Pressure Equalized Rainscreen Applications

In Brick Masonry  (See BIA Technical Notes 27 - Brick Masonry Rain Screen Walls.)

In Metal Panel (See AAMA 508-07 Voluntary Test Method and Specification for Pressure Equalized Rain Screen Wall Cladding Systems.)

In Insulated Metal Panel (Refer to Centria product line.)

In Clapboard Siding (This is an empirical design.)

In EIFS (See Dryvit product line.)

In Curtainwall (See AAMA CW-RS-1 Rain Screen Principle and Pressure Equalization.)

Designing Pressure Equalized Rainscreen Walls

Whether or not you are testing you Pressure Equalized Rainscreen (PER) to a standard such as AAMA 508, there are prescriptive practices to design pressure equalized screen walls for maximum pressure moderation. There are essentially three components that require detailed attention: the rainscreen, the compartments, and the air barrier.

Rainscreen

There needs to be a screen that permits the passage of air and manages water infiltration.

What seems to be the most counter-productive aspect of pressure equalized design is that the exterior wall needs to be full of ventilation holes. Each compartment needs to be ventilated to the exterior so that as the pressure changes, air can flow in and out of the compartment to make up the difference and keep the chamber equalized. Since holes are ordinarily a problem, it is necessary to pay careful attention to these vents.

To be effective, the vents need to be sized in proportion to the volume and rigidity of the compartment, and the air leakage rate of the air barrier. For example, the ratio of volume to vent area can be as small as 25 m / 82 ft for 13 mm / 1/2 in cavities in masonry compartments (Vent ≥ Volume / 50 m). A larger ratio of 50 m / 164 ft may be required for 25 mm / 1 in cavities in gypsum wallboard compartments (Vent ≥ Volume / 25 m). The ratio of equivalent air barrier leakage area (ELA) to vent area should be no more than 20 (Vent ≥ 20 × ELA).

The holes also need to be located in one location to prevent cross currents. Cross currents would likely create an area of low pressure inside the compartment in accordance with the Burnulli principle. Unfortunately, if you had to choose a chronic problem of either high or low pressure, low pressure is the worst because it will pull water into the cavity. From one point of view, the holes should be in the center of the face of the compartment to permit the most uniform pressure equalization across the compartment. In practice, however, it is best to distribute them along the bottom to assist with drainage. There is some research that suggests distributing them to the side away from the corner of the building may even help to pressurize the chamber, which would help resist infiltration of water.

Otherwise, the vents need to be designed to sound principles that would apply to any construction. They need to be larger than 10 mm (3/8 inch) so that water can’t span and block the opening, promoting capillary infiltration. They need to incorporate labyrinths by design or location to resist water infiltration by momentum. They need to be protected behind drips to resist and located at the bottom of the compartments so that water is always flashed down and out by gravity.

Compartments

There needs to be drained compartments that are open only to the exterior.

Because wind pressures vary across the face of the building, with the greatest pressures on the corners and along the edges, with the least pressures in the center field, the compartments are usually sized in proportion to the wind loading to keep the cost down. Small compartments no larger than 1 meter (4 feet) in length are constructed in the zone within 6 m (20 feet) of the perimeter. In the central portion of the wall, the compartments may be as large as 6 m (20 feet) in length. This provides an adequate approximation of the wind loading differentials.

Of course, since the point of having different compartments is that the pressure may be different from one compartment to the next, the compartments delimiters must be designed to prevent lateral flow between the compartments. Horizontal delimiters are often easy to design and often pre-exist at every floor line in brick construction as the shelf angle. Other systems such as metal panels or stone veneer require a whole new way of thinking because they tend to be supported off clip angles which then become an impediment to compartment design.

The size of the compartment volume in relation to the size of the vents in the screen is proportional to its ability to equalize. Therefore, to achieve maximize equalization with minimize vent size, the compartment volume needs to be as small as possible. Unfortunately, in most assemblies, this is also the best location for the insulation. If rigid insulation is used, the volume of the compartment is decreased by the volume of the insulation. If semi-rigid or batt insulation is used, only some of the volume of the compartment is lost mathematically; it’s actual effect on the equalization can be either positive or negative. If the insulation is full thickness in the compartment, it provides resistance to airflow within the compartment and hence resistance to its ability to equalize. If a free and clear compartment is maintained, my estimation is the insulation will provide some moderation to the equalization.

Pressure equalizing compartments continue to be subject to water infiltration, even with all the performance enhancement of the pressure moderation. Porous materials, construction joints, line-of-sight weeps, and design or construction errors will continue to provide paths into the cavity. Therefore, it is critical to drain each compartment just like any other cavity construction.

Air Barrier

There needs to be a waterproof air barrier that is capable of maintaining a pressure differential.

Building exteriors are subject to pressure differentials due to HVAC balancing, stack effects in tall buildings, and wind pressures. Depending on the HVAC design, the balancing component can be uniform over the entire exterior or can vary slightly from room to room. Stack effects tend to be exterior positive at the lower levels and exterior negative at the upper levels, and can easily add up to an inch of water in tall buildings. (See CBD-104: Stack Effect in Buildings.) Wind pressures can change rapidly from positive to negative as the wind changes direction, in strength as the wind gusts, and in relative severity depending on location in the middle of the building or near a corner. (See CBD-34: Wind Pressures on Buildings.) All these forces get added together at each particular moment and location on the exterior facade. The design of the building can be such that the pressure differential is distributed throughout the thickness of the facade, or concentrated on a single material such as an air barrier. The air barrier needs to have the structural integrity to withstand these forces without failure. For PER, the air barrier needs to be the plane at the back of the compartment.

Air barriers come in two varieties. There are flexible sheets such as Tyvek that are effective in providing draft control, and coatings or sheets such as Blueskin/Air-Block or Perm-A-Barrier, that are applied to a structural substrate the provide both draft and pressure control. The latter rigid air barrier is required so that the volume of the pressure equalization chamber does not change in volume, inadvertently transmitting some of the pressure differential across the barrier and nullifying the effectiveness of the compartment.

