Construction Instruction

Wall layouts matter far beyond stud spacing and window and door locations. Every framing decision affects the trades that follow. In this example, poor corner detailing leaves insulation installers unable to fully insulate the cavity and creates challenges for drywall attachment due to missing nailers. Correct this at the design stage by properly planning for a three-stud corner to allow for continuous insulation throughout the wall assembly. A two-stud corner can further reduce lumber use, increase insulation depth, and still support drywall when detailed correctly. High-performance construction requires thinking downstream. When framing is planned with insulation, air sealing, and drywall in mind, the entire wall system performs better. #BuildingScience #HighPerformanceHomes #AdvancedFraming #ConstructionTraining #BuildingEnvelope

Ever been curious about how different insulation types handle airflow? Our latest Ci Lab demo uncovers the secrets behind cellulose, spray foam, and fiberglass insulation. Using a simple ping pong ball, we reveal why fiberglass needs a solid air barrier—and what happens if it’s missing. Without it, fiberglass allows air to flow freely, but with proper sealing, airflow is nearly stopped. It’s a powerful reminder of why code mandates contact with an air barrier on all sides for optimal performance. Join us in our Ci Live building science classes and see these lessons come to life. Visit our site via the link in bio to find out more! #BuildingScience #HighPerformanceHomes #HomeBuilding #ResidentialConstruction #Insulation #AirSealing #AirBarrier #BuildingEnvelope #EnergyEfficiency #ConstructionEducation #BuilderTraining #CiLive #BuildingPerformance #BuildingBetter #DurableHomes #CiLive

Can Something As Small As Staple Type Really Make a Difference? 🛠️💧 Absolutely. The Ci team put it to the test, and the results speak for themselves... ✖️  Standard slap staples can allow significant water leakage and enclosure damage. ✔️ Cap staples improve water holdout and provide greater holding power, so you can use fewer staples overall and feel confident in your enclosure performance. Small details. Big impact. That’s building science in action. Join us at one of our upcoming Ci Live classes focusing on all things building science and high-performance home building techniques. Link in bio - register today! #BuildingScience #HighPerformanceHomes #ConstructionDetails #WaterManagement #BuildingEnvelope #HomeBuildingTips #ConstructionInnovation #highperformancebuilding #energyefficienthomes #constructiontech #homebuilders #constructionknowledge #HighPerformanceHomes #BuildingScience101 #EnergyEfficientBuilding #MoistureManagement #HomeBuilderTips #ConstructionInstruction #betterbuilt #customhomebuilder #buildingcontractor

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 or click the link in our bio. #buildingscience #homebuilders #hvac #netzero #hvactechnician

Most existing homes have opportunities for major improvements in comfort, indoor air quality, durability, and energy performance, but retrofit work comes with its own unique challenges. 🔧🏠 In this project, Justin is joined by Eastside Heating & Air Conditioning to retrofit an existing home with significant upgrades to the mechanical system and crawlspace to improve: • Ventilation • Indoor air quality • Comfort • Overall building performance While most of our Ci training classes have focused on new construction, we have years of hands-on experience applying building science principles to existing homes and we’d love your input. 👇 WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK: Would you be interested in attending a 1-day Building Science for Existing Homes / Retrofit class? And more importantly…what retrofit topics would be MOST valuable to you, your team, or your projects right now? Comment below with the area you’d most want covered: 🔧 HVAC upgrades 🏠 Air sealing 💧 Moisture management 🌬️ Ventilation 🪟 Window & door replacement details ⬆️ Converting unconditioned spaces to conditioned spaces 📋 Diagnostics & troubleshooting 👷 Other? Tell us below. Your feedback will directly help shape future training classes and content topics. We genuinely want to build training that helps solve real-world jobsite challenges, so thank you in advance to everyone who takes a moment to share their thoughts. #buildingscience #renovation #homebuilders #hvactech #contractor

Did you know that air pressure inside a house changes depending on the outside temperature? One of the biggest reasons is something called the “Stack Effect.” When it’s cold outside and warm inside, warm air inside the home naturally rises. If there are gaps and air leaks in the upper parts of the house, especially the attic, that warm air escapes outside. As it leaves, the house pulls in cold air through leaks lower in the building to replace it. The result? ❄️ Drafts 💸 Higher heating bills 🌡️ Uneven temperatures ❌ Comfort complaints This is why attic air sealing matters so much in high-performance construction. Insulation alone isn’t enough if air can still move through gaps and penetrations. Proper attic air sealing combined with grade 1 insulation installation helps reduce uncontrolled air leakage, improves comfort, lowers energy use, and supports better overall building performance. The tighter and more controlled the building enclosure, the better the home can perform in every season. 🔧🏠 #BuildingScience #HighPerformanceHomes #HomeBuilding #BuildingEnvelope #BuildingTips

New from the Ci Lab! We’ve been building something behind the scenes to make air sealing a lot more visual and real for the field. This new demo setup uses 6 interchangeable panels with different penetration types and sizes so you can actually see how air moves, where it leaks, and what happens when you seal it properly. The reality of most jobsites is that there are wires, pipes, and odd penetrations everywhere and there is a lot riding on getting it right. This air sealing demo helps connect the dots between what we talk about and what you’re dealing with on site every day. Our goal at Ci is to give you practical ways to build tighter, more comfortable homes without guesswork. This new demo is yet another reason to join us in person at a Ci Live class to get hands-on with building science. #BuildingScience #AirSealing #HomeBuilding #ConstructionTraining #HighPerformanceHomes

