#26 – 2021 Bonus Episode EEBA Session – Creating an Airtight Shaft Liner Area Separation Wall

December 13, 2021

Creating an Airtight Shaft Liner Area Separation Wall

The IECC requires that town homes and duplexes achieve 3 or 5 ACH50 depending on the climate zone the dwelling is built in. My experience is that attached housing is 2-3 time leakier than detached even though detached is generally twice as large. In the past creating airtight attached dwellings has been quite difficult and costly do to the 1” to ¾” gap between the area separation and structural components of the assembly. Two recently completed UL and ICC/NAT tests are changing how we should think about construction and air sealing this assembly. This BUILDCast, explores what fire separation means and how air leakage can now be addressed.

Listen on Anchor Now

Energy & Environmental Building Alliance

EEBA 2021 Summit

Reach out to me directly if you would like a copy of the slides for this presentation robby@btankinc.com

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Our expectations of the performance of houses has changes faster than how we build to achieve that performance. So, at the beginning of a conversation in the construction industry, when I hear, “I have been building for 30 year” I think to myself, there are only two outcomes from this conversation. First, the person is putting up a guard and will not be receptive to an applied building science approach. You know, houses have to breath or your telling me to tighten up the house and then pouch a hole in it for ventilation. On the other hand, the person may have amazing insights and experiences to share.

When I step back, I realize that I’ve almost been working in this industry for 30 years. With an emphasis on sustainable High-performance building I still struggle to integrate what I do into mainstream building, yet I tend to learn something new everyday that takes me one step closer. Having these difficult yet enlightening conversation is often were I learn the most.

At BuildTank, our mission is to use what we learn by applying building science in the field to affect meaningful change in the construction industry. This BUILDcast is the next step. By having broad conversations with the players in the industry we will learn something new from their story that will move us forward toward taking sustainable buildings to mainstream building.