water-resistive-barrier / Green Building & Sustainable Home Renovation Information & Advice

A technical guide to understanding the role weather barriers and rainscreens play in a wall, choosing the right products and installation tips for optimum performance. They're officially known as water-resistive barriers or WRBs, sometimes weather-resistive barriers, but in practical terms they are more commonly called...

There has been a steady evolution in the way we build homes over the last couple of decades, and the old standby wall recipe of 2x6s, fiberglass insulation and polyethylene doesn't measure up anymore with building codes, nor the trend towards high performance housing. One aspect of wall assemblies that is garnering som...

Vapor Barriers in walls, why polyethylene can be problematic It would probably surprise many home builders to hear what really causes moisture accumulation in walls, and what to do to prevent it. An understanding of how water vapor moves through walls is important, so a good place to start would be with our page explai...

The difference between air barriers and vapor barriers The job of a vapor barrier is to prevent vapor diffusion, and the job of an air barrier is to stop air leakage through differences in air pressure. A wall system should have one vapor barrier, but can have many air barriers. A vapor barrier can act as a very effect...

Vapor Barrier + Air-Con = Damp Moldy Walls So here's a little known fact that most HVAC installers won't tell a potential new client for central air; Polyethylene vapor barriers in combination with air conditioning in homes can rot walls because of the condensation they may cause. This is why if you have a newer home w...

Approximately 100 times more water vapor is carried into our walls by air leakage than is carried by vapor diffusion. That makes air barriers 100 times more important than vapour barriers, so why is no one talking about them? We don't talk about air barriers because we are too busy talking about vapor barriers. An air ...

The Ecohome Demo House has a vapor permeable exterior air barrier, and with an ACH rate of .69 it is  several times more airtight than the average new home. Air leakage can be responsible for up to 1/3 of the total heat loss of a home and cause significant moisture damage in walls, as one small hole can be responsible ...

The best tips to save money & reduce bills? First of all, the best way to reduce bills & save money is to spend as little as possible for the maximum return, as not everyone who wants to be 'green' has a wad of bills they can throw at the latest and greatest renewable technologies for sustainable homes. So wher...

What is gray water? Or indeed grey water! The term “gray water” refers to all domestic waste water that is drained from sinks, showers, bathtubs and washing machines. While gray water can be reused, water from kitchen sinks or dishwashers is generally not recycled as it contains substantial amounts of grease and organi...

How to save money on hot water: We will discuss a number of ways to conserve water, particularly hot water, but all of that starts with using less in the first place! Choosing low flow fixtures and toilets will save a considerable amount of water and money, and probably the quickest and cheapest way to save hot water i...

Tankless water heaters , on demand water heaters and  instantaneous water heaters are different names for the same thing - domestic hot water systems that do not include the storage tank that comes with traditional water heaters.  This type of water heating system can be advantageous in some climates, provided they use...