We investigate the hygrothermal performance of a brick veneer wall assembly with two different weather-resistant barrier (WRB) strategies – an innovative 3D dual ventilated sheet and a spunbonded polyolefin-based material.
This paper compares two types of wood-framed walls, one with an air gap membrane and another installed following standard practice, and the effects of inward vapor drives on each.
With changing climates and client expectations, it’s time for builders and designers to think green. Here are 5 proven sustainable design strategies to implement in your next new build or retrofitting project.
We compared the intrinsic value asphaltic felts, self-adhering membranes, and mechanically attached synthetic underlayments provide a roofing assembly.
We explore if moisture problems in wood- or steel-framed walls are the result of inward solar vapor drives, and a lack of a drainage and ventilation space.
New polymeric WRBs with a range of vapor permeabilities are on the market. We examined the impact of various WRBs on their hygrothermal performance.
Can an HDPE drainboard meet the requirements of the Gotthard Railway Tunnels, including withstanding up to 45°C and an expected service life of 100 years?
Learn the essential advantages – and possible concerns – associated with the usage, durability, and design of HDPE dimple sheets and drainboards.
We explore a WRB’s essential functions, and durability concerns associated with polyolefin-based WRBs through our different testing methods.
This paper describes the advantages and concerns related to the using and designing with polymeric drainboards in tunnel construction.
We tested a polyolefin-based WRB and an innovative three-dimensional, dual-ventilated sheet to compare their hygrothermal performance in wall assemblies.
We studied the hygrothermal performance of a WRB and drainage membrane for residential and commercial construction. These were the results.
Learn about the performance of different WRBs with various vapor permeabilities, in varied climates and cladding applications, in wall assemblies.
This paper explores the loss of physical properties of water-resistive membranes due to temporary UV exposure, and what WRBs require to perform long term.
NFPA 285 is a code-required fire safety test for exterior wall assemblies, but it can be confusing as to which building materials and designs need to comply with the testing standard.
Top building scientist Dr. John Straube dives into the science of rainscreen wall systems, and what they require above all else to be effective.
Building above grade is tough enough, but below grade? It is the most difficult space to get right. Not only does a basement hold the building up; it must keep groundwater, soil gas, and water vapor out, while keeping heat in during the winter and out during the summer.
Finally, a below-grade dimpled membrane that contributes to high-performance building compliance. Demonstrating market leadership in the growing movement towards product transparency and health in the built environment, DELTA®-MS is the first, and only, below-grade dimpled membrane to obtain a Red List Free Declare label with the Living Building Challenge (LBC) International Living Future […]
Understanding the Science of Building Below Grade Building above grade is tough enough, but below grade? It is the most difficult space to get right. Not only does a basement hold the building up; it must keep groundwater, soil gas, and water vapor out, and keep the heat in during the winter and out […]
Basements can account for 20% of a home’s total heat loss. While there are countless steps you can take to make homes more energy efficient, starting from the ground up is the best approach.
Managing moisture in a basement is difficult. We break down and detail the fundamentals of a water-managed basement foundation done right.
In this webinar, you’ll learn reliable waterproofing methods for foundations and below-grade structures from building expert Dr. Straube.
Building knowledge expert Gord Cooke discusses why we need to set new expectations for basements and foundations, cost-effective solutions that can enhance safety and comfort, and the building science behind it.
Gord Cooke discusses how builders and contractors can build better basements, increase their margins, and sell even more finished basements.
Matt Risinger of The Build Show features Dörken’s DELTA®-VENT SA display, and provides waterproofing best practices.
Keep your metal roof or metal cladding protected with DELTA®-TRELA. Dörken’s Technical Service Manager Krzysztof Apriasz shows how this vapor permeable underlayment provides superior drainage and ventilation.
Ensure your stucco build lasts long with the right protection. In this episode of Matt Risinger’s The Build Show, you’ll see how Matt implements a complete stucco protection system for this SIPs house.
When it comes to below-grade moisture protection, cold weather and snow limit the use of any fluid-applied application. This can be avoided by selecting a better below-grade wall waterproofing solution that is designed specifically with cold climates in mind.
