Adopting high-performance building principles offers a clear roadmap to address energy efficiency, occupant health, and long-term resilience. Darren Macri, board president of the Passive House Network, points out that core principles like airtight construction, continuous insulation, thermal bridge-free design, and high-performance windows are essential for modern facilities. Building owners do not necessarily need to pursue full certification to benefit from these strategies.

A more practical approach for existing commercial buildings is to incorporate these principles gradually as various components reach the end of their useful lives. A window replacement, HVAC upgrade, or envelope repair becomes a prime opportunity to incrementally improve building performance. Making the best choice available during these routine maintenance cycles allows individual upgrades to accumulate over time, ultimately resulting in a facility that uses less energy and better protects its occupants.

Airtightness ranks at the top of the priority list for facilities seeking better performance. Uncontrolled air movement undermines energy efficiency and occupant comfort while contributing to moisture problems. A high-performance building envelope limits this movement through a continuous air barrier, climate-appropriate insulation, and careful attention to thermal bridges.

Upgraded windows complete the envelope by reducing heat loss and heat gain. Once the envelope is secured, mechanical ventilation takes on a critical role. Instead of relying on uncontrolled leakage to bring outdoor air into a building, modern ventilation systems introduce fresh air and remove stale air precisely. Heat or energy-recovery ventilation systems can even capture energy from outgoing air to precondition incoming air.

Most facility managers inherit structures built decades ago and operate under capital plans that dictate when roofs, windows, and mechanical systems are replaced. These replacement cycles are perfect moments to evaluate the building as a whole. If a roof requires replacement, facility managers can integrate exterior insulation into the project.

Improving airtightness and installing higher-rated insulation can reduce heating and cooling loads enough to downsize replacement HVAC equipment. These envelope improvements truly prove their value when external conditions become extreme. During a severe heat wave, a well-insulated and airtight building slows heat transfer between the indoors and outdoors. A tighter envelope buys crucial time during a power outage because indoor temperatures shift much more slowly. Furthermore, an airtight facility prevents hazardous wildfire smoke from entering through gaps or leaks.

Even the best-designed building can fall short of its performance goals if the operations staff is not actively engaged. Routine tasks like penetrating a wall to run new electrical or plumbing infrastructure can become severe performance issues if the air barrier is not properly restored afterward. Operations teams must also monitor relative humidity and carbon dioxide levels alongside temperature.

CO2 measurements provide vital feedback on whether balanced ventilation is working as intended, while humidity plays a massive role in actual occupant comfort. Facility managers make daily decisions that determine how their buildings will perform years into the future. By prioritizing airtightness, insulation, and ventilation, building professionals can turn routine replacements into powerful incremental improvements. Evaluate your upcoming capital projects today and ensure every upgrade strengthens your building envelope from the outside in.

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And yet, as a recent Newsweek piece makes clear, the single most consequential factor governing indoor air quality in any building is also among the least scrutinized: the building envelope.

A poorly sealed envelope allows outdoor pollutants, moisture, and allergens to infiltrate a structure, while simultaneously driving up the energy costs required to maintain a comfortable indoor environment. Heating and cooling account for 50 to 70% of the energy used in a typical American building, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, and a leaky envelope forces HVAC systems to work harder and longer. The result is a building that costs more to operate, performs worse for its occupants, and accumulates more systemic damage over time that leads to expensive repairs.

Paul Barna, an associate principal and building envelope commissioning specialist quoted in the Newsweek piece, frames the financial logic plainly: “Our job is making sure compatible materials are selected, installed correctly, and issues are resolved before they become expensive failures. You’re spending hundreds of dollars per square foot constructing a building. Investing a fraction of that to protect the asset saves multiples of the fee over time.” 

That calculus applies whether the building in question is a school, a hospital, a university, or a commercial office tower. The upfront investment in a high-performance envelope is a hedge against a far more expensive future.

The most effective tool available to close all gaps is spray foam insulation. Unlike conventional insulation materials that address thermal resistance alone, spray foam expands on contact to fill gaps, seams, and hard-to-reach cavities, simultaneously insulating and air sealing in a single application. That dual function is what a high-performance envelope requires: a continuous, uninterrupted barrier that controls the movement of air, moisture, and heat across the entire building shell. When that barrier is intact, mechanical systems operate more efficiently, indoor air quality improves because uncontrolled infiltration is stopped at the source, and the building’s long-term durability is protected.

The technology to build healthier, more efficient buildings already exists with spray foam insulation. The buildings that adopt it will cost less to operate, protect their occupants more effectively, and avoid the litigation and remediation costs that plague poorly constructed envelopes. The question for owners, developers, and policymakers is whether they will demand that standard before the damage is done.

