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Description
In this segment, green homebuilder Patty Shields talks about the importance of sealing for air and moisture when building a passive house. The segment is introduced by AIRE Green Home Choice program manager Helen Reinecke-Wilt. http://freshaireva.us/2011/11/greenhomechoice/. Links to all nine segments can be found at http://environment.arlingtonva.us/energy/how-to-build-a-better-home/
A
Hello,
I'm
helen
Reineke
wilt
of
Arlington
County's
initiative
to
rethink
energy
and
green
home
choice
program
you're
about
to
watch
one
of
a
series
of
videos.
We
call
how
to
build
a
better
home,
the
story
of
the
construction
of
a
passive
house.
We
hope
you'll
find
some
useful
tips
about
making
your
home
greener
and
more
cost
efficient,
whether
you're
building
a
new
home
or
simply
upgrading
your
present
one.
Here's
green
home
builder
patty
shields
of
Metro
agreeing
with
today's
tips
on
sealing
for
air
and
moisture.
B
C
We're
here
to
talk
about
air
sealing
and
how
to
get
air
sealing
done
on
a
new
construction,
home
or
even
a
renovation.
One
of
the
most
important
things
in
today's
building
is
making
sure
that
our
buildings
are
airtight
when
we
do
that,
we're
able
to
prevent
cold
air
from
coming
in
the
house
or
hot
air
from
coming
in
that
house
depending
on
what
what
season
it
is.
We
do
that
through
a
number
of
ways
on
this
particular
building,
we're
using
a
product
called
zip
wall,
which
is
this
large
green
product.
C
We
see
here
in
front
of
you
if
any
of
you
have
seen
there's
a
product,
that's
building
paper,
you'll,
see
that's
white
and
it's
on
houses.
The
difference
with
this
product
is
that
it
is
adhered
to
the
plywood
before
it
comes
to
the
site.
So
what
we
do
is
we
put
the
building
up.
This
is
structural
plywood
like
any
house,
but
the
with
that
membrane
attached
to
it.
We'll
put
this
up
and
then
all
we
do.
Is
we
tape
over
those
seams
once
we
do
that,
we've
got
an
airtight
building.
C
We're
here
in
the
basement
and
just
a
quick
update
on
the
windows
we
went
in
when
we
were
installing
them.
We
explained
to
you
that
we
would
be
putting
tape
around
this
portion
of
the
window.
The
window
is
sealed
on
the
outside,
with
tape,
and
it's
sealed
on
the
inside
with
tape,
so
we're
using
what
we
call
a
belt-and-suspenders
approach
to
make
sure
we
are
getting
the
house
as
airtight
as
possible.
C
Now
we're
going
to
come
in
behind
this
and
we're
going
to
be
air
sealing
with
caulk
and
foam
this
entire
area
low,
expanding
foam
before
we
come
in
with
our
drywall
in
our
silver
turns,
and
that
will
give
us
yet
another
layer
of
air
barrier
in
older
homes.
The
joint
between
the
floors
is
often
not
taped
on
the
outside
and
actually
in
even
in
new
construction
homes.
It
may
not
be
taped,
so
there's
no
air
seal
theoretically
on
the
outside
keeping
air
out
of
the
house.
C
C
In
earlier
discussions,
we
talked
about
how
the
building's
constructed
and
the
importance
of
air
sealing
and
sealing
your
house
against
the
weather,
and
so
I'm
gonna
go
from
the
inside
to
the
out
and
and
this
house
is
constructed
using
a
sheathing
called
zip
wall
which
we've
talked
about
before,
and
this
is
a
breathable
membrane.
It
doesn't
let
air
in
it
serves
as
an
air
barrier,
but
it
will
let
moisture
vapor
out
of
the
house,
and
the
house
is
then
taped
with
the
zip
tape.
C
So
all
of
the
seams
of
the
zip
wall
are
taped,
so
that
provides
an
air
seal
for
the
entire
home.
This
follows
this
tape
follows
around
to
every
door
in
every
window
in
the
house.
So
once
that's
done
now,
we're
ready
to
apply
the
siding
to
the
house,
but
we're
not
quite
ready,
because
we
really
need
to
put
a
rain
screen
on.
C
This
is
a
really
important
thing,
and
it's
becoming
a
best
practice
in
building
today
is
to
make
sure
that
your
siding
is
not
all
the
way
up
against
your
house,
because
it
is
wind,
driven
rain,
we'll
get
through
that
siding
and
we'll
be
sitting
up
against
the
house,
and
so
we
want
it.
Let
the
siding
sit
off
the
house
a
little
bit
so
that
it
can
dry
out
and
that's
exactly
what
this
rain
screen
does.
This
is
a
very
simple
product.
C
It's
you
can
see
it's
sort
of
a
yellow,
mash,
a
yellow
plastic
mesh,
and
it
provides
just
about
a
quarter
of
an
inch.
So
it's
not
much,
but
it's
just
enough
to
allow
air
to
flow
from
down
underneath
the
house
all
the
way
up
behind
the
siding
all
the
way
up
to
the
top.
This
runs
continuously
all
the
way
up,
the
siding
of
the
house,
and
then
the
siding
goes
over.
This.