150+ Attendees Pack the 2020 Building Enclosure Event
It was a packed house at Maggiano’s in Chicago on Tuesday, February 25, 2020. 150+ attendees gathered to hear Steven Doggett, Principal Building Scientist of Built Environments, Inc. present his latest research findings on water resistive barriers.
Water-Resistive Barriers (WRBs) have evolved to serve multiple functions. Despite these advances, performance expectations still reflect over-simplistic assumptions and problematic testing methods. Interfaces with modern wall components also remain ill-defined with respect to the WRB’s primary function of liquid water resistance. Industry trends toward component integration have further strained the WRB’s intended role.
The two-hour+ presentation provided an overview of Mr. Doggett’s latest findings from experimental research and computational modeling to demonstrate performance attributes of recognized WRB systems. Moisture transport and storage was reviewed for three dynamic interfaces:
- the exterior insulation interface.
- the substrate interface
- the fastener interface.
The attendees left with a better understanding of the following and more from the presentation:
- The role of WRBs in context with key interfaces in modern wall design.
- The basic building science principles to identify new challenges in WRB performance.
- Common failure mechanisms associated with exterior insulation.
- Ways of improving WRB systems, testing standards, and installation practices.
Steve did a great job presenting his findings and facilitating engaged dialogue with the audience. We even raffled off three $100 gift cards for those attendees who completed their passport to prizes by visiting each of our four sponsors.
Thank you to all those who attended, Steve and our sponsors Atlas Roofing Corporation, Kingspan Insulation, Metl-Span, and Parksite/DuPont. We would also like to give a huge shout out to all our Industry Partners - AIA Chicago, AIA Northeastern Illinois, BEC Chicago, CAC RCI, CRCA, CSI Northern Illinois, Illinois Green, and SEAOI.
Check out photos from the event.
Written by: Brad Schwab, CSI, CDT