Builders and designers continue to push towards higher levels of airtightness, raising new questions about the impact of different materials and design choices. At passive house levels, every decision can feel critical. Well-designed research and testing can help sort out what really matters, bringing the big picture into focus and supporting evidence-based decision-making.

In this presentation, we’ll take a look at an example of a real-world observation and the question it raised: does the air permeance of sheathing material matter for airtightness? Join us to find out how we got to an answer, focusing on typical assemblies for low- to mid-rise wood-framed buildings.

This webinar will be of interest to architects, builders, Passive House specialists, building product manufacturers and distributors, and others in the industry who are interested in building science and understanding airtightness.

You’ll Learn About:

1. The difference between airtight materials and airtight assemblies and identify key requirements for passive design and other high-performance approaches.

2. Why concerns have been raised about the air permeance of some sheathing materials.

3. How field observations can be tested to evaluate their relative impact on assembly or whole-building airtightness.

4. How to compare the impact of sheathing air permeance vs other sources of airflow through the enclosure.

RDH Building Science