R SEAL VS. FIBERGLASS LINER SYSTEMS: AIR BARRIER COMPARISON – REGION HIGHLIGHT – BOONE, NC – CLIMATE ZONE 4A 

AIR LEAKAGE PERFORMANCE METRICS.

CODE COMPLIANCE (IECC 2021/NCBCC).

  • Code limit: whole-building ≤ 0.40 cfm/ft² @ 75 Pa + continuous air barrier.
  • R-Seal: meets material (≤ 0.004) and assembly (≤ 0.04) thresholds; no secondary membrane required.
  • Liner systems: can comply, however much more difficult to maintain continuity; many projects add supplemental air-barrier detailing to ensure the ≤ 0.40 test result.

Installation & Durability.

  • R-Seal: Rigid boards span girts/purlins on the exterior, edges ship-lapped with factory tape tabs. No sagging. High-tensile scrim facer resists punctures; quick patch with matching tape.
  • Liner: Interior fabric draped and banded; every lap and perimeter must be sealed. Prone to forklift punctures and long-term sagging or billowing that open leakage paths.

Energy Savings & ROI.

  • Tightening leakage from 0.40 → 0.10 cfm/ft² cuts HVAC energy 25 – 35 % in CZ 4A [5].
  • Example 50 000 ft² PEMB (Boone, NC): ≈ $0.30 / ft² / yr savings → ≈ $15 000 / yr. [7].
  • R-Seal’s cost premium typically pays back in < 4 – 5 years, then pure operating-cost gain.

Risk Reduction (Condensation • Corrosion • Mold).

  • Lower air leakage = fewer condensation events on cold steel → less corrosion, mold, and wet insulation.
  • A tighter envelope preserves R-value, equipment life, and occupant comfort.

Tested R-Seal Results (By Army Core Standards).

  • Field Case Study — 220 k ft² Warehouse Rochester, NY
  • Air-barrier testing (ASTM E779, USACE protocol) on 21 Sept 2022 recorded an average whole-building leakage of **0.060 cfm/ft² @ 75 Pa** (pressurization 0.057, depressurization 0.062), that’s 6.7 times better than IECC’s required 0.40 limit. [6]

Why It Matters.

  • Confirms that a continuous rigid-board air-barrier approach can deliver sub-0.10 cfm/ft² performance at full-scale.
  • Demonstrates code head-room comparable to R-Seal’s documented 0.10 cfm/ft² field average, giving owners predictable compliance margins.
  • At this leakage level, HVAC energy on a similar 50 k ft² Boone project would drop ≈ 30 %, echoing the savings cited in Section 4.

References & Footnotes:

1.Pacific Insulated Products, *R-Seal® Basis of Design — Div 072100*, Ver 1.0 (Feb 2024), pp. 6-9.
2. ENVO Solutions, *ENVO 4 & 5 in. R-Seal Material Data Sheets*, Ver 1.3 (2024).
3. Owens Corning, *OptiLiner® Type 1070 Fabric Data Sheet* (2019), p. 2.
4. MBMA & NAIMA, *Whole-Building Air-Tightness of Metal Buildings*
5. NIST IR 7238 “Investigation of Air-Barrier Benefits” (2015)
6. Thermal Moisture Imaging, USACE Whole-Building Air-Tightness Report — Maguire-Lombard St. Facility, Rochester NY (Test #2, 21 Sept 2022), average 0.060 cfm/ft² @ 75 Pa.
7. GCP Applied Technologies, “The secret to making buildings more energy efficient is in the air,” blog post, September 25 2017. Available at gcpat.com/en/about/news/blog/secret-making-buildings-more-energy-efficient-air.

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