Living Inside Anywhere, Part 2 /November 12, 2015 by Positive Energy

In this episode of our 5 part series Living Inside Anywhere, we explore the air control layer and how it plays into your assembly and its role in the building itself.

Follow Us On Instagram

Long post warning, tl;dr, if you want to learn more about stucco, check out our podcast episode on that very topic. Link in bio.
___________
Note the proliferation of mold in the stucco of the north exterior wall. This particular failure was likely caused by a few factors that hinge both on the building’s air tightness and the quality of the stucco installation. In Houston, buildings are air conditioned almost constantly and the gulf coast southeastern winds prevail. So if air leakage is high and the building has a stucco exterior finish, the wind pressure could easily push massive volumes of the cold air conditioned air through the north exterior wall and into the stucco assembly. Once the moisture is in the stucco assembly and cannot move through a drainage plane (note this particular wall’s accessories, i.e. lack of screeds), it’s going to sit there for the fungal colony to begin its empire expansion. There could also be an elastomeric paint used, which are commonly used on stucco, and which could be making things more difficult - hard to tell exactly on this one. Many other buildings in this neighborhood are definitely painted with it. But my favorite feature of the whole building is the random window unit placed just so.
#buildingscience #stucco #architecture #mold

We’d almost forgotten what a beautiful building you have, @dillonkylearchitects.
#buildingscience #buildingrelationships

We had a great Building Science Philosophical Society meeting at @architectural_impressions last week. Such a great community in Austin.
#buildingscience #buildingrelationships

Houston! We’ll be in the flesh next week for a great talk. Don’t miss it. Link in bio.
#architecture #buildingscience #buildingrelationships

Lunch outing with our friends at @mitsubishihvac and cramming too many people in the car.
#oshaapproved #buildingscience #buildingrelationships #hvac

Kristof and Matt’s annual Building Science Hot Topics Talk at the @aiaaustin Summer Conference! Great crowd. Somehow they made acronyms interesting... #buildingscience #buildingrelationships #architecture

Kristof about to kick off his “5 Principles” talk!

#buildingscience #buildingrelationships #architecture

Prepping for our two talks today at the @aiaaustin summer conference!
#buildingscience #buildingrelationships #architecture

Our summer intern’s last day. We decided pizza was in order. 🍕
#buildingscience #buildingrelationships #pizza

New Blog post about all the nasty stuff in your couch. You won’t believe how crazy bad flame retardants are for you and how ineffective they are. Link in bio.
#buildingscience #indoorairquality #buildingrelationships

Donate To The Podcast Today!

Donate