Because there are forces in addition to pressure which could successfully transmit water through product, design, or construction defects into the compartment, the air barrier must be waterproof so that incidental moisture that reaches it will be blocked from proceeding farther into the building. Many special-purpose air barriers are also water barriers (and frequently vapor barriers as well, but that is a consideration for a different topic), providing a one-component solution for multiple considerations.

That's all there is to the PER: the screen, the compartments, and the air barrier. With these concepts, you can conceptually detail your PER very early in the project. By understanding them, you can communicate better with consultants and manufacturers' reps how to efficiently apply these concepts to your design, and to refine your details for greatest effectiveness.

Water Infiltration through Exterior Walls - Pressure, Part 4 of a 4 Part Series

There are four ways that water enters a building:

1. By Gravity.
   
2. By Momentum (kinetic energy).
3. By Capillarity.
4. By Pressure.

When you buy a beverage at a fast-food restaurant, it comes with a cap and straw. The cap is useful if the beverage gets tipped, because it retains most of the liquid--perhaps even all the liquid if a sufficient vacuum is formed inside the cup. But when you use the straw to drink it, you create an area of low pressure in your mouth which is sufficient to overcome the gravity and vacuum that is trying to keep the beverage in the container. If the beverage is thick like a milkshake, a greater pressure differential has to be induced or a larger straw used to overcome its greater viscosity, but it is still a pressure differential that enables you to successfully drink your beverage.

Building exteriors work the same way. As long as they are capped and closed in, water tends to stay where it is supposed to stay--outside the building. But they tend to be full of straws of all shapes and sizes due to changes of materials, construction joints, and material deterioration, and they tend to be subject to pressure differentials due to HVAC balancing, stack effects in tall buildings, and wind pressures that rapidly change not only in strength but also from positive to negative.

Just as pressure can overcome a variety of forces in the beverage example, the pressure differential in buildings can and will overcome gravity, momentum, and capillarity to draw water into the building. As there are ways to manage gravity (using flashing to continuously direct water down and out), momentum (blocking the line-of-sight holes), and capillarity (installing capillary breaks), there are ways to manage pressure as a water transport force.

The outstanding concept is to maintain the pressure inside identical to the pressure outside. Then, only the gravity, momentum, and capillary forces are available for water transport. However simple this sounds, in reality it is impossible when dealing with wind loads. The windward side will be under positive pressure and the leeward side will be under negative pressure. The volume inside cannot match both simultaneously.

However, if the exterior skin has an internal cavity that is composed of multiple compartments, each compartment can be pressurized according to the wind pressure in effect at its location, which may be different from a neighboring compartment. The pressure differentials are isolated to the interior wythe only, between the compartments and the interior of the building, rather than spread out through the entire thickness of the exterior enclosure. Although a pressure differential is still available to help transport water to the interior of the building, if the exterior screen has done its job, no water will be available to be transported at the point where the pressure differential takes place.

No assembly that we have can instantaneously and completely equalize a compartment to the exterior. Fortunately an instant response is not necessary because the water transport is also not instant. If there is a small enough time lag and great enough response to changes in pressure, the assembly will be successful. In other words, it is really a case of "pressure moderation." How much moderation is required to be successful is the subject of research. According to AAMA 508-07 "Pressure Equalized Rain Screen Wall Cladding", it should be 50% of the pressure within 0.08 seconds. Many manufacturers have been developing systems that have been tested to this standard.
 

Water Infiltration through Exterior Walls - Capillarity, Part 3 of a 4 Part Series

There are four ways that water enters a building:

1. By Gravity.
   
2. By Momentum (kinetic energy).
3. By Capillarity.
4. By Pressure.

Free drops of water will by nature take on a spherical shape - the geometric shape that encloses the most volume with the least surface area - because of the cohesive properties of water. However, many things can interrupt the cohesive forces, making water both a versatile and destructive material. Those forces that can overcome the cohesion of water include gravity, which tends to flatten the sphere, and attraction and adhesion to other materials, which can completely overcome the water's cohesion and "stretch" it along a surface.

Water tends to have a natural adhesion to many building materials, but various pollutants and cleaning agents may break down the cohesion and viscosity of water more than normal to increase its adhesion. We call those combination of forces the wetting ability.

This would not be a problem except that those same building materials often come with pores and cracks - little tubes composed of the wettable surface. The tubes increase the available surface area for a given volume of water, increasing the relative effectiveness of the adhesive forces. If the tubes are the right size, the adhesion can completely overcome the water's cohesion, turning the pore or crack into an effective transport medium to drag the water from one place to another, even over great distances. If the pores or cracks are even further right sized, these forces can even overcome gravity, allowing the water to be drug uphill.

One thing about capillarity is that it tends to take time to transport the water. If the walls are thick enough, the rainstorm will end before the water has made it the whole way to the interior, and the transport will reverse during the following dry period. Therefore, capillarity could more or less be ignored in traditional thick construction.

With our modern high performance thin construction, building designers need to take capillarity into account, just as they do gravity and momentum, if they will design durable structures. The first line of defense is to acknowledge that capillarity will happen, and to use materials with enough integrity to withstand freeze-thaw cycles with very little deterioration over a long period of time. Even porous materials such as brick come in varieties that meet this requirement.

The second line of defense is to provide capillary breaks so that the water cannot be transported the whole way into the interior. The capillary break can be a 10 mm (3/8") or larger gap, or a layer of water-impermeable material. In many modern wall constructions, there may be multiple capillary breaks intentionally or not. The multiple breaks aid in the durability of the building by providing a back-up in case the first break is bridged or compromised.