The post The Billion-Dollar Case for a Better Building Envelope appeared first on Institute for the Building Envelope (IBE).

The numbers don’t lie. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that homeowners save an average of 15% on heating and cooling costs by air sealing their homes and adding insulation to attics, basements, and crawl spaces. For a household spending $2,000 a year on energy, that’s $300 back in the budget every single year. And according to Mitchel Dotson, owner of Indy Rooftops, a $3,000 attic insulation project typically pays for itself within three to five years, while also extending the life of both the roof and the HVAC system beneath it.

The piece also identifies warning signs that a home’s building envelope may be failing: an HVAC system that runs continuously, rooms with uneven temperatures, an upstairs that stays hotter than the downstairs, or drafty windows and doors. These are signs your building envelope is working against you by leaking the conditioned air you pay for out.

This is where spray foam insulation stands apart from every other product on the market. Traditional insulation materials slow heat transfer, but they do not stop air movement. Spray foam does both simultaneously. When applied, it expands to fill gaps, cracks, and hard-to-reach cavities, creating a continuous, air-impermeable barrier that keeps conditioned air inside where it belongs. No other insulation product combines thermal resistance and air sealing in a single application, which is why building professionals consistently point to it as the most effective solution for tightening the building envelope.

Rising energy costs are squeezing household budgets across the country, and record summer temperatures are only amplifying the strain. A home energy audit, including a blower door test to measure air leakage, can pinpoint exactly where a home is losing efficiency. But for the vast majority of homeowners, the answer will point to the same place: the attic and the air gaps throughout the building envelope. Addressing those problems with spray foam insulation is one of the most financially sound decisions a homeowner can make.

The Department of Energy-backed Advanced Building Construction Collaboration estimates that more than 75 million housing units across the country are under-weatherized and in need of sealing and insulation upgrades. That scale of inefficiency carries a real cost, paid month after month in inflated utility bills. Zillow research shows that energy-efficient homes sell for 3% to 5%more on average, meaning the return on a well-sealed building envelope extends beyond lower bills to long-term property value. If your energy costs are climbing and your home never quite feels comfortable, the fix may be more straightforward than you think. Start with the envelope.

The post Fix the Envelope First: Why Air Sealing and Insulation Are Your Home’s Best Investment appeared first on Institute for the Building Envelope (IBE).

The part that separates top-performing contractors from the rest is straightforward: inspectors aren’t anti-foam. They’re anti-surprise. Understanding that distinction is how the best contractors in the industry turn inspection friction into a lasting competitive advantage.

Because spray foam conceals everything behind it once applied, including wiring, plumbing, fireblocking, and structural members, inspectors are working with limited visibility. They’ve seen jobs where foam covered excellent work and jobs that have hidden serious problems, and they can’t always tell the difference after the fact. Contractors who invite inspectors to walk the site before spraying, and who photograph concealed areas as a matter of routine, remove that uncertainty from the equation. A simple pre-spray checklist covering clearances, fireblocking, fixture locations, and chimney or flue separation takes minutes to complete and can save days of follow-up. It also signals to the inspector and to the customer that you’re a professional who has nothing to hide.

Inspector skepticism is also shaped by memory. Most foam is applied correctly, but officials remember the worst jobs they’ve ever seen: charred lifts, off-ratio material that shrinks or stays tacky, odor complaints, or inconsistent thickness. Contractors who proactively explain their process, covering substrate preparation, lift thickness, temperature and humidity controls, ventilation protocols, and quality checks, shift the conversation from suspicion to confidence.

Perhaps the simplest habit with the biggest payoff is maintaining a complete job binder for every project. Product data sheets, safety data sheets, installation instructions, installer certifications, ventilation guidelines, and pre-foam photographs should be standard on every job, not assembled after a problem arises. Missing documentation often damages credibility more than the installation itself ever could.

Contractors who consistently win with spray foam do three things well: they educate customers before inspectors raise concerns, they build relationships with local code officials before jobs begin, and they document everything as a baseline standard of professionalism. IBE members who embrace this approach are building science professionals, and that distinction is worth every bit of the effort it takes to earn it.

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August 14, 2026

Contact: press@theibe.org

RALEIGH, NC – The Institute for the Building Envelope (IBE) and the Spray Foam Coalition (SFC) today applauded Gov. Josh Stein’s signing of North Carolina Senate Bill 445, legislation that modernizes the North Carolina Energy Conservation Code and gives builders greater flexibility to deliver energy-efficient, affordable homes. Both provisions championed by the industry take immediate effect.

