Insulation Institute Blog

Posts Categorized: Air Sealing

Getting Higher Performance at Lower Costs

Maximizing energy performance to cost in new construction homes is every home builder’s goal and every home buyer’s expectation. Research shows that home buyers want energy efficiency but also need affordability. For builders committed to maximizing efficiency, fiberglass and mineral wool insulation products offer both performance and cost-effectiveness.

In this week’s blog, we highlight three publications that demonstrate that fiberglass and mineral wool can be used to meet any high-performance building approach. 

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Controlling Air Flow in the Common Wall

It’s difficult to determine how much air is entering a house through walls that are built, not only for shelter and support but also to prevent airflow as an energy conservation measure. However, several ASTM tests are available to accurately measure airflow through common walls to aid in determining problem areas and finding ways to abate unwanted airflow.

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Controlling Air Flow in the Common Wall

Airtightness and Ventilation Can Thwart COVID-19

The infectious disease and HVAC engineering communities have been grappling with the complexities of COVID-19 transmission for the past nine months. Increased HVAC fresh air has the potential to dilute and remove the aerosol droplet particles of COVID-19 that many experts believe is one of the main sources of transmission. Now the building science community is starting to contribute to the discussion. Insulation Institute talks this week with Paul Grahovac, LEED AP, about the ventilation solution to COVID-19.

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Airtightness and Ventilation Can Thwart COVID-19

10 Hidden Air Leaks in New Construction

Sealing common air leakage pathways is key to achieving a tight thermal envelope. Often, hidden holes in new construction homes can make achieving an airtight envelope very difficult. Knowing where these hidden holes tend to occur can help builders avoid a massive air leakage issue. Our 10 Hidden Air Leaks in New Construction Homes guide covers the most common areas where these holes occur and offers solutions to fix the holes during the construction process.

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10 Hidden Air Leaks in New Construction

Our Top 10 Blog Posts of 2019

Like last year, some of our best-performing blog posts focused on air sealing and proper installation and application of fiberglass and mineral wool insulation, which is no surprise, since we’re the Insulation Institute. However, other topics like energy efficiency design trends and the prioritization of energy efficiency over energy generation ranked highly as well.

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Our Top 10 Blog Posts of 2019

Award-Winning Builds…Even at the Low End

For the second time in three years, North Carolina Builder Shawn Jessup has won a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Housing Innovation Award. While Jessup’s scale may be small, at two to three builds per year, he is in high demand. S.D. Jessup Construction fields constant requests from potential customers in Raleigh, NC and other areas more than two hours away from their Pilot Mountain, NC base. Insulation Institute reached out to Jessup to get the scoop on his formula for constructing award-winning homes.

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Award-Winning Builds…Even at the Low End

3 Basics for Visibly Great Insulation Jobs

We’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands of photos of fiberglass insulation jobs here at NAIMA, some good, some not so good…and some superb. When we came across Yudah Schwartz’s post on LinkedIn, it immediately caught our attention because we recognized an exceptional batt insulation job. The precision shown in installing the batts properly was clearly visible in the photos. So, we wanted to know more. He recently shared his views on the three essentials to getting visibly great insulation jobs.

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3 Basics for Visibly Great Insulation Jobs

You Have One Job: Insulation or Air Sealing

One of the best ways to keep informed of building industry trends and learn insights from industry experts is reading blogs and publications. However, sometimes, these sources can leave readers confused about the fundamentals of building science, the performance of building products, and ultimately, share misleading information. Frequently, writers conflate the role of insulation and air sealing, so it’s important to examine the difference.

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You Have One Job: Insulation or Air Sealing

The Air Sealing Learning Curve

When newer editions of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) are introduced in states, often there’s a learning curve for home builders, especially when it comes to verification of a home’s air tightness with a blower door test. Some builders are having a tough go of meeting the new requirements.  Increasingly, they’re relying on energy efficiency professionals, like HERS raters to help them achieve the target. Insulation Institute spoke with Jonathan Lang, Manager of Training & Certifications for Knauf Insulation who is a BPI Certified Building Analyst, Building Performance Specialist, and ICC Residential Energy Inspector (whew!). We spoke about the challenges builders face in meeting air tightness requirements and why communication and education are so critical to meeting the targets.

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The Air Sealing Learning Curve