The right size for water transport tends be be in the range of 5 mm (3/16") to 0.01mm (the thickness of a human hair). Within this range, pores and cracks less than 0.5 mm (the thickness of a business or credit card) can even transport water uphill.  Pores and cracks larger than this range will tend not to support capillarity, but will allow water intrusion by momentum. Cracks smaller than this range can still take on water, but they do not support capillarity in the sense that the adhesion bonds tend to be so strong they will not release the water. Then, if they are subject to freeze-thaw cycles and the expansion of the water as it turns into ice is sufficient to overcome the cohesive forces of the building material, the entrained water will widen the cracks as it freezes, enabling future capillary transport.

Although there is a right size for capillarity, pores larger and smaller can still be effective and even rapid conduits for water transport, if other forces such as gravity or differential pressure are added to the capillary forces. The next essay will look at how pressure differential impacts water intrusion.

Water Infiltration through Exterior Walls - Momentum, Part 2 of a 4 Part Series

There are four ways that water enters a building:

1. By Gravity.
   
2. By Momentum (kinetic energy).
3. By Capillarity.
4. By Pressure.

Free water is frequently blown at buildings by the wind. Wind is, of course, nothing more than moving air. When a moving mass of air reaches a building, it cannot pass through the enclosure. It also cannot build up in infinite quantities on the face of the building, so it diverts itself around the building. To a certain extent, the molecules that make up the moving mass never actually touch the building because they are buffered by a mass of air adjacent to the building.

Rain may get caught up by and carried along with the wind, enabling the water to approach the building in something other than a vertical direction. However, the rain has a tendency to keep moving in the same direction when it gets to the building, even as the air is diverting itself around the building. The tendency is a force we call momentum. Though the moving air might not reach the building, the moving water does, and it accumulates on the enclosure until it is removed by gravity.

If a particular drop of water reaches the building at a point where there is a hole in the facade, it will continue unabated into or even through the building enclosure, depending on the size and depth of the hole.

If the hole is large, such as a doorway, viewport, or ventilation opening, we are intuitively aware of the problem and we mitigate the problem of water entry by providing closures such as doors, windows, shutters, and louvers.

However, buildings tend to have other holes that more easily escape our attention such as weeps in veneer brick,  reveals in metal panels, joints between dissimilar materials, and even expansion joints. These holes cannot be blocked in the same way that a door or window is blocked, but the momentum of flying water can be blocked on the same principle that makes louvers work: designing labyrinths that interrupt every straight line and convert the primary force acting on the water from momentum to gravity.

Buildings also sometimes have unintentional holes resulting from a construction omission, natural disaster or aging, or vandalism. When these occur, the solution is to engage workmen to close up the hole with like material or a complementary material designed for that purpose, such as sealant.

As a final note, holes that are smaller than 5mm (3/16") do not need to be considered in terms of momentum. The reason is that it is nearly impossible for a water drop to pass through such a small opening without being attracted to or otherwise disrupted by the sides of the hole. However, capillarity tends to take over at the moment that momentum is arrested, introducing another means by which water can enter a building. But that is the topic of another essay.

Water Infiltration through Exterior Walls - Gravity, Part 1 of a 4 Part Series

There are four ways that water enters a building:

1. By Gravity.
   
2. By Momentum (kinetic energy).
3. By Capillarity.
4. By Pressure.

Gravity draws free water towards the earth in as direct a path as possible. This path will be a vertical line until the water hits an obstruction, at which time gravity will pull the water along the portion of the obstruction with the greatest downward slope. The diversion principle is used to control water infiltration into a building. The the most common application of diversion is the roof and associated gutters and downspouts.

Although roofs go a long way to keeping exterior walls dry, sometimes we design our walls to extend past the roof in the form of parapets, and sometimes wind-blown rain makes the walls wet. In each case, water is delivered to the wall, and gravity has an opportunity the pull the water through the wall and even into the building.

The first line of defense is to pay particular attention to any wall surface that is not vertical. The most common are parapet copings, window sills, and ledges. Every joint in these surfaces is a potential crack, caused by faulty design or construction or the wear and tear of time, through which water can enter the wall. The opportunities are particularly prevalent when brick is used as the horizontal material at these details. The best design is to design each of these details as little roofs using waterproof materials, generous slopes, and proper lapping of joints.

The second line of defense is to provide adequate flashing within the wall to direct water back towards the exterior. For this reason, flashing is required by code at the perimeters of door and window assemblies, penetrations and terminations of exterior wall assemblies, exterior wall intersections with roofs, chimneys, porches, decks, balconies and similar projections and at built-in gutters and similar locations where moisture could enter the wall.

The third line of defense is to fully drain infiltrated water back to the exterior. To do so requires the prudent use of water resistant barriers to collect the water, sloped channeling of the water to the weeps, and flashings that extend to a drip edge beyond the face of the exterior skin to direct the water back outside. The first and last are well understood and can be easily implemented. The idea of sloped internal channels is not well understood and even harder to implement. It's not well understood because we as designers forget that water can accumulate on any flat surface inside the walls just as it does outside; we carefully design a 4 inch window sill to slope away from the window and forget about the 2 foot long internal gutter between our weep holes. It's even harder to implement because sloped gutters cannot be formed as an integral part of a wall system that has a perfectly horizontal exterior expression; it's particularly hard in masonry construction where we are still trying to master the problem of mortar droppings in the cavity in the first place, let alone figuring out how to slope the top of the mortar droppings so that they drain to the weep holes. Companies such as CavClear, Mortar Net, and ThermaDrain have done much to help us resolve the problem of mortar droppings blocking weep holes. However, we as designers need to challenge them to help us provide positive and complete drainage as Mortar Net has begun with its TOTALFlash system.

More About Insulating Plastics in Exterior Wall Construction

Quality construction is more than just meeting code. This article looks at issues related to Foam Plastic Insulation (FPI) that go beyond the code and the simple sustainable goal of increasing energy efficiency.