SB 445 updates the state’s residential wall insulation requirements to recognize the performance of air-impermeable insulation, such as spray foam insulation. Under the new law, walls insulated with air-impermeable insulation meet code at R-13 in Climate Zones 3 and 4, and at R-15 in Climate Zone 5, without continuous insulation, provided the home achieves a blower door test result of less than 3.0 ACH50. The change allows builders to continue using standard 2×4 wall construction across most of North Carolina while meeting a higher standard of whole-home air tightness, without the extra material, labor and costs associated with compliance with the old rules.

The legislation also repairs the performance compliance path, aligning the North Carolina Energy Conservation Code with the national standard RESNET 301. Under the previous code, builders using the performance path were still required to meet the prescriptive path as a backstop, limiting the flexibility the performance path is designed to provide and adding costs.

“North Carolina just showed what smart, science-based code policy looks like,” said Doug Brady, Chair of the Spray Foam Coalition. “By recognizing what air-impermeable insulation actually delivers in the wall assembly and pairing it with a real air tightness requirement, the state gave builders a straightforward path to more efficient and potentially more affordable new homes. That is a win for builders, for contractors and for North Carolina families.”

“These changes align North Carolina’s code with modern building science and with how homes actually perform,” said Kevin Wiacek, Chair of the Institute for the Building Envelope. “Aligning the performance path with the nationally recognized standard removes an unnecessary barrier for builders who want to design to performance. We at IBE thank the legislature and the governor for moving policy that helps builders use innovative, multifunctional materials that increase energy efficiency and improve affordability.”

A high-performing building envelope is the foundation of an energy-efficient home. Air leakage is one of the largest sources of energy waste in residential construction, and insulation that both insulates and air seals, such as spray foam insulation, allows homes to hold conditioned air, reduce the load on heating and cooling equipment and lower monthly energy costs. By tying the new R-value pathway to a verified blower door result, SB 445 ensures those efficiency gains are measured rather than assumed.

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Ceiling applications of SPF are among the most technically demanding tasks a contractor can face. Over-application wastes material and drives up cost, and under-application risks failing to meet specified R-values and leaves the building envelope compromised. In retrofit work, which makes up a growing share of the insulation market, the complexity increases further. Existing joists, beams, and penetrations must be fully covered to achieve a continuous air barrier, and no two jobs look exactly the same. 

“Retrofit work always brings surprises,” Ramos said. “You have to be ready to adjust in the field while still maintaining the standard. That’s where experience really shows.” That combination of adaptability and discipline is what separates contractors who deliver lasting performance from those who simply fill a cavity and move on.

Understanding how heat, air, and moisture move through a building assembly is foundational knowledge for a high-performance contractor. It’s also a reminder of why the building envelope is an integrated system, and every component must work in concert with the others.

“Building a strong team has been one of our biggest achievements,” Ramos said. “You need people who take pride in the work and understand the responsibility that comes with it.” That sense of responsibility matters especially in insulation, where the quality of work is invisible once it’s done. Deficiencies that go undetected at installation can surface months or years later as comfort complaints, moisture problems, or energy bills that never come down the way they should.

That feeling is reinforced by Insul-Techs’ active engagement with the Insulation Contractors Association of America (ICAA) and the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA), keeping the team aligned with evolving best practices and tightening energy codes. Strong relationships with manufacturers and distributors – including Johns Manville, Owens Corning, Accufoam, and Cameron Ashley Building Products – provide reliable access to materials and keep the company current on product innovations. In a market defined by compressed timelines and tighter margins, those supply chain connections represent a meaningful operational advantage.

Looking ahead, the outlook for the spray polyurethane foam industry remains exceptionally strong. As energy costs rise and building codes continue to prioritize higher levels of energy efficiency, demand for spray foam is expected to accelerate. Widely recognized as the most effective insulation material available due to its industry-leading R-value per inch and superior air-sealing capabilities, spray foam enables builders and homeowners to achieve better thermal performance, lower energy costs, and more durable buildings than conventional insulation alone. With the building envelope increasingly viewed as the single most important factor in a structure’s long-term performance, spray foam is well positioned to become the insulation solution of choice for both new construction and retrofit projects.

“Our backlog is solid, and we expect steady growth,” Ramos says. “The market has changed, but we’ve adapted with it.”

The post The Craft Behind the Envelope: How Insul-Techs Is Setting the Standard for Spray Foam Excellence appeared first on Institute for the Building Envelope (IBE).