In partnership with Construction Instruction, this one-hour webinar will discuss construction details for building exteriors, including water and air barrier material choices and details that separate successful stucco installations from those that are prone to premature failure.
In this episode of The Build Show with Matt Risinger, Matt talks about metal roofs, what the best practices are for metal roof underlayments, and shows off the many features and benefits of the DELTA®-TRELA underlayment.
Achieving suitable ventilation and drainage within a wall assembly is possible with the right products and the right installation. Dörken’s Technical Service Manager Krzysztof Apriasz shows you how with this easy step-by-step process.
Making sure your windows are sealed and protected can not only save you time and money but can also help you extend the life of a home.
A house wrap provides protection from the outdoor elements, eliminates the risk of mold, and provides greater energy-efficiency. Watch as Matt Risinger demonstrates how to properly install a house wrap for stucco.
One of the most reliable ways of keeping walls dry and allowing them to dry out if they do get wet, is to construct the wall with an outer shell – also known as a rainscreen. A rainscreen is defined as an assembly applied to an exterior wall which consists of, at minimum, an out […]
Dörken’s engineers took on the challenge of designing a better residential rainscreen cladding system – here’s what we came up with.
Through simple wet cup and dry cup testing, Dr. John Straube shows how an easy vapor permeance test can help with selecting the right materials for your next project.
Protecting open-joint cladding requires not just any WRB. And that’s why we engineered a barrier specifically for open-joint cladding protection.
Matt Risinger, Jake Bruton, and Adrian Wegner share their best water-management practices for foundations and below-grade structures, to protect homes from structural damage, and ensure homeowners health and comfort.
The exposed nature of open-joint cladding leaves it vulnerable to the elements. So, we designed a WRB to protect these wall systems specifically.
Effectively waterproofing commercial foundations requires an understanding of the materials you’re using, and the science behind them all. Here are 6 essentials you should know.
Long periods of UV exposure causes unseen damage to air- and water-resistive barriers. That led to us designing a better water barrier that prioritizes UV resistance.
Successfully navigating air barrier details, like tricky transitions and interfaces, differentiates a reliable, high-performance air barrier from an ineffective one.
For all the benefits open-joint cladding brings, the system isn’t suited for every build. Dr. Joe Lstirburek from Building Science Corporation explains why.
The DELTA® Open-joint Cladding Lookbook features some of the most beautiful open-joint cladding designs. Get inspired by these open-joint projects.
Download our Builder’s Guide to Open-Joint Cladding and learn how top builders are protecting open-joint systems from the elements without sacrificing design.
Dr. Joe Lstiburek, acclaimed educator and founding principle of Building Science Corporation, discusses the challenges of open-joint cladding and best practices.
Meeting energy-efficient building standards will only get more difficult. That’s why we designed a vapor-permeable air barrier that makes achieving an airtight enclosure easy.
DELTA®-VENT S is a mechanically adhered air and moisture barrier that enables architects and designers to design air tight enclosures easily.
Located near Frazier Park and the San Fernando Valley, Camp Lakota is situated on more than 60 acres of lush greenery, rolling hills, and wide-open fields, right in the heart of the beautiful Los Padres National Forest. The plan was to create a camp of the future for the Girl Scouts of Los Angeles; a […]
When building an effective air barrier assembly, it’s essential to have the right components. We detail four must-haves from the DELTA® line of products.
In this webinar, two of North America’s most influential building science experts go head-to-head and debate on the construction industry’s hottest topics.
Curious what it takes to achieve a very tight building enclosure? Pursuing a Passive House or Net Zero project? Graham Finch talks about how to achieve measurable improvements in airtightness and more.
In this episode of A Cup of Joe, Dr. Joe Lstiburek is joined by Betsy Pettit to discuss net zero buildings and share lessons learned from past projects.
Labor and housing shortages have pushed modular construction to gain traction across the industry. In this episode of A Cup of Joe, Dr. Joe Lstiburek shares his perspective on the shift to manufactured housing.