Regarding Sustainability
As with any plastic, FPI is inherently flammable. Manufacturers formulate the FPI with fire-retardant additives which go a long way to improving their performance in fire situations. The sustainable problem is that the fire retardants usually contain bromine. The type of bromine used in FPI, Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), is known to be somewhat persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic to human beings. It's considered a borderline case requiring more research subsequent to more regulation in Europe. The call is out to look for replacements. You can find an articles addressing the issue here on BuildingGreen.com.

Regarding Fire
Fire-retardant additives go a long way to improving the performance of plastics in fire situations as quantified by ASTM E 84. It's conceivable you could light a match to a sample of insulation and see absolutely no fire propagation. But what about real building fires? Large-scale fire tests such as NFPA 286, FM 4880, UL 1040, and UL 1715 expose 20-30 foot high corner assemblies to a burning crib that is more akin to a real fire, and observations and measurements are taken. In these tests, the fire-retardant additives have negligible effect.

And it's borne out by experience. In a 21-year recent study, FM Global determined that 80 percent of the damage in fires involving plastic construction materials was caused by FPI. In May 2008, they issued new guidelines for cavity walls (Data Sheet 1-12) as follows:

Protect new exterior cavity walls using one of the following methods:

1. Use FM Approved Class 1, expanded glass insulation in cavity walls, or
2. Use FM Approved Class 1, foil-faced polyisocyanurate insulation in cavity walls, or
3. Use combustible insulation over a noncombustible substrate, but eliminate the air space so the thermal barriers are in direct contact with the insulation on both surfaces, or
4. Use combustible insulation over a noncombustible substrate in conjunction with fire stops to divide the wall cavities into areas not exceeding 2000 ft2 (186 m2).

In all cases, ensure the exterior wall veneer and the substrate for the insulation are noncombustible. Do not directly attach combustible insulation to wall studs.

What's not immediately obvious to those who are not familiar with the entire Data Sheet is that non-combustible insulation (such as mineral wool) is the preferred insulation.

In existing buildings, the FM Global recommendation is to install sprinklers around the perimeter to control the fire should the exterior wall somehow be compromised and the insulation catch on fire.

Regarding Thermal Barriers
Thermal barriers are also a tricky thing. If the barrier is not in direct, continuous contact with the plastic, then there is no telling how the assembly will perform in a fire. Therefore, 1/2-inch Type X gypsum board or 3/4-inch FR-treated plywood should only be used as a thermal barrier when in direct contact with a smooth insulation such as an insulating board. For spray-applied polyurethane, a thermal barrier that conforms to the contours should be used (such as Carboline Pyrocrete L/D or W.R. Grace Monokote Type Z-3306, or 1/2-inch Portland cement plaster on metal lath). Metal (0.016 in. steel or 0.32 in. aluminum) is effective as a thermal barrier in factory-formed sandwich panels because it allows a properly-formulated core to char, protecting the rest of the core.

Continuous Insulation for Exterior Cavity Walls

There is some debate regarding the best type of insulation to use as the continuous insulation in exterior cavity walls. The most prevalent product used in America is foam plastic insulation (FPI), but we are becoming increasingly aware of its shortcomings. This article will look at some of the issues and then some solutions.

The primary shortcoming of FPI is that it is combustible, and combustible materials are not permitted in concealed spaces in Types I and II construction except under specific conditions. Chapter 7 lists a few exceptions, of which FPI is not one, but cross references to Chapter 6 [717.5 ex. 1] where in regards to FPI, there is a cross reference to Chapter 26 [603.1 no. 3].

In interior or Type V construction, the FPI must have flame spread <= 75 and smoke developed <= 450 [2603.3], and there must be a thermal barrier between FPI and the interior of the building (except in certain specific circumstances not related to typical cavity wall situations) [2603.4]. In exterior walls of all other types of construction, there are more requirements:

1. If the wall is required to be fire rated, you need to document that ASTM E 119 results remain valid. [2603.5.1]
   
2. There must be a thermal barrier between FPI and the interior of the building (except in certain specific circumstances not related to typical cavity wall situations). [2603.4 as reaffirmed by 2603.5.2]
   
3. The potential heat of the FPI (NFPA 259) cannot exceed that permitted by NFPA 285. [2603.5.3]
4. FPI must have flame spread <= 25 and smoke developed <= 450. (ASTM E 84) [2603.3 as modified by 2603.5.4]
5. The whole wall assembly needs to be tested to NFPA 285 [2603.5.5] (except for certain one story buildings. [2603.4.1.4]).
6. The FPI needs to be labeled. [2603.5.6]
7. The FPI needs to be tested to NFPA 268 for ignition. [2603.5.7]

One exception is if the FPI is applied to the interior face of the exterior wall. In such a situation, it may be construed that it is not longer a component of an exterior wall assembly, and therefore only needs to be protected by a 15 minute thermal barrier  complying with 2603.4.

Now that we know the issues, we can look for solutions.

FPI
Looking through the ICC Evaluation Service Reports, there are lots of EPS, XPS, and polyiso products that meet the requirements for Type V construction. However, only a few qualify for other Types of construction. For Types III and V construction, there are products by Baysystems North America, Icynene, Inc., SWD Urethane Co., and Thermal Foams. For all construction types, I have only found only the following:

• Dow Chemical Company: STYROFOAM (XPS), ASTM C 578 Types IV and X (http://www.icc-es.org/reports/pdf_files/ICC-ES/ESR-2142.pdf) when used up to 2.5" thick in steel stud or masonry backed cavities with 4" brick veneer. R-value = 5.0/in.
  
• Dow also has a Thermax system for which the facing can be 4" clay brick, 3/4" 3-coat stucco, 2" limestone, metal composite material (MCM), 1-1.25" terra cotta, cement board, or metal panel. This system has achieved a 1-hour fire rating.
• Falcon Foam, A Division of Atlas Roofing Corporation: EPS Insulation Boards, ASTM C 578 Types I, II, VIII, and IX (http://www.icc-es.org/reports/pdf_files/ICC-ES/ESR-1962.pdf). The product is used in approved EIFS assemblies, but I have no information that it has been tested in any cavity wall assemblies.
  