For the first time, building enclosure commissioning (BECx) of the air barrier is embedded in the EAp3 Fundamental Commissioning prerequisite, incorporated by reference through ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2019. Every project pursuing LEED certification must now engage with air leakage testing. This is not a voluntary stretch goal, but a floor requirement.

The prerequisite mandates whole-building pressurization testing by an independent third party under either ASTM E779 or ASTM E1827, with a maximum allowable air leakage rate of 0.40 cfm/ft² at 0.3 inches of water pressure. Projects that cannot achieve whole-building testing may instead implement a continuous air barrier design and installation verification program. The transition is phased. Projects registered before January 1, 2028 follow 90.1-2019. Those registered after must meet the more demanding 90.1-2022.

Not all air leakage tests are created equal. ASTM E779 quantifies how much air is leaking but not where. ASTM E1827 is faster and more adaptable, producing a comparable result. Both satisfy EAp3. The Enhanced Commissioning credit (EAc5) opens a broader menu: ASTM E783 for installed windows and doors, ASTM E1186 for qualitative leak location using smoke, tracer gases, and infrared thermography, and ASTM E3158 for large or multizone buildings where achieving 50–75 Pa is logistically prohibitive.

The two-tiered structure is deliberate. EAp3 sets a predictable compliance floor – for the first time at scale, air leakage performance must be demonstrated, not assumed. EAc5 goes further, requiring a full building enclosure commissioning process under ASTM E2947-21a from design through post-occupancy. The commissioning provider must be engaged during design, not construction, to define protocols and write them into project specifications before a single wall is closed.

This shift is a market signal. Building envelope professionals who understand these standards and can deliver a commissioning process that starts at the design table will be better positioned than those who cannot. It also reinforces what IBE has long advocated: the building envelope is an active, engineered system that must be designed, installed, tested, and verified. Testing is the only way to know if it is doing its job.

The era of treating air leakage testing as optional is over. The standard has been raised, and the building envelope industry is ready to meet it. But this moment is about more than leak testing. The new LEED requirements reflect a broader shift in expectations from regulatory bodies, the design community, and building owners alike: measured performance, not modeled assumptions, is becoming the new baseline. By affirming the design and installation practices that deliver real energy efficiency, quality, and durability, LEED v5 is helping move the entire industry toward a future where building performance is proven, not just promised.

The post LEED v5 Is Raising the Bar on Air Leakage Testing appeared first on Institute for the Building Envelope (IBE).

The building envelope is the most critical factor in determining how well a home holds temperature. In the winter, a compromised envelope lets heated air escape. In the summer, it works against homeowners in the opposite direction, allowing scorching outdoor air to infiltrate while conditioned cool air leaks out. This isn’t a seasonal problem. It’s a year-round structural one. And as summer heatwaves grow more intense and prolonged, the consequences of an underperforming building envelope are becoming harder to ignore.

One of the most significant points of failure is the attic. On a hot summer day, attic temperatures can soar to between 130 and 150 degrees Fahrenheit. When insulation is insufficient or air sealing is incomplete, that superheated air doesn’t stay put. It radiates down into living spaces and infiltrates through gaps around attic hatches, recessed lights, and ductwork penetrations, forcing air conditioning systems to work overtime. 

Mason Herlitzke, a building analyst technician at Ultimate Insulation, puts it plainly: “If the house isn’t air sealed properly or insulated properly, that AC has got to work really hard. And a lot of times, those ACs go down … Your attic is leaking between 30 and 40 percent of the air that you put in there. So, it leaves so fast, and you try to cool it down, but it never gets to temperature.” 

Kyle Smrekar, general manager of Bridgeport Menards in West Virginia, has seen this firsthand as customers flock to his store during heatwaves looking for affordable solutions. His advice cuts straight to the point: fill gaps and cracks, keep cooling equipment clean and efficient, and don’t wait until conditions become unbearable. “Getting on it before it gets too hot,” Smrekar said. “It’s a lot easier to keep it cool than it is to cool it off.” He also noted that spray foam and draft stoppers, tools most commonly associated with winterizing a home, work just as effectively in summer to keep cool air in and hot air out. 

When it comes to addressing the building envelope’s two most critical summer vulnerabilities, heat transfer and air leakage, no product does both as effectively as spray foam insulation. Unlike traditional insulation materials that only slow conductive heat transfer, spray foam expands on application to fill gaps, cracks, and hard-to-reach spaces, creating a continuous barrier that stops air movement entirely. An attic that is insulated but not air sealed will still bleed conditioned air through every unsealed penetration.

