Making Air Barriers that Work: Why and How to Tighten up Buildings.

The article focuses on the essence of the use of air barriers in buildings in the U.S. It cites that air barriers, which are impermeable to airflow, are helpful to energy waste and moisture problems caused by leakage of conditioned air and infiltration of unconditioned air. According to the "Investigation of the Impact of Commercial Building Envelope Airtightness on HVAC Energy Use" study of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 2005, integrating an air barrier in a building, which makes conditioned air inside and unconditioned air outside, could decrease heating and cooling cost by 36%.