• Centria: invelope has passed NFPA 285. Although Centria has not listed with ICC-ES, the other aspects of 2603.5 are easily addressed.

Fiber Board
The scarcity of legal FPI products for non-type V construction is good enticement to check out other products. Fiberglass is not a good choice because it doesn't hold up well to the water exposure that is always present on the exterior side of the weather barrier membrane. Mineral wool, on the other hand, is naturally water resistant and has the added advantage of being fire proof! The following manufacturers manufacture mineral wool products with waterproof binders that are appropriate for cavity installations, R-value = 4.2/in.:

• Fibrex
• Roxul
• Thermafiber

The drawback to fiber insulation is you need 2-1/2" thickness to achieve the same R-10 insulating value as 2" FPI. Fortunately, this additional thickness is still within the range of common masonry anchoring systems.

Foam Glass
Pittsburgh Corning manufactures and markets cellular glass insulation in Europe for exterior wall applications. If you're interested in imports, it is a consideration. See http://www.foamglasinsulation.com/building/.

EIFS is Legitimate

The 2009 IBC has canonized EIFS as an acceptable exterior wall finish, much like metal composite materials such as Alucobond. Up to this version, EIFS has only been acceptable as an alternative design, and was covered by evaluation reports.

This is due to the apparently tireless efforts of EIMA (the EIFS Industry Members Association, comprising BASF, Dryvit, ParexLahabra, and Sto) to develop test methods and installation procedures, and to assert better controls over their contractors, that will result in successful and durable EIFS systems as a matter of course.

The most recent development is ASTM E 2568 and ASTM E 2570, which are the conversions of the ICC acceptance criteria AC 219 and AC 212. ASTM E 2568 is the specification for the EIFS system as a whole and ASTM E 2570 is the specification for the water resistive barrier between the insulation and the substrate. These in turn reference other EIMA standards and ICC procedures that were converted into ASTM's within the past few years: ASTM E 2098, ASTM E 2134, ASTM E 2273, ASTM E 2486, ASTM E 2430, and ASTM E 2485.

The result is that, in order to be an exterior wall material, EIFS has to comply with ASTM E 2568 and needs to undergo special inspections. Take note that ASTM E 2568 includes a grueling application of ASTM E 331 - 6.24 pounds of pressure for 2 hours, the requirement for barrier wall designs. Your standard exterior enclosure spec could likely require something far less and may need to be updated. The only relief is if the EIFS is drainable according to ASTM E 2273, a far better system that is required by the code if EIFS is installed on a residential building of Type V construction.

Even better yet might be the pressure equalized reainscreen (PER) EIFS, but it's a little harder to come by. Only Dryvit markets PER EIFS in the United States. In Canada, where PER designs are often mandated, Senergy and Sto also market PER EIFS.

Speaking of the Canadian market, Dryvit and Sto use a mineral wool board as the insuation for their PER systems. This has the added advantage of being a fire proofing material, unlike the foam insulations we use in the United States which, let's be honest, are no more than solidified fuel that's been treated to be relatively self-extinguishing in fire.

And speaking of fire brings up yet another point: FM Global stopped approving EIFS in 2006. I don't know if this is due to moisture problems or the fire hazard or both, but apparently the improvements the industry has made have not been enough to reduce their claims exposure to acceptable levels.

Never-the-less, in spite of the improvements that could still be made, EIFS is now officially a legitimate exterior wall system, confirmation of a product that has been in active development since its invention in Germany 5 decades ago.

What Does the IBC Require on Your Construction Documents?

The International Building Code not only regulates buildings, it also regulates the documents used to construct the buildings.

Here is a complete list of all the information required to be on the construction documents to comply with IBC 2006 and IECC 2006. A QA checklist must include these items at a minimum.

1. Means of Egress: number of occupants on each floor, room and space [106.1.2]
2. Exterior wall envelope: Flashings, Dissimilar material intersections, Corners, End details, Control joints, Intersections at roof, eaves, or parapets, Means of drainage, Water-resistive membrane, and Opening details [106.1.3]
3. Site plan: Lot lines, Street grades, Finish grades, Flood hazard areas, Demolitions, etc. [106.2]
4. Hazardous Materials [414.1.3]
5. Fire alarm and detection systems: 1. A floor plan which indicates the use of all rooms. 2. Locations of alarm-initiating and notification appliances. 3. Alarm control and trouble signaling equipment. 4. Annunciation. 5. Power connection. 6. Battery calculations. 7. Conductor type and sizes. 8. Voltage drop calculations. 9. Manufacturers, model numbers and listing information for equipment, devices and materials. 10. Details of ceiling height and construction. 11. The interface of fire safety control functions. [907.1.1]
6. Smoke control systems [909.2 – 909.4]
7. Floor live load [1603.1.1]
8. Roof live load [1603.1.2]
9. Roof snow load: Flat-roof snow load, Pf; Snow exposure factor, Ce; Snow load importance factor, I; Thermal factor, Cf. [1603.1.3]
10. Wind: Basic wind speed (3-second gust); Wind importance factor, I, and occupancy category; Wind exposure; Internal pressure coefficient; Design wind pressures to exterior component and cladding materials [1603.1.4]
11. Earthquake: Seismic importance factor, I, and occupancy category; Mapped spectral response accelerations, SS and S1; Site class; Spectral response coefficients, SDS and SD1; Seismic design category; Basic seismic-force-resisting system(s); Design base shear; Seismic response coefficients(s), CS; Response modification factor(s), R; Analysis procedure used [1603.1.5]
12. Flood: Special loads; Systems and components requiring special inspections for seismic resistance; (Penetrations, fire-resistant joints, roof assemblies); [1603.1.6] special documentation [1612.5]
13. Systems requiring special inspections for seismic resistance [1603.1.8]
14. Concrete: compressive strength, reinforcement strength, size and location, control joints, prestressing forces, lap splices, splices, isolation joints, posttensioning, diaphragm designations [1901.4]
15. Masonry: reinforcement size, grade, type and location, welding procedures, structural sizes and locations, control joints [2101.3]
16. Steel Joists: special loads, special considerations, deflection criteria for non-SJI standard joists [2206.2]
17. Wood Truss (16 requirements) [2303.4.1]
18. Glass with less than four-sided support [2403.2]
19. Temporary structures [3103.2]
20. Demolition [3303.1]
21. Energy: insulation materials and their R-values; fenestration U-factors and SHGCs; system and equipment efficiencies, types, sizes and controls; duct sealing, insulation and location; and air sealing details.
22. Alternative Energy Compliance: Annual energy use and associated costs, Energy-related features, Input and output report(s), Written explanation(s).