Brick, stone, and stucco are proven claddings…except when they are not. They used to be, but not anymore. What changed? A bunch of things – one of which was/is the effect of inward vapor drive. Inward vapor drive is an issue where a “reservoir” cladding is located on the exterior of a wall assembly. What […]
In this episode of A Cup of Joe, Dr. Joe Lstiburek discusses the most important topic in terms of building performance, continuity of the control layers.
Learn how to apply and install an effective drainboard system, as well as the components and fasteners required, in this short video.
Dörken’s Director of Sales David de Maria presents to the Canadian Home Builders’ Association on how to protect basements from moisture and keep them dry using the right products and installation.
If you want to design better building envelopes, then it’s important to understand the building science behind it. Namely, the Second Law of Thermodynamics.
In this episode of A Cup of Joe, Dr. Joe Lstiburek discusses flow through assemblies and the benefits of slowing the flow of vapor.
Dr. Joe Lstiburek of Building Science Corporation discusses the evolution of rainscreens in terms of design, functionality, and protection, the importance of correct installation, and what trends we might see in the future.
Demonstrating with a simulated slab, watch Justin Wilson from Construction Instruction as he shows us the best way to protect basements from moisture intrusion.
Air tightness targets, or maximum air tightness levels, are a metric for assessing building performance. Dr. Joe Lstiburek from Building Science Corporation reviews just how tight building enclosures should be.
In this episode of A Cup of Joe, Dr. Joe Lstiburek talks airtightness and the role of air control layers in wall systems. In order to determine building envelope methods and select the right products, it is critical to understand air barriers and air leakage testing.
In this webinar, Matt Risinger shares how preserve both the aesthetics and structural integrity of the building.
Building Science Deconstructed is a weekly discussion series by Dörken Systems Inc. featuring some of the industry’s most sought-after building science experts. In this session, Construction Instruction’s Justin Wilson covers below grade moisture management.
Dr. Joe Lstiburek takes us back to the 1940’s and the first iteration of the rainscreen, and where we are today in stucco rainscreen design.
In this episode, Dr. John Straube takes us on a 7-minute tour of his natural exposure test hut located in his own backyard.
In this on demand webinar with Experts André Desjarlais & Philip Boudreaux, you will learn how the Building Science Advisor Tool to help create tighter high-performance construction solutions that manage moisture risks, reduce mold potential, and improve durability.
The fundamental principles of groundwater control are to keep rainwater away from the foundation wall perimeter and to drain groundwater with sub-grade drainage and perimeter drains before it gets to the foundation wall. Nothing has changed in several millennia. Let’s look at the groundwater part. For groundwater, there are two things that need to happen […]
Dörken’s Technical Service Manager, Krzysztof Apriasz, will walk you through how to create high-performance buildings Starting at the bottom, with the foundation, moving up through the walls and finally tackling the roof.
To keep foundations dry, you’ll need capillary breaks at the footings to prevent the migration of ground moisture into the interior. Here’s how it’s done.
Just like a dry sponge soaking up water, concrete walls wick moisture up from the footings. Dr. Joe explains how capillary action works in this quick video.
Learn the science behind below grade waterproofing and water control, and the best methods to control hydrostatic pressure against buildings today.
In this session, Construction Instruction’s Justin Wilson covers advancements in rainscreen technology and what it means for the building industry.
In this on demand webinar with Dr. John Straube, we will take an in-depth look at how the right materials, in the right order, can improve durability, comfort, and thermal performance.
Weather protection is a concern for any type of building, but professionals using stucco or manufactured stone cladding should be taking even greater care to ensure projects are well prepared for the road ahead.
Building a custom home comes with high expectations from clients. It requires quality craftsmanship, meticulous attention to detail, and professionals with relentless passion.
Gavin Semrow, founder of Ai Restoration, is partnering with Dörken to help aid in the remediation process and educate building professionals on the dangers of improper stucco and manufactured stone cladding installation.
The Route 9 Library Innovation Center is part of community redevelopment efforts in New Castle County, Delaware. The state-of-the-art, 21-million-dollar project used DELTA®-VENT SA for its vapor permeable air- and water resistive barrier technology.
As the new year gets underway, we thought we’d take a moment to look back at 2019 to see who caught our attention and stood out for their impact on the building community.
