Forget Vapor Diffusion — Stop the Air Leaks! |

Forget Vapor Diffusion — Stop the Air Leaks! | #greenbuilding

vapor barriers and oxycontin by Bill Rose Helpful? 0 Sign in to vote Hi Martin, Just a few comments before I take off for spring break, when I’ll be incommunicado for a week. Thanks for picking up on this issue. ASTM will be having a Condensation Conference in October in San Antonio. I’ve been invited to give the keynote, although my keynote material is still under review. My main claim is that materials can be wetted in two ways: 1) by chilling them and 2) by surrounding them with higher humidity. When the vapor barrier was invented, back in the late 30s, there was a conscious effort to obscure and mask the first way, combined with an effort to highlight the second way. (Was this because the insulation industry was running the show? Who knows. Who cares.) I am critical of the vapor barrier prescriptive requirement not in order to promote air barriers. I am critical of vap...

Full article: http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/fo...