Seal, Tape, Gasket: A Sticky Search for Better Materials

In just about every climate in which we live and build, the number one job of any building envelope or enclosure is environmental separation. Keeping water, air, and heat in or out of buildings can make them more resource-efficient, durable, and safer for occupants. Lots of building products offer some help with that, but without attention to the joints, you lose critical continuity in your air barriers, drainage planes, and insulation layers—particularly at the penetrations, transitions, and margins of building assemblies.