Code Analysis Summary

A quality code summary on the code cover sheet will exhibit four characteristics:

1. Clarity: It will present the information in a logical and legible way so that information can be easily located.
2. Conciseness: It will not contain irrelevant information or information that does not vary from one project to another.
3. Correctness: It will reflect an accurate analysis of the building and will display requirements next to actual design attributes for easy confirmation.
   
4. Completeness: It will encompass a summary of all categories necessary to demonstrate code compliance.

The National CAD Standard provides several categories for code information: Governing Regulations Summary, General Building Summary, Room-by-Room Egress, Foor-by-Floor Egress, Fire Resistance Ratings, Accessiblity, and Plumbing Fixture Tabulation.

This is a good start, but not quite complete. Many jurisdictions will want, for example, a listing of the responsible design professionals, a summary of the Life Safety features, key Structural Design assumptions, and an Energy Summary. All these are important and varying considerations in the International Building Code.

Here is a more complete outline for a clear and concise code summary:

• Project Information
• Jurisdiction Information
  
• Applicable Governing Regulations
  
• List of Design Professionals
• Site-Related Design Criteria
• General Building Summary
  
• List of Special Uses and Occupancies
• List of Fire Areas (showing mixed occupancies)
• Occupancy Separation
• Fire Resistance Ratings
• Fire Protection Features
  
• Means of Egress Summary
  
• Accessibility Counts
• Energy Efficiency Summary
  
• Structural Design Criteria
• Plumbing Fixture Counts

The IBC 2006 Code Analysis is a tool for analyzing and calculating key building code requirements as they relate to a particular project. This Excel spreadsheet is designed to help you achieve the four principles enumerated above. After the analysis is complete, you can copy the compiled information it into a word processor or drafting program for further formatting and editing.

LEED 2009 Specifications

Here are sample green specifications for LEED 2009, following CSI MasterFormat and SectionFormat.

It addresses the following MasterFormat Sections and LEED credits by providing commentary and sample specification language:

• Section 01 14 19 – Use of Site for requirements related to LEED SS Credit 5.1: Site Development—Protect or Restore Habitat and IEQ Prerequisite 2: Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control.
• Section 01 32 13 – Scheduling of Work for requirements related to Scheduling requirements of Chapter 3, “Control Measures,” of ANSI/SMACNA 008 referenced in LEED IEQ Credit 3.1: Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—During Construction.
• Section 01 33 29 – Sustainable Design Reporting for requirements related to Sustainable Design Submittals and LEED Online forms.
• Section 01 56 00 – Temporary Barriers and Enclosures for requirements related to Pathway Interruption requirements of Chapter 3, “Control Measures,” of ANSI/SMACNA 008 referenced in LEED IEQ Credit 3.1: Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—During Construction.
• Section 01 57 23 – Temporary Storm Water Pollution Control for requirements related to LEED SS Prerequisite 1: Construction Activity Pollution Prevention.
• Section 01 66 00 – Product Storage and Handling Requirements for requirements related to LEED IEQ Credit 3.1: Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—During Construction.
• Section 01 74 13 – Progress Cleaning for requirements related to Housekeeping requirements of Chapter 3, “Control Measures,” of ANSI/SMACNA 008 referenced in LEED IEQ Credit 3.1: Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—During Construction.
• Section 01 74 19 – Construction Waste Management and Disposal for requirements related to LEED MR Credit 2: Construction Waste Management.
• Section 01 74 23 – Final Cleaning for requirements related to LEED IEQ Credit 3.1: Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—During Construction and IEQ Credit 3.2: Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—Before Occupancy.
• Section 01 81 19 – Indoor Air Quality Requirements for requirements related to LEED IEQ Credit 3.2: Construction Indoor Air Quality Management Plan—Before Occupancy.
• Section 01 91 13 – General Commissioning Requirements for Contractor’s obligations related to LEED EA Prerequisite 1: Fundamental Commissioning of Building Energy Systems and EA Credit 3: Enhanced Commissioning. The Commissioning itself is not in contract.
• Divisions 02 through 09 for requirements related to LEED Materials & Resources and Indoor Environmental Quality credits.
• Section 07 30 00 – Steep Slope Roofing and Section 07 50 00 – Membrane Roofing for requirements related to LEED SS Credit 7.1: Heat Island Effect—Nonroof and SS Credit 7.2: Heat Island Effect—roof.
• Section 07 55 63 – Vegetated Protected Membrane Roofing for requirements related to LEED SS Credit 6.1: Stormwater Design—Quantity Control, SS Credit 6.2: Stormwater Design—Quality Control, SS Credit 7.1: Heat Island Effect—Nonroof, and SS Credit 7.2: Heat Island Effect—Roof.

The PDF file is read-only. Send me an email if you would like an editable format.

What's different about LEED v3? The answer is both "Not much," and "A whole lot."

From a technical point of view, not much has changed. The credits are all very similar to LEED NC 2.2. There have been tweaks with the language as part of the "harmonization," and some of the targets have been upgraded.

However, the new credit weightings make such a difference, it may feel like an entirely new system.

