Affecting Water-Resistive Barrier Effectiveness: Fixing the Façade Fasteners?

Building enclosure design involves balancing the demands of air, water and thermal considerations. Water-Resistive Barriers (WRB) are oftenincorporated to provide protection from water intrusion, but to perform successfully, require continuity. Enclosure designs often can include façade claddingsystems with numerous fasteners penetrating the WRBs (via attachments). Available guidelines for detailing and testing the installed WRB with thecladding attachments can be limited, and installation practices are not consistent from project to project and can vary based on the material type. Whileimproved installation methods and consensus standards for validating air and water tightness are needed, research is also required to develop appropriatetest methods and to assess detection approaches and the evaluation methodologies to employ. This session will discuss the research underway, as well as thebackground and context of the current practices and testing related to penetrations of the WRB.