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Continuing Ed Class - NAHB Green Building Guidelines

By
Home Inspector with SafeHome Inspections

 

The Building Green Works Committee of the Jackson Association of Home Builders in Ridgeland, MS held a continuing education class on Green Building. Dale Koelher from Purdue University was the guest speaker.

Moisture is no doubt a primary concern to builders and home owners.To help understand the principles of moisture control, you need to understand the basics of how moisture can move through your home.

Moisture or water vapor moves in and out of a home in three ways:

  • With air currents
  • By diffusion through materials
  • By heat transfer.

Of these three, air movement accounts for more than 98% of all water vapor movement in building cavities. Air naturally moves from a high pressure area to a lower one by the easiest path possible—generally through any available hole or crack in the building envelope. Moisture transfer by air currents is very fast (in the range of several hundred cubic feet of air per minute). Thus, you need to carefully and permanently seal any unintended paths to control air movement.

The other two driving forces—diffusion through materials and heat transfer—are much slower processes. Most common building materials slow moisture diffusion to a large degree, although they never stop it completely. Insulation also helps reduce heat transfer or flow.

Posted by

Central MS Home Inspection Company

SafeHome Inspections

601-691-1496

http://www.garynsmith.net

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