Airtightness of the joint between the wood frame wall and the basement wall

Abstract

An airtight building envelope is crucial in order to achieve an energy efficient building. Norwegian airtightness requirements have recently become stricter, leading to an increased interest in methods for ensuring airtight building envelopes. The joint between the basement wall and the wood frame wall is one of several key areas in this regard.This article discusses the air leakages associated with this joint, based on laboratory measurements done on a fullscale model. The results show that the shape of the basement wall top surface has a considerable impact on the airleakage, a planer surface generally leading to less air leakage. The load on the sill plate has little impact on the airtightness. Sealing materials have widely differing airtightness properties, malleable sealing materials giving better results than non-malleable ones.