Fifty+ years ago when we built homes, the only way we could protect them was to use “tar paper,” which is basically a version of tar-impregnated paper that contained asphalt. While these did the trick at the time, they were used mainly to prevent wind from getting through the home. What’s funny is that nostalgia […]
Dörken has been developing products that set new standards for more than 125 years. Sustaining this level of success and growth depends on an innovation culture that we are consciously fostering and translating into practice at every level.
When builders think of ultraviolet (UV) rays, they don’t just consider the effects sun exposure has on their skin. They’re also thinking about the effect UV rays have on the homes they build.
With the significant failures associated with stucco and the related litigation, the model building codes are being pressured to make changes.
DELTA®-MS uses a vacuum-formed dimple pattern to create an air gap between the membrane and the foundation, allowing incidental water to drain. DELTA®’s expert and product manager, Peter Barrett, shares his knowledge and 25 years of experience within the industry.
Revolutionary building design shouldn’t trump basic building science. These 5 open-joint cladding projects are pioneering design & high-performance protection.
Your building materials could be getting sunburned this summer, but it’s not visible to the naked eye. And, over time, this unseen damage will continue to get worse.
Open-joint cladding design elements are being applied by the world’s most advanced building professionals designing some of the most cutting-edge buildings. However, they require extra attention to manage the infiltration of exterior weather.
More than 80 per cent of premature building deterioration is the result of moisture damage resulting from the dissolution of materials, reduction in effectiveness of insulation, and more. For this reason, building industry professionals know the importance of moisture control methods.
This four-part video series with Dr. Joe Lstiburek explains UV damage in the building science industry.
Running behind schedule has an impact on more than your bottom line: it exposes building materials to harsh environmental conditions for longer than they are engineered to withstand. UV damage is a real issue with real consequences – yet it’s an issue that often gets overlooked
The proof is in the building science! In this webinar, Dr. Joe Lstiburek, the founding principal of Building Science Corporation, explains how to provide superior protection for below-grade living spaces.
We interviewed John Straube, PhD, P.Eng, principal at RDH Building Science and professor at the University of Waterloo, to get his insights on a topic that’s critical to the building industry: ensuring the highest quality. In particular, we discussed product substitutions and why they need to be handled with care.
Open-joint cladding systems are unique – not just in aesthetics, but in what’s required to correctly protect the exposed structural components within the wall.
If you haven’t experienced the gross inconvenience and expense of a leaky basement, count yourself lucky. If you have, you know it is not something that can just be ignored in hopes it will go unnoticed or perhaps “fix itself.” Basement leaks can either be slow and steady, gradually seeping into a dwelling over days, […]
Stucco and manufactured stone have been used in the building industry for ages. These claddings are well known, and well used for their leading properties in fire resistance, durability, and aesthetics. In fact, according to the Census Bureau’s recent Survey of Construction, 25% of homes built in the US in 2017 used stucco cladding; second […]
The proof is in the building science! In this webinar, Dr. John Straube, Principal at RDH Building Science Inc., explains how you can build high-performance enclosures with the perfect wall.
Dr. John Straube is a highly regarded building science expert, well-known for his research, his consulting work, and his leadership as an educator. He is a Principal at RDH Building Science and a faculty member at the University of Waterloo. This past year, Dr. Straube discussed key building enclosure concepts (including moisture control, airtightness, and […]
Air barriers are no longer just a passing consideration. They are not only federally mandated, but also demanded by code-conscious and sustainability-oriented building owners and occupants who are in the know. For good reason, too. A high-performing air barrier means greater comfort at a lesser cost. Based on simulations, the National Institute of Standards and […]
Dörken delivers innovative, high performance air and moisture barriers for commercial and residential construction sold under the DELTA® brand name. A North American manufacturer based out of Beamsville, Ontario, Dörken Systems, Inc. is a subsidiary of Ewald Dörken AG, a leading European developer and manufacturer of waterproofing and drainage products sold worldwide. Dörken is known for delivering premium products while providing educational programs and full technical support. For more information, call 1-888-4DELTA4 (433-5824) or visit www.dorken.com.
DELTA® is a registered trademark of Ewald Dörken AG, Herdecke, Germany.
