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Cold-Weather Condensation Problems in Fully Insulated Low-Slope Roof Systems to Meet NFPA 13 Requirements

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Abstract
The authors have investigated numerous failures in low-slope roof systems installed over insulated framing spaces. In many cases, these failures are severe, involving decay and structural failure of the roof sheathing and top chords of wood roof trusses (Fig. 1), even in climate zones with relatively moderate winter temperatures. A recent increase in the number of requests to investigate failures of these systems indicates to the authors that the issues causing these failures are not well understood by the building community. A significant percentage of these failures involve multistory, multifamily buildings where the roof framing spaces are filled with noncombustible, air-permeable insulation to avoid the use of sprinklers within concealed spaces in buildings governed by NFPA 13.1
Date
11/2024
Author(s)
Manfred Kehrer, Dipl-lng; Elizabeth Pugh, and Norbert Krogstad
Page(s)
30-37
Keyword(s)
framing; spaces; decay; wood


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