The Science of Building Weather-tightness

Weather-tightness of the building envelope is one of the major issues facing the New Zealand construction industry.

Too many new buildings are leaking due to inadequate design and construction.

The causes are simple, but reliable solutions are elusive. New materials often present unexpected interations.

The goal is to deliver buildings that are robust and enduring in their construction.

The science forum has helped bring industry members up to date with some of the research that is currently being undertaken in New Zealand and overseas to help resolve these issues.

The keynote speakers from Canada provided first hand experience of the problems their construction industry has faced, and detailed some of the research work that they have undertaken to help overcome these problems.

The speech notes below are in PDF format, will need Acrobat Reader to view. If you don't have this program, download it here.

Don Hazleden - The Vancouver Experience

Don Hazledon is the President of HouseWorks Building Science Inc. and the Principal of HouseWorks Architecture. He has been a member of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada since 1983. For the past 10 years he has been extensively involved in building science research with a major focus on research and technology transfer for the housing industry. He is the founder and Secretary to the Building Envelope Research Consortium, an industry/government group, whose objective is to improve building envelopes through research and technology transfer. Mr. Hazleden is a frequent speaker on building envelope issues in Canada.

Download - The Vancouver Experience (1787 KB - PDF)

Dale Knox - Façade Testing

Dale Knox is a Development Project Engineer with James Hardie Building Products in Auckland. He is a Civil Engineer by training and has spent 6 years in the building industry in New Zealand. His work currently focuses on product development in the area of exterior cladding. He had a high involvement in the development of the recently launched James Hardie Monotek System, which involved working across industry groups, such as coating companies and window manufacturers. He is a board member of the Claddings Institute of NZ.

Download - Facade Testing (294 KB - PDF)

Michael Wilson - 4D's, Drying Rates
Michael Wilson is a structural engineer and Senior Building Envelope Specialist with RDH Consultants and has extensive experience in the field of building science. Michael has successfully combined an academic study of building science theory with practical application. Michael has co-authored and led several key CMHC sponsored research projects related to Brick Veneer/Steel Stud wall systems. Michael's combined building science and structural expertise has also been recognized by CSA through appointments to Technical Committees for, A370 "Connectors for Masonry" and A371 "Masonry Construction for Buildings". Michael is also the Chair of A371.1 "Building Science Related to Masonry Design and Construction". He has also participated in developing field review requirements and testing procedures, including performance certification field testing of building envelope components.

Download - 4D's, Drying Rates (4723 KB - PDF)

Mark Bassett - Building Wraps
Mark Bassett is a Principal Scientist with the Built Environment Group at BRANZ. He has over 25 years research experience in building energy efficiency and indoor air quality areas and has contributed to Code and Standards in these areas. He managed the first technical group at BRANZ to study water leakage problems in commercial building facades in the 80's and for a period of 10 years managed the Building Physics group. He has recently taken a Principal Scientist position and redirected his interest to the ventilation processes that remove water from construction cavities. AS such he is part of the BRANZ team working towards putting weathertight design on an analytical footing.

Download - Building Wraps (395 KB - PDF)

Michael Lacasse - Current IRC Research
Dr. Michael A. Lacasse is a materials scientist and building science engineer who since 1991 has worked as a Research Officer at the Institute for Research in Construction, of the National Research Council Canada. His work focuses on the development of methods to assess the long-term performance of building materials and components and the durability of building envelope assemblies. More recently he has been involved in a project related to the development of methods for evaluating the moisture management of wood-frame wall systems. Since joining the IRC, he has been active in various ASTM, CIB and RILEM technical committees related to performance, durability and service-life prediction of materials. He participates in the ASTM C24 committee on building seals and sealants, is an active member of the RILEM technical committee SBJ - "Service-life Prediction of Sealed Building and Construction Joints" and currently co-chairs the activities of the joint CIB/RILEM technical committee W080/175-SLM "Service Life Methodologies", in which issues related to the prediction of building materials and components are addressed.

Download - Current IRC Research (1544 KB - PDF)

Malcolm Cunningham - Moisture Modelling & Climate
Malcolm Cunningham is a Principal Scientist with the Built Environment Group at BRANZ. His areas of research are heat and moisture transfer in buildings and associated health effects. He has written numerous research papers in these areas and for a number of years he has been the driving force in an international collaboration on the control of dust-mites, associated with asthma, by modification of the internal climate. He has undertaken numerous contracts in his field for companies within New Zealand and overseas, his latest being for the New Zealand Building Industry Authority (BIA) in which he is developing a design tool to allow designers to avoid condensation and mould growth as required by section E3 of the New Zealand Building Code.

Mick Hedley and Robin Wakeling - Timber Durability
Mick Hedley is Project Leader of the Wood Performance Enhancement research team at Forest Research, Rotorua. He has over 30 years experience in timber research, concerned mainly with evaluation of wood preservation systems by laboratory and field testing, development of techniques for assessing wood decay, timber durability and National and International wood preservation standards. He is Chairman of the NZ Timber Preservation Council Technical Committee and a member of the NZ TPC Board and Chairman of the Australasian Wood Preservation Committee. He is a past member of the Executive Council of the International Research Group on Wood Preservation, an association of over 350 research scientists investigation all aspects of wood biodegradation and its prevention.

Robin Wakeling is a senior scientist in the Wood Performance Enhancement research team at Forest Research. Key research areas have included: development of antisapstain formulations and associated technology; control of sapstain, mould and decay fungi on logs, lumber, composites, wood in service and on wood coatings; ecology of wood decay; bacterial degradation of wood; wood decay micromorphology using light, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. He has written many papers on these subjects, especially on biodeterioration of raw wood and its prevention. He is currently Chairman of the Biology research section of the International Research Group on Wood Preservation.

Download - Moisture Modelling & Climate (315 KB - PDF)

Philip O'Sullivan - Risk Analysis
Philip O'Sullivan) is a Building Consultant with Prendos Ltd in Auckland. He is an engineer by training and a BRANZ Accredited Advisor. He is a member of the Weathertight Buildings Group Steering Group and is the President of the Claddings Institute (CINZ). Philip is actively involved in assessing buildings for weathertightness and in preparing specifications for the repair of buildings with weathertightness problems.