This summer’s heat is a reminder that a home’s ability to stay cool is determined by the quality of its building envelope. Homeowners who invest in proper insulation and air sealing now are better positioned to weather not just this summer, but every summer that follows.

The post Your AC Isn’t the Problem. Your Building Envelope Is. appeared first on Institute for the Building Envelope (IBE).

The United States is divided into eight climate zones, ranging from the extreme heat of Key West to the subarctic conditions of the far north. These zones determine the minimum performance requirements that builders must meet, and they vary significantly by region. Michigan, for example, falls into zones five and six, classified as a “heating design” state, where homes must be built to withstand thousands of heating degree days each year. Heating degree days are calculated using 65°F as the baseline, the temperature at which neither heating nor cooling is typically needed. Michigan averages around 5,400 HDD annually, which is why the state’s energy codes demand significantly higher insulation values than a warmer state like Florida, which calculates cooling degree days instead.

This is precisely where the building envelope industry plays a central role. Products such as rigid foam board, mineral wool sheathing, and spray polyurethane foam are specifically designed to reduce thermal bridging and improve overall wall performance. Among these options, spray polyurethane foam delivers the highest R-value per inch of any widely used residential insulation material and air seals in one step. Making it the most effective solution for maximizing energy efficiency, air sealing, and thermal performance in limited wall space. Together, these building envelope technologies help ensure homes meet modern energy codes while reducing heating and cooling costs for homeowners.

There’s an important nuance here: when you seal a home tightly, you must also ventilate it intentionally. A well-sealed building without mechanical ventilation risks accumulating indoor pollutants, excess humidity, and stale air. Combining spray foam insulation with proper ventilation will ensure a home that maintains a comfortable interior temperature while being energy efficient.

Energy codes represent the minimum acceptable standard for new construction, not the ceiling. For builders and building envelope professionals committed to delivering genuinely high-performance homes, the goal should always be to exceed those minimums, investing in superior insulation systems, quality air barriers, and properly installed insulation that delivers on its rated R-value in real-world conditions. Not only does this create a more comfortable home, but a more cost-effective one. Spray foam insulation is the most effective material for creating the strongest building envelope with its unique ability to air-seal one’s home against air leaks and with the highest R value on the market. 

Get the building envelope right, and the home performs for decades. Get it wrong, and no amount of high-efficiency equipment will make up the difference.

The post Why Energy Codes Are the Foundation of a High-Performance Home appeared first on Institute for the Building Envelope (IBE).

At the center of that shift is spray polyurethane foam, or SPF, the fastest-growing segment of an already booming industry. What sets spray foam apart from virtually every other insulation material on the market is its ability to insulate and air seal in a single application. Most insulation products slow heat transfer. Spray foam does that and more. It expands on contact to fill gaps, cracks, and hard-to-reach cavities, creating a continuous barrier that prevents conditioned air from escaping and outside air from creeping in. The result is a tighter, more energy-efficient building envelope that reduces the workload on heating and cooling systems and lowers monthly utility costs for homeowners and building operators alike.

The scale of investment pouring into spray foam systems tells its own story. Across the building materials industry, major manufacturers are dedicating significant resources to developing and expanding high-performance SPF product lines for both residential and commercial envelope applications, from wall assemblies and roofing systems to below-grade and specialty installations–like the ‘The Sphere’ in Las Vegas. This isn’t a niche bet by a handful of startups. It’s a broad, industry-wide commitment from some of the most established players in construction materials, each recognizing that the market is moving decisively toward tighter, better-performing building envelopes. When an entire industry moves in the same direction at the same time, it’s not a coincidence, but a signal about where construction is heading.

That future, however, depends on building codes and consumer awareness keeping pace with the material’s capabilities. The 2024 IECC represents a meaningful step forward, raising the bar for energy performance in new residential and commercial construction and creating real demand for products like spray foam that can meet those requirements. But code adoption is uneven across states and municipalities, and too many builders and homeowners still don’t know what they’re missing. A home built to yesterday’s standards, or retrofitted with materials that only partially address the building envelope, is leaving energy savings, comfort, and resilience on the table.

That’s precisely why IBE exists. The Institute for the Building Envelope was founded to ensure that policymakers, builders, and homeowners have access to the innovative materials and updated standards that reflect the reality of modern construction. A $61 billion market is telling us something important: demand for high-performance building envelopes is not a trend. It’s a transformation. IBE is committed to making sure the policies, codes, and public understanding of these materials catch up to the science. Whether you’re building new or retrofitting an existing structure, the building envelope is where performance begins, and spray foam is one of the most powerful tools available to get it right.

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