Quality Management Best Practices For Installing Self‐Adhering Sheet Air Barriers
Track 2: Construction & Testing Sessions
Wednesday, May 9, 10:00 – 11:30
Self‐adhering sheet air barriers are a common solution to controlling water, air, and vapor within a wall system on commercial buildings, but testing of these systems are not common. How does a construction team manage the inherent risk in combining three of the four principal control layers in a single material? Follow the quality management process the team building a 500,000 SF medical facility used from the design phase through construction. This presentation will illustrate how local interpretations of codes and standards, the use of physical and virtual mockups, the onset of winter weather, and the testing of adjacent systems affected the installation and inspection of the air‐barrier system.
Learning Objectives:
- Identify best practices and lessons learned during the installation of a self‐adhering sheet air barrier system on a large commercial building.
- Demonstrate how a QA/QC process can reduce the inherent risk in using a single membrane to control water, air, and vapor.
- Describe the methods used to control and assure the quality of the air‐vapor‐weather barrier system from design through construction.
- Explore how the testing of adjacent enclosure systems can impact the installation and inspection of the air barrier.
Chris Bubser, AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Quality Manager
Mortenson Construction
Chris Bubser has a degree in Architecture from Iowa State University, and spent the first 15 years of his career designing and renovating high-end single family homes. He made a shift in his career to commercial construction in 2007, and suddenly found himself working on a football stadium. Since then, he has had the opportunity to explore the unique challenges of many other building types including concert halls, health care facilities, data centers, laboratories, research facilities, and office buildings. Chris has specialized in designing and evaluating enclosure systems throughout his career. He is currently a Quality Manager for Mortenson Construction, where he has guided multiple project teams through the enclosure review process and managed the QA/QC process during construction.