Air Barrier Accessories and Components

Air Barrier Accessories

Air barrier accessories are defined as the material or product which is used to connect different air barrier materials to form a continuous air barrier assembly. Examples of air barrier accessories include transition strips, sealants, tapes, backer rod, ties, clips, etc. that are used to connect the wall air barrier assembly to air barrier components (ie. windows, doors and service elements).

The air permeance of these materials are tested in a similar way to an air barrier material but as they are normally used to bridge two different materials, the testing is done and report per length of a defined gap. The air permeance of air barrier components are no greater than 0.02 L/(s•m2) @ 75 Pa (0.004 cfm/ft2 @ 1.56 lb/ft2).

The testing is done on a wall specimen which has a window blank with gaps between the window blank and the wall and also has vertical and horizontal gaps in the wall materials.

The test assembly is configured as follows:

Air Barrier Components

Air Barrier Components are pre-manufactured elements such as windows, doors and service elements that are installed in the environmental separator.