I'm curious how folks are detailing their enclosure systems to create functional air barriers on the interior and exterior, as current best practices guidelines appear to dictate. This is, or should be, a prime concern of folks building with alternative enclosure systems because we roll-your-own types don't have the benefit of installation instructions. The goal is simple enough-- to create continuity of interior and exterior envelopes such that air is not moving into and through walls-- and thus creating all manner of moisture issues, not to mention drastic heat loss (or heat gain for you timberframers in Phoenix, AZ). But this is a pretty elusive goal too, when you consider that, by necessity, our very construction method of choice-- timberframing-- creates all manner of transitions between dissimilar materials that need to be detailed appropriately. Some folks here in the Mad River Valley of VT are doing some pretty excellent work with creating airtight strawbale enclosures. I believe the new Guild Quarterly has an article about their work and the methods they have developed-- mostly involving "airfins" at transitions between plaster and timbers. Does anybody else have anything to share about how best to approach this?
-Devin