"air barrier"

air barrier / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

Basements

Best practices for basement insulation in new home construction

...barrier primer © Benjamin Moore Interior gypsum board: Latex paint (or vapour retarder primer) is recomended as an interior vapour control layer below grade. It is most important to not include a polyethylene vapour barrier or other vapour impermeable materials that prevent walls from drying. 6 mil poly vapour barr...

Basements

Finishing a basement to be water resistant - reducing the damage from basement flooding

...barriers that trap moisture and make walls sweat, these proprietary tanking products and coatings on basement walls can really brighten a basement up and reduce the humidity levels. Vapor retarder and vapor barrier paint instead of a poly vapor barrier on finished surfaces let walls breathe while keeping moisture out a...

Basements improvements

The ultimate guide to basement under floor heating and waterproof floor screeding

...barrier: waterproof screeding provides a strong barrier against dampness, a vital feature for moisture-sensitive basement settings. Increased thermal efficiency: The high thermal conductivity of screeds guarantees uniform heat transfer from the underfloor heating system, thus maximizing energy efficiency. Durability: S...

Crawl spaces

How to insulate crawlspaces properly as part of renovating an older home

...air barrier, but EPS and mineral wool are not. Air doesn’t leak through intact concrete but it is quite likely that crawlspace walls will leak air. If you have a stone foundation, old cracked concrete or cinderblocks, bringing the poly barrier up the wall and sealing it to the rim joists will provide you with an air ba...

Insulation and soundproofing

How to choose between open cell and closed cell spray foam and which is best?

...Air tightness and moisture resistance Both types of spray foam provide reasonably good air-sealing capabilities, but there are some critical differences in how they handle moisture: Open-cell spray foam is not a vapor barrier, meaning it allows moisture to pass through. This can be beneficial in some applications, such...

Paints, finishes and natural coatings

Choosing safe paints

...air pollution. If you are trying to prevent polluted indoor air, ask dealers about the specific contents of paints rather than simply walking away with the first can that says ‘eco’ on it. Green-washing is prevalent in society now, so it’s all the more important to research products before you purchase them, specifical...

Interior design and furnishing

How do you create a healthy home office? With Biophilic interior design

...air filters, that simply isn’t the case as you would need a veritable jungle in your living room to have such an effect. So, keep plants for the aesthetic and mood enhancing aspects, but don’t count on it to clean air. Read more here to find out if plants clean indoor air quality. Growing food plants indoors The plant...

Wall assemblies - renovation

How to improve the energy efficiency of an old stone house in a cold climate

...airly open concept home may create much more efficient living spaces and perhaps you could leave bedrooms cooler, so you may pull that off for about 10K USD. That’s the bottom end and it only goes up from there. As a very general rule, you can probably count on geothermal costing twice as much as an air source heat pum...

Passive House

Everything you need to know about Passive House certification

...air of sandals and a pair of winter boots to an Alaskan and a Hawaiian, would it be reasonable to expect them to use each pair for six months of the year? If an equivalent amount of energy and resources went into creating the pair of boots and the pair of sandals, why not allow the Yukon resident to wear his boots elev...

Heat pumps, geothermal and AC

Geothermal heating for Homes in North America - Does it work & will it save money?

...air conditioning, only heat is not simply ejected into the outside air, but rather deposited deep in the ground for future use. The result is guilt-free air conditioning because the heat extracted in summer months is actually used to warm the earth deep below, heat which will increase the efficiency of the ground sourc...

Kitchens

Design ideas for durable kitchens and bathrooms

...air exchanger. With the amount of moisture generated this is as good an exhaust intake location as you will find. Kitchen fans should be vented directly outside, and the shorter the run the better. Don't send it through your air exchanger, that's an expensive machine with small air channels that won't last long if fill...