A publication of the A publication of the Ontario Ontario Building Envelope CouncilBuilding Envelope Council Fall/Winter 2020Fall/Winter 2020 Pushing the CanadaCanada Airtightness Testing Plays a Airtightness Testing Plays a Critical Role Critical Role Canada Post Publications Agreement Number: 40609661 Air Leakage in the Envelope: Air Leakage in the Envelope: Pushing the Envelope Canada 5 ON THE COVER: Advanced airtightness testing techniques isolate a section of building envelope, or an entire floor, early in the construction phase to ensure assemblies are performing as expected—and allows for adjustments if they are not. As shown on the cover, guarded testing at the University of Toronto’s Daniels Building employed multiple fans to equalize pressure across a boundary, eliminating the pressure difference and resulting airflow across that boundary. Twelve blower door fans employed a full-building and guarded airtightness testing technique to compare the air leakage rate for the original 1875 building and the recently completed addition, which tripled the building’s volume. In the end, the 1875 envelope was leaking three times more than the modern addition. Turn to page 11 to read the educational article on combating air leakage in the building envelope by Deva Veylan and Austin Todd, CoEfficient Building Science. PHOTO CREDIT: Deva Veylan, CoEfficient Building Science. n n n TABLE OF CONTENTS UP FRONT Message from the President .................................................................................................9 Meet the OBEC Board of Directors ...................................................................................9 FEATURES The Role of Airtightness Testing in Building Envelope Commissioning .......................11 Achieving the Stringiest Envelope Possible: How Specified Airtightness Guarantees Efficiency ....................................................................................................14 Architectural Acoustics: Controlling Exterior Noise in Modern High-Performance Buildings .........................................................................................17 A New Generation for Closed Cell Spray Polyurethane Foam Insulation ....................19 Blockchain: Leveraging Digital Ledger Technologies to Manage Building Enclosure Performance ..................................................................................21 Waterproofing Failures That Can Lead to Costly Repairs ..............................................23 The Evolution of EIFS, From Face-Sealed to Vented Façades ......................................25 Pushing the Envelope Canada A publication of the Ontario Building Envelope Council Fall/Winter 2020 Published For: The Ontario Building Envelope Council 2800 – 14th Ave. Suite 210 Markham, ON L3R 0E4 Phone: 647-317-5754 Fax: 416-491-1670 info@obec.on.ca www.obec.on.ca ©2020 Matrix Group Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Printed in Canada. OBEC does not specifically endorse the editorial, products or services contained within this magazine. These products and services are presented here as an indication of the various possibilities in the Marketplace. OBEC wishes to advise the reader that sound Building Science Practices should be applied to any and all product or service selections. OBEC does not make or imply any warranties as to the suitability of any of these products or services for any specific situation. Furthermore, the opinions expressed in this magazine’s editorial content may not necessarily reflect the opinions of OBEC. Pushing the EnvelopeEnvelope Canada A publication of the Ontario Building Envelope Council A publication of the A publication of the Ontario Ontario Building Envelope CouncilBuilding Envelope Council Fall/Winter 2020Fall/Winter 2020 Pushing the CanadaCanada Airtightness Testing Plays a Airtightness Testing Plays a Critical Role Critical Role Canada Post Publications Agreement Number: 40609661 Air Leakage in the Envelope: Air Leakage in the Envelope: Pushing the Envelope Canada 7 n n n TABLE OF CONTENTS TAKE ACTION Join the Ontario Building Envelope Council ...................................................................27 INDEX TO ADVERTISERS .....................................................................................30 Pushing the Envelope Canada A publication of the Ontario Building Envelope Council Fall/Winter 2020 Published By: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Return all undeliverable addresses to: 309 Youville Street Winnipeg, MB R2H 2S9 Toll Free: 1-866-999-1299 Toll Free Fax: 1-866-244-2544 www.matrixgroupinc.net Publications Agreement Number: 40609661 President & CEO Jack Andress Operations Manager Shoshana Weinberg sweinberg@matrixgroupinc.net Publishers