There’s more to air distribution than just delivering air into a room. And a few small decisions can make a big difference in the level of comfort, performance, and the number of callbacks: • Register Placement Matters: Exterior walls still make sense, but aiming airflow toward those loads (like windows) helps you actually offset them. • Not All Registers Are Created Equal: Restrictive designs can choke airflow and direct it to less optimum areas. • Eliminate The Guesswork: Load calcs + Manual D = delivering the right amount of air where it’s needed. • Velocity Drives Comfort: It’s not just CFM. Proper air speed helps mix the air distribution within the space and eliminate hot/cold spots. Key Takeaway: When airflow is intentional, comfort follows and so do fewer issues on site. If you want to sharpen the mechanical portion of your builds, come see us at Ci Live. Our two-day Mechanical Mastery class on June 23rd & 24th is an advanced course on all things HVAC & mechanical. We’ll walk through practical ways to get this right in the field. Register today with the link in our bio. #BuildingScience #HVACDesign #HomeBuilder #HighPerformanceHomes #Airflow

What does 40 years in the building industry teach you? That milestone gives you a lot of perspective. Gord Cooke, a building science partner with Construction Instruction, recently reflected on his career in the building industry and said something that might resonate with many of you - especially those who’ve spent years in the field trying to bridge the gap between theory and what actually works on a jobsite. He started as an engineer, but quickly realized that building performance isn’t something you fully learn in a classroom. It comes from listening to builders’ real challenges and being asked tough, practical questions. Early on, when builders asked “Why does this matter?”, the answer wasn’t always clear. That led to something important: a commitment to continued learning. Through training, mentorship, and years of experience, a clearer picture emerged: Building science is about understanding how the pieces connect together so that the same decisions can: • Improve energy performance • Increase durability • Enhance comfort and indoor air quality Milestones like this are also a reminder of how important mentors, peers, and builders in the field are and how they all play a role in shaping what we know and how we apply it. Thank you to the people who ask questions, share knowledge, and keep pushing for better-performing homes and to an industry that quite literally builds for generations. Congratulations Gord on this amazing career milestone! generations. #buildingscience #highperformancehomes #homebuilders #constructiontraining #hvac

It never seems to rain until the day the subfloor goes down. And when it does, you get a real-world look at how your materials perform. We set up a simple comparison between the standard/commodity subfloor vs. a premium panel (LP Legacy) and exposed them to the same wet conditions. After sitting wet for a day, the difference was pretty clear: On the commodity side: • Panels stayed saturated • Tongue-and-groove joints swelled significantly • Moisture was still trapped deep in the panel That usually means extra work is needed to sand down joints and extra time waiting for everything to dry-out. On the premium side: • Minimal water saturation • Dried much faster as a result • Joints stayed flat and tight From a jobsite perspective, that can make a big difference. Crews can get moving again sooner, and there’s less cleanup and correction needed at the seams. Most framing packages will see rain at some point. When that happens, how the subfloor handles moisture - but most importantly how quickly it recovers - directly affects your schedule and the amount of rework you’re dealing with. It’s a practical consideration more than anything else: choosing materials that help you stay on track when conditions aren’t ideal. #BuildingScience #Subfloor #HighPerformanceHomes #constructiontraining #HomeBuilder

Most wall failures are a result of the small penetrations nobody thinks twice about. Walk any jobsite and you’ll see it: a pipe or wire pushed through the wall, maybe a quick patch. And the WRB continuity? Broken. It seems minor, but every penetration is a weak point for: • Water intrusion • Air leakage • Long-term durability issues • Insects and pests And while these can be easy to miss, its important to remember that it’s not just one hole in your wall assembly. It’s DOZENS of them across the building. Electrical. Plumbing. Low-voltage. HVAC. Each one needs to be detailed properly. The good news? There are simple, repeatable solutions that make a big difference: ✅ Flexible flashing tapes like DuPont Flex Wrap EZ that integrate with the WRB ✅ Pre-formed QuickFlash boots for common penetrations ✅ Products designed to maintain both air and water control layers Using products like these in your assemblies and installing them with care can help ensure: • Consistent installation across crews • Faster detailing in the field • Better long-term performance The key takeaway? Maintaining continuous control layers especially at penetrations is critical. #BuildingScience #HighPerformanceHomes #AirSealing #EnvelopeDesign #HomeBuilder

You may not notice stucco failures when it cracks, but you will when it starts taking on water. At Ci, we damaged a stucco-clad wall and then tracked water retention and drying behavior. Shockingly, we measured a +24.7 lb water gain in a “standard” assembly of OSB sheathing, two-ply building paper and stucco cladding. This system failed. Badly. Once saturated, this wall didn’t just hold water, it pulled it inward and then: • Drying slows down drastically • Drainage layers get overwhelmed • OSB becomes a liability So the real question isn’t “Will water get in?” because we know it will. It’s “What happens after it does?” High-performance walls aren’t just about control layers. They’re also about recovery. To dive deep into the building science around high performance enclosures, join us in person at Ci Live for our two-day class Enclosure Excellence class on May 6th and 7th. The class is filling up fast, so register today with the link in our bio. #BuildingScience #ConstructionTraining #HighPerformanceHomes #HomeBuilder #DurabilityMatters