Water Penetration and Air Leakage Testing of Flanged Commercial Windows

Flanged windows are typically considered a product for low-rise residential buildings, and un-flanged window systems (curtainwall, window wall, storefront) are typically considered products for commercial and high-rise construction. However, a new type of window system is becoming more common on high-rise construction: flanged, aluminum windows designed for high-rise buildings. While numerous industry standards exist to guide the installation of flanged windows in low-rise construction, virtually no guidance exists to inform best practices for the installation of higher-performance flanged windows in high-rise construction. Terracon Consultants, Inc. and JE Dunn Construction partnered in 2017 to perform water penetration and air leakage testing of flanged window details, which resulted in a chapter in the ASTM publication entitled Whole Building Air Leakage: Testing and Building Performance Impacts Manuscript ID STP-2018-0028.R4. While valuable conclusions resulted from that collaboration, the team was limited in their testing capability. Therefore, Terracon and JE Dunn have now partnered with Tremco to expand upon our previous research efforts. Tremco has a large, sophisticated testing facility in Cleveland, OH, that can provide more accurate and a much greater quantity of tests. This research and collaboration effort regarding window details is part of a greater effort to establish a high-rise detailing manual badly needed by our industry.

Keith Simon, AIA, CPHC, LEED AP, BECxP
Terracon | Austin, TX

Keith Simon joined Building Exterior Solutions, Inc. (a division of Terracon) in April of 2014. He has over 15 years’ experience in architectural design and building enclosure consultation, including peer review, design assistance, durability analysis, construction administration, testing, and forensics of building enclosure issues. Simon was the founder of the Austin Building Enclosure Council (BEC: Austin) on whose board he sits, as well as on the Passive House Austin Chapter. He is secretary of the national executive committee for the Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council (BETEC). Simon has served as Terracon’s subject matter expert for hygrothermal modeling and building enclosure commissioning.

John A. Posenecker
Terracon | Austin, TX

John Posenecker joined Terracon in March of 2015 and is a registered mechanical engineer. He is on the Building Enclosure Council (BEC) National Board and is a board member and Technical Committee co-chair for the Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA). His experience includes the design, construction, testing, and forensic investigation of building enclosure systems. Posenecker has participated in a wide variety of projects associated with enclosures that include containment systems for commercial nuclear power plants, noise control systems for commercial and institutional projects, and waterproofing systems for a wide variety of commercial high-rise and low-rise buildings.