Jessica Potter, Julie Welsh Editor-in-Chief Shannon Savory ssavory@matrixgroupinc.net Senior Editor Alexandra Kozub akozub@matrixgroupinc.net Editor Jenna Collignon Finance/Administration Lloyd Weinberg, Nathan Redekop accounting@matrixgroupinc.net Director of Circulation & Distribution Lloyd Weinberg distribution@matrixgroupinc.net Sales Manager – Winnipeg Neil Gottfred Sales Manager – Hamilton Jeff Cash Sales Team Leader Colleen Bell Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Account Executives Andrew Lee, Bonnie Petrovsky (in memoriam), Brian MacIntyre, Cheryl Klassen, Frank Kenyeres, Jim Hamilton, Rob Gibson, Sandra Kirby, Tanina Di Piazza, Tenisha Myke Layout & Design Travis Bevan Advertising Design James Robinson © 2020 Matrix Group Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Printed in Canada. OBEC does not specifically endorse the editorial, products or services contained within this magazine. These products and services are presented here as an indication of the various possibilities in the Marketplace. OBEC wishes to advise the reader that sound Building Science Practices should be applied to any and all product or service selections. OBEC does not make or imply any warranties as to the suitability of any of these products or services for any specific situation. Furthermore, the opinions expressed in this magazine’s editorial content may not necessarily reflect the opinions of OBEC. MEET OUR EXPERTS JOSH LEWIS Josh Lewis, CEM, CMVP, is engineering manager at Nerva Energy Group Inc. He is a cutting-edge business de- velopment strategist in green buildings, energy conservation, and environmental sustaina- bility. Turn to page 14 to read his article. JUSTE FANOU Juste Fanou, BSS, WELL AP, is technical director of JMF Technical Documentation Solutions and founder of Bib- liotech, an app designed to fos- ter communications between manufacturers and the design community. Turn to page 21 to read his article. KHALED KHALED Khaled Khaled, B.A.Sc., M.B.Sc., P.Eng., is a Ph.D. candidate in building science at Ryerson University. Turn to page 25 to read his article. MICHAEL PACE Michael Pace is owner and president of Building Resource Inc. He is a certified engineer- ing technologist and a Building Science Specialist. Turn to page 19 to read his article. RUSSELL RICHMAN Russell Richman, B.A.Sc., M.A.Sc., Ph.D., P.Eng., is an associate professor and asso- ciate chair of graduate studies in building science at Ryerson University. Turn to page 25 to read his article. AUSTIN TODD A leading expert in large building air- tightness testing, Austin has a Master of Building Science degree from Ryerson University, and is co-founder of CoEffi- cient Building Science. Turn to page 11 to read his article. CHAD HOLMES Chad is Marketing & Brand Manager, ROCKWOOL in North America. He has worked closely on acoustical programs, advocating on their importance and rel- evance to modern construction. Turn to page 17 to read his article. CHRIS JANZEN Chris Janzen is field application and warranty manager for BASF in North America and co-chair for the Spray Foam Coalition’s Canada Work Group. Turn to page 19 to read his article. DANIEL ALEKSOV Daniel Aleksov, P.Eng., BSS, is a principal at Leading Edge Building Engineers. He also serves as a director with the Ontario Building Envelope Council. Turn to page 23 to read his article. DEVA S. VEYLAN Deva has a Master of Building Science degree from Ryerson University, is co- founder of CoEfficient Building Science, and has consulted on projects across Can- ada. Turn to page 11 to read his article. IBRAHIM HUSEEN Ibrahim Huseen is a construction and standards regulations specialist at BASF Canada. He provides engineering support, manages research and development of projects, and participates in standards developments. Turn to page 19 to read his article.Pushing the Envelope Canada 9 BUILDING PHYSICS: FIGHTING COVID-19 The built environment is being challenged under the present circumstances of COVID-19 infections. Designers are questioned, and building physicists are put-to-the-test with interior spaces’ appropriateness and resilience to resisting the pandemic’s consequences. Have buildings’ con- struction stakeholders been sufficiently mindful to address related risks? We strongly believe building physics, with mindful building envelope practices, can increase our chances of controlling viral transmissions. THREE BUILDING ENVELOPE VIRUS SPREAD CONCERNS 1 Natural ventilation: While natural venti- lation is crucial for bringing fresh air into buildings, operable windows haven’t been pre- dominantly considered in recently built en- closures. Fixed glazing is primarily practiced. Planning with windows in mind—and opening those windows—helps extract airborne con- taminants from the space, making infections less likely. Most of our recent building projects are constantly under-ventilated. This not only promotes disease transmission but also expres- sively impairs perceptivity. Buildings / spaces without operable windows are generally ques- tionable, from a resiliency perspective and whether they can remain occupied in cases of power or mechanical ventilation failures. Rea- sonable building physics practices encourage suf- ficient operable glazing for passive cooling and natural ventilation. 