CERC BEE Delivers Award-Winning Air Sealant

LIQUIDARMOR, a sprayable liquid sealant developed by The Dow Chemical Company and evaluated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), recently won the 2016 Gold Edison Award for Building Construction & Lighting Innovations. The Edison Awards honor the best in innovation and excellence in the development of new products and services.

The ORNL and Dow Chemical collaboration to develop and evaluate LIQUIDARMOR was funded by the U.S.-China Clean Energy Research Center for Building Energy Efficiency (CERC BEE). LIQUIDARMOR is the only one-step sprayable liquid flashing on the market that is 3 to 4 times faster to install than tape. By sealing imperfections in air barrier systems to reduce the amount of air that leaks through the building envelope, it helps decrease energy use from air conditioning systems. Its ease of installation can also drastically reduce labor time and expenses, especially along complex geometries.

In 2014, the U.S. and China renewed their commitments to CERC BEE for an additional five years from 2016 to 2020. Under CERC BEE 2.0, ORNL will continue developing technologies that will improve the energy efficiency of building envelopes. ORNL’s diverse expertise in building construction, advanced composites, material science, and 3D printing will be used to improve the performance of insulated precast panels. ORNL will also advance the retrofit of commercial building envelopes by conducting case studies to increase knowledge on energy savings, payback time, and identifying the most effective techniques. Team members include ORNL, the University of Tennessee, the Institute for Advanced Composites and Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI), Dow Chemical, 3M, and the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.

Read the full LIQUIDARMOR success story or see BTO's other building envelope R&D projects.

Photo courtesy of Dow.

Photo courtesy of Dow.