rafter and joist or truss construction are used in the construction of literally millions of homes and small commercial buildings each year. There are variations in these… Read More
- BSD
This digest reviews the moisture control principles that must be followed for a successful insulated retrofit of a solid load-bearing masonry wall. Two possible approaches to retrofitting such walls… Read More
Very Cold, Cold
- BSD
There has been a recent surge of interest in Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP or “geothermal” or GeoExchange™) systems for residential projects. Outrageous claims and misunderstandings about how they… Read More
- BSD
This digest will begin with a brief description of the system and materials, review moisture problems in buildings, and summarize how moisture control should be dealt with in strawbale buildings.
- BSD
We learn our lessons from disaster. Hurricane Andrew taught us about wind. Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne taught us about rain. The Red River of the North Basin taught us about floods.… Read More
Mixed-Humid, Marine, Hot-Humid
- BSD
Are multifamily buildings one building or a bunch of individual buildings sharing the same structure? Should services and systems be shared or individual? The passions regarding these questions are… Read More
- BSD
Air flow in buildings is one of the major factors that governs the interaction of the building structure with the mechanical system, climate and occupants. If the air flow at any point within a… Read More
Hot-Humid, Hot-Dry/Mixed-Dry
- BSD
Water comes in four forms: solid, liquid, vapor and adsorbed. All four forms can cause grief to building owners, designers and contractors. When water causes building problems investigating and… Read More
Pagination
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