2 Indoors’ relative humidity: Responsible envelope designs are expected to soundly withstand comfortable relative humidity (RH) levels without suffering condensation conse- quences, and they maintain the hygiene criteria. Hygiene reference conditions and practi- ces are conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, especially through clean- liness. In building indoor environments, the risk of growing bacteria, viruses, fungi, infec- tions, etc., increases with very low or high RH levels. Unfortunately, many traditional walls / interfaces still fail during cold(er) outdoor periods. Research demonstrates that keeping a healthy RH between 35 and 55 per cent re- duces the transmission of viruses. With high- er RH levels, microdroplets containing virus can fall faster to the ground. Dry, indoor air is connected to more transmission via human infection. A lower RH dries out and inflames the mucous membrane lining the respiratory tract; as a result, the risk of cold, flu, and other infections substantially increases. Low humidity also causes eye dryness and irrita- tion, so skin gets flaky and itchy and needs constant moisturizing. Unfortunately, most project specifica- tions are forced to allow low RH levels due to envelopes falling short of adequate perform- ance (expressly glazing). Components could not maintain condensation-free surfaces dur- ing cold weather. We can change that. The obvious solution is providing suffi- cient indoor humidification to achieve an average RH level between 40 and 60 per cent. Condensation, mould, or bacterial growth remain challenging problems for most trad- itional envelopes and persist, even with more advanced systems, if boundaries and anchor- ing, for example, aren’t well-resolved. That applies to both transparent and opaque walls, while neither is exempt from managing RH levels if thermal bridging is ignored. 3 Economics: With well-insulated exterior walls and airtight components and transi- tions, it’s appreciated that one doesn’t lose or gain energy through them uncontrolled. Innov- ative envelope systems scoring high on effective R-value and airtightness are on the right side of the thermal transfer separation / resistance scale. Higher R-values are projected in opaque spans, but with today’s readily available glazing systems, it’s easily feasible to build with 0.5 W/m 2 K triple units, for instance. This helps separate interior conditioned space temperatures from the exterior elements, so occupants are much more comfort- able and productive while working from home. The cost of heating and cooling is therefore mini- mized. Occupants don’t have to pay much to con- dition the space, which is quite helpful, especial- ly if their income is impacted during a pandemic’s lockdown. AN INDIRECT ENVELOPE-RELATED FACTOR Air recirculation has always been fundamen- tally unhygienic, not providing enough oxygen, and it likely redistributes airborne virus-contam- inated microdroplets. Stakeholders may argue this, convincing clientele that air recirculation is perfectly normal and that nobody had died from it—yet. It’s time for reconsideration. Advanced building standards such as Passive House strictly require 100 per cent fresh air supply in lieu of trad- itional air recirculation. That’s greatly relying on the airtight building envelope. n n n n UP FRONT Message from the President OBEC President Ehab Naim Ibrahim, B.Arch., MRAIC, LEED ® AP, BSS ® , CPHD Research & Development Manager Gamma North America OBEC 2020-2021 Board of Directors President: Ehab Naim Ibrahim, B.Arch., MRAIC, LEED ® AP, BSS ® , CPHD, Gamma North America Past-President: Ian Miller, P.Eng., LEED ® AP, Pretium Engineering Inc. Vice-President: Mila Aleksic, B.Arch.Sc., M.A.Sc.Tech., George Brown College Treasurer: Negar Pakzadian, B.Eng., M.Arch., M.B.Sc., BSS, CPHD, City of Pickering Board of Directors: Brian Abbey, OAA, MAATO, BSS, A.Sc.T. CSC, BCQ, ADTEK Building Consultants Daniel Aleksov, P.Eng., BSS, Leading Edge Building Engineers Inc. Erica Barnes, M.A.Sc., P.Eng., CPHC, RDH Building Sciences Inc. Matthew Gelowitz, M.A.Sc., CPHC, LEED ® AP, Synergy Partners Inc. Andrea Mucciarone, B.A., M.B.Sc., BSS, Read Jones Christoffersen Ltd. Rob Quattrociocchi, BSS, EllisDonNext >