Case in point: under LEED NC 2.2, I used to affirm that an architect could make every building LEED certifiable just by adopting the following credits as standard practice:

• SS Prerequisite 1: Construction Activity Pollution Prevention
• SS Credit 6.1: Stormwater Design: Quantity Control
• SS Credit 6.2: Stormwater Design: Quality Control
• SS Credit 7.2: Heat Island Effect: Roof
• SS Credit 8: Light Pollution Reduction
• WE Credit 1.1: Water Efficient Landscaping: Reduce by 50%
• WE Credit 3.2: Water Use Reduction: 30% Reduction
• EA Prerequisite 1: Fundamental Commissioning of the Building Energy Systems
• EA Prerequisite 2: Minimum Energy Performance
• EA Prerequisite 3: Fundamental Refrigerant Management
• EA Credit 1: Optimize Energy Performance (21% / 4 points)
• EA Credit 4: Enhanced Refrigerant Management
• MR Prerequisite 1: Storage & Collection of Recyclables
  
• MR Credit 2.1: Construction Waste Management: Divert 50% From Disposal
• MR Credit 4.1: Recycled Content: 10% (post-consumer + 1/2 pre-consumer)
• MR Credit 5.1: Regional Materials: 10% Extracted, Processed & Manufactured Regionally
• MR Credit 7: Certified Wood
• EQ Prerequisite 1: Minimum IAQ Performance
• EQ Prerequisite 2: Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Control
• EQ Credit 1: Outdoor Air Delivery Monitoring
• EQ Credit 3.1: Construction IAQ Management Plan: During Construction
• EQ Credit 3.2: Construction IAQ Management Plan: Before Occupancy
• EQ Credit 4.1: Low-Emitting Materials: Adhesives & Sealants
• EQ Credit 4.2: Low-Emitting Materials: Paints & Coatings
• EQ Credit 4.3: Low-Emitting Materials: Carpet Systems
• EQ Credit 4.4: Low-Emitting Materials: Composite Wood & Agrifiber Products
• EQ Credit 5: Indoor Chemical & Pollutant Source Control
• EQ Credit 6.1: Controllability of Systems: Lighting
• ID Credit 2: LEED Accredited Professional

These points are all relatively easy to achieve, relatively inexpensive to implement, and gave you 26 out of 69 points - good enough for LEED certified under 2.2.

Now, those same credits only give you 31 out of 110 points - not even close to LEED certification. In the whole scheme of things, those credits were low performers. After all, is adding a bike rake really equivalent to providing public transporation access? We all knew it wasn't, and now the new system has made it official.

The question now comes, what are the credits that are relatively easy and inexpensive for the Owner to adopt? I submit the following:

• SS Credit 2: Development Density & Community Connectivity (good for 5 points!)
• Credit 4.3 alternative transportation—Low-Emitting and fuel-Efficient vehicles (3 points)
  
• Credit 4.4 alternative transportation—Parking Capacity (2 points)
  
• Credit 5.1 site Development—Protect or restore Habitat (1 point)
  
• Credit 5.2 site Development—Maximize open space (1 point)
• Credit 1 water Efficient Landscaping—No Potable Water Use or Irrigation (2 additional points)
• Credit 1 optimize Energy Performance (go for 30% / 6 additional points; if the Waxman-Markey bill passes Congress, we may be required to be at 30% reduction in five years anyway.)
• Credit 3 Enhanced Commissioning (2 points)
• Credit 5 Measurement and verification (3 points; USGBC is now requiring Owners to submit operational performance data on a recurring basis as a
  precondition to certification under v3, so why not go the whole way?)
• Credit 1.1 Building reuse—Maintain Existing walls, floors, and roof (3 points)
• Credit 1.2 Building reuse—Maintain interior Nonstructural Elements (1 point)
• Credit 7.2 thermal Comfort—verification (1 point)

Total: 61 points, a LEED 2009 Gold Building, and we haven't even taken into account the regional bonus credits.

Here is my LEED 2009 Scorecard for these credits.

Stair Calculator

This stair calculator is designed for architects of commercial steel stairs. It makes the following plan, section, and detail calculations:

• Straight versus switchback stairs
  
• Rough opening
• Under-landing clearance
• Angle of rise
• Actual riser height based on overall height and tread length
• Required landing stringer depth to align stair workpoints
• Running length of treads
• Stairwell width and length
• Landing length required for door clearance in switchback stairs
• Actual clearance between guardrails or handrails to confirm code compliance

It is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to which I've added graphics and cell protections to make it act like a single-purpose program. The cells highlighed in yellow act as program inputs for your particular stair. The cells highlighted in light blue act as program constants that you can change according to your preferences. The spreadsheet is not password protected so you can customize it to your needs. Or, you can email me with your requirements if you are not confident with your Excel skills.

SectionFormat and PageFormat Template

Here is a CSI SectionFormat / PageFormat template that incorporates paragraph style-linked outline numbering and uses Document Properties to manage section and project data. The formatting complies with the mandatory requirements and incorporates typical optional settings.

You can use it as-is, or modify as needed. You will need the CSI Section/PageFormat to know the permitted ranges and uses of Article and Paragraph titles.

I have two versions: Microsoft Word and Open Office, because the outline numbering doesn’t translate perfectly between the two. You may have to right-click on the link to download the file to your computer.

Pressure Equalized Rainscreen Literature

Updated 11 October 2008

Here is some of the best succinct literature on Pressure Equalized Rainscreen (PER). I have provided short descriptions to help you choose which you want to read if you don’t have time for or interest in all of them. My recommendations are Number 4 for the design professional and Number 7 for the manufacturer.

1. “Rain Penetration and its Control” by G. K. Garden, 1963, http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/cbd/cbd040_e.html, was the first publication on our continent regarding rain screen walls. The principles he espoused have been confirmed by laboratory and field testing over the ensuing years, but it’s only recently that the industry has begun to develop a performance-based definition for pressure equalization.

