Air Barriers and Vapor Retarders: The Conundrum

All vapor retarders (VRs) are air barriers (ABs), but not all ABs are VRs. Wait, what? How can that be? This presentation provides the practical side to the AB/VR discussion and identifies common VRs and ABs, how they’re installed, and why AB/VR approaches vary according to the type of construction and building use.

Upon completion of this course, the Learner should be able to:

• Define air leakage and moisture movement, along with the detrimental impact that they can have on a structure in terms of indoor air quality, occupant comfort, and energy costs.
• Review common errors and misunderstandings about AB/VR design by identifying different types of common ABs and VRs and how they’re installed in different climate zones and over different types of occupancies.
• Discuss the critical elements of a building enclosure that are needed to control air, water, vapor, and heat to determine the correct placement of a VR to control moisture migration into living environments.
• Through a review of IECC 2012, 2015, and 2018 determine the code compliance options for ABs and requirements for materials, assemblies, and whole-building airtightness in new construction and existing buildings.

Approximately 1 hour. Delivered online, at your own pace.

Presented by The Building & Roofing Science Team on behalf of GAF. View the Privacy Policy .