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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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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