2. “Brick Masonry Rain Screen Walls”, BIA Technical Notes 27, 1994, http://www.gobrick.com/BIA/technotes/t27.htm, applies PER principles to brick masonry construction. Although the recommendations provided do not meet the prescriptive requirements for PER discussed below, there has been some field testing that seems to confirm that it works.

3. “Infinity System Specifications – A Patented Pressure-Equalized Rainscreen Exterior Insulation and Finish System”, Dryvit, 1994, http://www.dryvit.com/fileshare/doc/us/specification/ds136.pdf, is a PER EIFS specification. The significant value of it is that it includes a performance requirement for PER what was developed for them by the laboratory in Canada that has been instrumental in a lot of the Canadian PER research. The significant drawback is that its performance requirement is a vague "in accordance with procedures developed by the National Research Council of Canada, Institute for Research in Construction."

4. “The Design of pressure-equalized rainscreen walls,” Poirier, Brown, and Rousseau, 1995, http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/fulltext/prac/nrcc48643/nrcc48643.pdf, gives an excellent overview of the topic and basic prescriptive requirements, such as number and size of openings, to create a PER. If you can only read one of these articles, this would be the one I recommend.
   *Unfortunately it seems to have recently disappeared from the web. An adequate replacement document is "Construction Technology Update No. 17: Pressure Equalization in Rainscreen Wall Systems," Roussau, Poirier, and Brown, 1998, http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/ibp/irc/ctus/ctus-n17.html.

5. “The Rain Screen Principle and Pressure-Equalized Wall Design,” AAMA CW-RS-1-04, available from AAMA, is essentially an adaptation of Garden to the curtainwall industry. It is heavy on theory and light on both prescriptive and performance requirements.

6. “Protection from Precipitation Ingress through Walls – Parameters and Criteria for Invoking Mandatory Open-Rainscreen,” Chown, 2001, http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/fulltext/nrcc46002/nrcc46002.pdf, recommends that PER be used on all non-temporary, non-masonry commercial construction. Note that this is a committee paper and, as far as I know, has not been adopted or promoted by NRC. Never-the-less, because it is an argument for a change to the Canadian Building Code, it offers insight on the benefits of various rainscreen technologies.

7. “Voluntary Test Method and Specification for Pressure Equalized Rain Screen Wall Cladding Systems,” AAMA 508-07, available from AAMA, was recently developed by the metal panel industry and is growing in acceptance and use by the manufacturers. It is the only widely available prescriptive definition of PER that I am aware of, and seems to have applicability beyond the metal panel industry. For example, Centria has tested the horizontal joints of their Formawall to this standard. (The horizontals are PE, but not the verticals.) In my conversations with exterior enclosure manufactures and their reps, I challenge them to investigate this test, and I am seeking out those who have already done so.


One of the beauties of PER is that even if the system is imperfect (due to an installation defect), the system will still be successful in keeping water out of the building. However, as in any wall, water may become entrained within the system due to defects in materials and workmanship, so it is still important to provide either drainage or drying capability, or both. AAMA is working on performance-based tests to quantify these as well. In the meantime, we have the following literature:

8. “Designing Exterior Walls According to the Rainscreen Principle,” Brown, Chown, Poirier, and Rousseau, 1999, http://irc.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/pubs/ctus/ctu34e.pdf gives an overview of the need.

9. “Understanding ‘The Rainscreen Principle’”, Metal Construction Association (MOA), 2006, http://www.metalconstruction.org/pubs/pdf/mca07_Rainscreen.pdf, gives an overview and comparison of Drained/Back-ventilated and Pressure Equalized rainscreen systems.

10. “Evaluation Guideline for a Moisture Drainage System Used with Exterior Wall Veneers,” ICC EG356, 2006, http://www.icc-es.org/criteria/pdf_files/eg356.pdf, includes a rudimentary drainage test that could be used to establish alternative compliance requirements from a code point of view. Read it in conjunction with Chapter 14 of the IBC, which requires drainage in all non-masonry walls unless they have been tested to ASTM E331 for 2 hours (i.e., are a tested barrier wall).

Sheet Metal Gages

I’m designing an oversize coping -- what gage should I use?
I know my gage in stainless steel, but what would that be in copper?
I know my thickness as a gage, but what is the equivalent mil thickness?

These types of questions can be quickly answered by referring to this PDF:
Sheet Metal Gauges per Uses.

The first page is compiled from SMACNA. The second page shows the approximate correlation between different types of metal, sizing metrics, and uses.

Glazing in Fire Doors

Wired glass is traditionally used in fire doors, not because it survives the fire tests, but because until recently, there has been no viable alternatives that do survive the tests.

Now, however, we have options. Therefore, current codes have eliminated the use of wired glass in most cases. Unfortunately, it’s not immediately obvious when reading the code how severely its use has been restricted.

IBC 715.4.6.1 and 715.5.3 clearly permit wired glazing in doors as long as it meets the size limitations, at least from a fire point of view.

Now let’s turn to chapter 24 to consider impact resistance. According to 2406.3.1, if the glass opening is larger in 3 inches, the glass needs to be safety glazing [2406.3.1]. Since most wired glass does not comply with CPSC 16 CFR 1201, it cannot be used in doors that use the maximum openings allowed in chapter 7.

The options available to us are (in approximate ascending cost):

1. Safety-Rated Wired glass such as SuperLite I-W and Film-Faced Ceramic glazing such as FireLite NT have a film on one face of the wired or ceramic glazing material to provide safety characteristics, but are susceptible to scratching.
2. Laminated Ceramic such as FireLite Plus has the safty film laminated between two layers of ceramic glazing material.
3. Laminated glass with intumescent interlayers such as PyroStop has intumescing safety interlayers between two or more sheets of anealed glass.
4. Gel-filled, dual glazed units such as SuperLite II are similar in construction to an insulating unit, but filled with an intumescing gel rather than air.

Note that gel-filled units also provides temperature rise control, and can be used to create unlimited-area, transparent, fire-rated walls. (Other glazing assemblies are limited to a maximum of 25 percent of the wall area.)