N C A R B M I N I - M O N O G R A P H

NCARB’s latest initiative to inform and edu-cate can be found in our new “Mini-Monograph” articles, which will appear ineach issue of

Direct Connection

. These arti-cles will take an in-depth look at topics of interest to architects, and provide NCARBRecord holders with an efficient and eco-nomical way to earn one or two professionaldevelopment (PDU) or continuing education(CEU) health, safety and welfare (HSW) cred-its through an on-line quiz. You’ll find our first Mini-Monograph, “TheHidden Risk of Green Building: Avoiding Moisture & Mold Problems,” in this issue.After reading the article, Record holders canearn one PDU by taking the online quiz for afee of $35.To take the quiz, go to www.ncarb.org, log onto My NCARB Record, and then click on

Mini-Monograph Quiz

. You’ll be prompted tofill out the payment information. An onlineaccess code will be automatically e-mailed to you, which you can use to take the quiz atanytime. You’ll receive your results instantly,and if you pass the quiz you can immediatelyprint your certificate of completion, andNCARB will report your continuing educationcredit to the AIA. Your payment covers thecost of administering the quiz and scoring. You even receive one free re-test should younot pass the first time.We hope you find our first Mini-Monograph that follows to be informative, provocative,and educational. If you’d like to learn moreabout mold and moisture, order a copy of NCARB’s monograph entitled,

Mold andMoisture Prevention,

or one of the other 20 titles from our monographs series. A com-plete list of NCARB monograph titles is avail-able on the back cover or by visiting theNCARB web site.

NCARB Introduces Mini-Monographs:

An easy way to stay informed and earn PDUs

Stewart Brand’s caution in 1994 about usingnew products is engaging and even quite contro-versial, since progress can only be made throughthe use of new products and innovativeapproaches. Yet Brand’s caution echoes whatforensic building consultants and building scien-tists have seen for decades; anything that departsfrom the “tried and true method” often fails.This finding is not surprising, since even tradi-tional building materials experience some per-centage of catastrophic failures from moistureand mold problems.Brand’s caution seems particularly appropriatetoday with the proliferation of new products,many intended for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. Although many of these products have beendeveloped within the last five years they areintended for use in buildings that should last for50+ years. Even a casual review of the literatureindicates that some of these products appear tohave minimal in-situ testing or performance ver-ification. Additionally, many of these productshave not been marketed in a manner suggestingcaution about regional or climatic restrictions intheir use. Finally, we suspect that there has beeneven less testing of the complex, interrelatedassemblies in which these products will be askedto co-exist for the next half century or more. Yesterday’s seal of approval for new products was“It was developed by NASA.” Today the seal of approval is:it’s “organically produced,” LEEDcertified, “earth friendly,” or some variation of the above. Just as “NASA-developed” was noguarantee of success, neither is LEED-certifiedany assurance of no problems, especially thoseproblems related to moisture accumulation. Although some indicators of a building’s per-formance (such as occupant comfort, energy usage, and odors) can be ignored, you can’t easily ignore water pouring through a wall assembly. We don’t believe that anyone would deem astructure “sustainable” if it cannot survive thefirst five years without a major renovationbecause of moisture problems.

N C A R B M I N I - M O N O G R A P H

THE HIDDEN RISKSOF GREEN BUILDINGS:

AVOIDING MOISTURE & MOLD PROBLEMS

Authors: J. David Odom, ASHRAE,Richard Scott, AIA/NCARB/LEED

AP& George H. DuBose, CGCLiberty Building Forensics Group, LLCOrlando, Florida

“Most new products are experiments and most experiments fail.”

Quote from “

How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They’re Built”

by Stewart Brand(1994)

ONOGRAPHSERIESCARB

The opinions, beliefs, and viewpointsexpressed by the authors do not necessarilyreflect the opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints ofNCARB or serve as official policy of NCARB.

N C A R B M I N I - M O N O G R A P H

It’s our belief that the moisture integrity of a building is one ofthe best report cards on the performance of its design and con-struction process and the correct use of materials.

After reviewing the designs of hundreds of new buildings overthe past 20 years and observing the failures in an equal num-ber of structures the authors have found the following consis-tent truths:

■

Building Commissioning

—The current industry approach to building commissioning (even the LEEDEnhanced Commissioning version EA Credit 3) isunlikely to prevent moisture and similar buildingfailures in almost any climate, except for the mostforgiving climate.

■

New Materials

—The use of many new building prod-ucts often have the unintended consequence of perform-ing in unexpected ways, sometimes encouragingsignificant moisture accumulation and mold growth.Since wall and roof assemblies have historically beenhigh risk areas, it should be no surprise that theincreased use of new products in these areas can dramat-ically increase the overall potential of moisture problems within the envelope.

■

Increased Building Ventilation

—The positive benefits of increased outside air ventilation for the occupant’shealth and comfort can oftentimes be outweighed by theincreased potential for moisture problems, some of which have caused catastrophic failures in the past.Forensic engineers have strong evidence that buildingscan perform in unexpected and damaging ways whenadditional air is moved through them.Through our evaluation of various LEED credit opportuni-ties for designers, we hope to establish the fact that a sustain-able building must be equally designed to prevent likely moisture and mold problems. We believe that a buildingattaining LEED certification is not necessarily a building with a low potential for failure due to moisture intrusion.However, it is our belief that it is possible to combine LEEDcertification with the best practices for moisture and moldproblem avoidance – but it will require extra effort from botharchitects and mechanical engineers. An important aspect to avoiding moisture problems in greenbuildings is the inclusion of the best practices from the water-proofing/HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning)disciplines in combination with the LEED certification prin-ciples. It is unwise to assume that LEED certification hasautomatically incorporated those best practices. Green build-ing practices must always be subservient to best design prac-tices in areas such as exterior waterproofing, good humidity control, and proper due diligence in selecting new construc-tion materials.In order to facilitate the dual vision of an environmentally-sensitive building with a highly durable, well performing,moisture resistant building, we have compressed a significantamount of data into the following discussion. This discussionmoves from an overview of LEED

certification points withpotential moisture issues (shown in a table) to a moredetailed analysis of several specific LEED credits that we view as examples of high risk. These are credits that align with theconsistent truths we listed above concerning building com-missioning, new materials, and ventilation issues.The concerns raised in the following pages are not climati-cally or regionally specific, but are universal concerns for allbut the most forgiving climates. Forgiving climates wouldinclude those areas with very low rainfall, year-round moder-ate temperatures, and minimal humidity levels. Even in thoseclimates specific building types could be expected to exhibitproblems if best practices are not followed.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Use the following learning objectives to focus your study while read-ing the semi-annual Direct Connection/ Professional Development(PDU) and AIA Continuing Education (CU) HSW credit article. Toreceive credit:1.Go to the NCARB web site atwww.ncarb.org 2.Click on monographs3.Fill out the registration form andpayment information4.Take the quiz using your online accessnumber

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this article, you should be able to:1.Comprehend how standard good practices for building designrequire additional diligence due to the enhanced likelihood of moisture intrusion connected to building commissioning proto-col, ventilation, design, and novel building products.2.Identify the specific LEED credits that increase the potentialfor moisture intrusion problems during sustainablebuilding design.3.Understand the contributions that good building envelope andmechanical design play in planning a sustainable building resistant to moisture problems.