Construction Instruction

💧 Water will always win.

The question is whether your enclosure assembly is designed to manage it.

The highest-performing homes don't rely on a single product, tape, flashing, or WRB to stay dry. They rely on a complete moisture management strategy.

That's where the 4 D's come in:

💧 Deflection
💧 Drainage
💧 Drying
💧 Durability

Miss one, and moisture can find its way into the assembly.

Get all four working together, and durability becomes a built-in feature rather than a future repair.

📚 Want to go deeper?

Join us for our Enclosure Excellence class and learn how to evaluate and improve wall, roof, foundation, and moisture management assemblies using proven building science principles and hands-on demonstrations.

🏗️ Enclosure Excellence
📅 October 21–22, 2026
📍 Denver, Colorado

🔗 Registration link in bio.

Can you smell the crawlspace?

If you can, there’s a good chance your clients are breathing it upstairs.

An often overlooked truth in building science is that the air in a crawlspace does NOT stay in the crawlspace.

Moisture. Musty odors. Mold. Soil gases. Contaminants.

They can all move into the living space above.

This directly impacts indoor air quality, comfort, durability and homeowner health.

This is why crawlspaces shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought.

Think of them as short basements and part of the conditioned space.

That means the same level of rigor as above-grade construction:

✔ Moisture management
✔ Air sealing
✔ Proper insulation strategy
✔ Mechanical integration
✔ Durability + IAQ planning

If you want to go deeper into enclosure performance and real-world building science applications, join us for our Enclosure Excellence class:

📍 October 21–22 | Denver

Registration is open now.

What separates top building pros from the competition?

They never stop learning.

The best builders, HVAC contractors, manufacturers, and energy professionals know this:

Building science knowledge = better outcomes.

Better-performing homes.
Fewer callbacks.
Smarter product decisions.
Better moisture control, comfort, IAQ, and durability.

That’s why professionals from across the industry come to Ci Live to learn alongside builders, HVAC pros, energy raters, building scientists, and manufacturers solving real-world jobsite challenges.

It was great hearing from returning attendee Matt White of Owens Corning, back for a second time to continue growing his expertise through our Advanced Building Science and Enclosure Excellence courses.

Because in today’s market, product knowledge alone isn’t enough.

You need to understand how buildings actually work.

👇 What’s the most misunderstood building science topic in our industry right now?

Tight homes perform better. Period.

After thousands of airtightness tests, one thing is clear: air leakage is costing builders and homeowners more than they realize.

🚫 Moisture problems in hot, humid climates
🚫 Poor indoor air quality from uncontrolled air movement
🚫 Higher energy bills from avoidable heat loss
🚫 Smoke, dust, and outdoor pollutants finding their way indoors

Airtightness isn’t just an energy play. It’s about controlling the air, moisture, comfort, durability and indoor air quality.

In reality, getting airtightness right is really only practical during new construction.

High-performance builders and HVAC pros: if you care about healthier homes, fewer callbacks, better HVAC performance, and long-term durability, commit to building a tight enclosure.

The good news? We can help.

Join us for our Enclosure Excellence Ci Live class on October 21-22. Class sizes are intentionally kept small to give you the very best training experience, but they fill up quickly.

Register today to secure your spot.

Airtightness is about more than comfort and energy efficiency. It’s also about the economics.

If you’re not factoring this in, you’re likely leaving margin on the table:

1️⃣ Air leakage accounts for 20–40% of your mechanical load. Tighten the envelope, and you can often downsize systems by $1K–$2K+ per home.

2️⃣ Dollar for dollar, airtightness beats insulation. Going from 4–5 ACH down to 1.5–2 ACH is roughly equivalent to adding 3” of continuous exterior insulation often at a fraction of the cost.

3️⃣ Fewer callbacks and lower risk.
Build tight and ventilate right, and you’ll see:
✔️ Fewer comfort complaints
✔️ Less condensation risk
✔️ Better long-term performance

Bottom line:
Airtightness is a business decision as well as a building science fundamental.

If you’re still treating it as optional, it might be time to rethink the math.

🚨 Tiny detail. Big building science lesson.

Do unsealed nail penetrations actually matter?

We put it to the test at Ci using calibrated equipment and ASTM testing procedures to compare enclosure performance with sealed vs. unsealed nail penetrations and the results were clear:

💧 Unsealed nail penetrations leak.

Sometimes, better building comes down to getting the small details right. Building science helps remove the guesswork and turn best practices into proven performance.

👉 Are you sealing nail penetrations on your projects?

💨 Your Walls Might Be Leaking More Than Air…They’re Leaking Performance.

Justin joins Robby Schwarz of to hunt down hidden air leaks in this home.

Using a smoke pencil, they uncover a 10 Pascal pressure difference inside an interior wall where it should be reading ZERO.

The culprit? Air leaking from the attic, through the wall cavity, and out an unsealed electrical outlet.

Just ONE unsealed electrical outlet = roughly 1 square inch of leakage area.

Now multiply that across an entire house. 😱

Small details = big consequences for:
✔️ Comfort
✔️ Energy efficiency
✔️ HVAC performance
✔️ Callbacks

Seal your electrical boxes because airtightness is built one detail at a time.

“Building science never stands still… and neither can builders.” 👊🏽🏠

Jerry Charles with Symbolic Homes in Los Angeles, CA, has now attended Construction Instruction training THREE times.

As a luxury, custom builder working on very large, highly detailed homes, Jerry explained that staying current with building technology, mechanical systems, comfort strategies, and performance details is critical to delivering better homes for his clients.

But when you only build a few homes every several years due to their massive scale, often 20-30K square feet each, gaining knowledge in the field about cutting edge technologies and top building science recommendations can be a challenge.

That’s why builders from across North America come to Construction Instruction:
✔️ To sharpen their skills
✔️ To better work with trades and subs
✔️ To stay ahead of evolving building practices
✔️ To build more comfortable, durable, high-performance homes

We’re incredibly grateful for the trust and kind words, Jerry. 🙌

The best builders never stop learning.

Check out our 2026 Ci Live class schedule today and register now to secure your seat at www.ci-live.com.

HVAC Professionals & Home Builders - You Don't Want To Miss This!

Construction Instruction is the building industry's go-to resource for building science education.

With over 100 years of combined experience, our building science experts - Justin Wilson, Gord Cooke, Andrew Oding and Mark LaLiberte - are industry legends.

Join us for this two-day advanced workshop on high-performance mechanical solutions that support the industry’s shift toward all-electric, energy-efficient construction. This class also addresses ventilation design, plumbing efficiency, and hot water delivery strategies, giving professionals the tools to integrate mechanical and water systems into whole-house performance.

Ci Live Class: Mechanical Mastery
June 23 & 24, 2026 in Denver, CO
Register today at www.ci-live.com