The present disclosure relates to sealing members for walls and, in particular, sealing members that seal stud bays of interior and/or exterior walls and ceilings.
To improve occupant comfort, buildings are outfitted with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Many HVAC systems include, among other elements, conditioning equipment that heats or cools air, components for forcing the conditioned air into a room located remotely from the conditioning equipment with duct work, and cold air returns for returning air from the room to the conditioning equipment. This arrangement provides circulation of air in a building, thereby assisting with occupant comfort.
HVAC systems include cold air returns that return air from remotely located rooms to the conditioning equipment. To increase the efficiency of the HVAC systems, the cold air returns may be sealed, such that the HVAC system better controls circulation of air within a building.
Additionally, buildings may be subject to leaks or thermal inefficiencies at locations where structural elements abut one another or abut sheathing.
Accordingly, alternative building sealing systems and methods of installing the same may be desired.
According to one embodiment, a method of assembling a wall structure includes coupling a first sealing member to a wall structural member along a first side of the wall structural member and coupling a second sealing member to the wall structural member along a second side of the wall structural member opposite the first side. The first sealing member and the second sealing member each include a compliant seal having a thickness and an adhesive along at least one side. The method also includes coupling a first wall sheathing element to the first side of the wall structural member so that the first sealing member contacts the first wall sheathing element and coupling a second wall sheathing element to the second side of the wall structural member so that the second sealing member contacts the second wall sheathing element. The first sealing member and the second sealing member form a restrictive fluid path between the first wall sheathing element, the wall structural member, and the second wall sheathing element.
According to another embodiment, a method of assembling a building structure includes coupling a sealing member to a first structural member, where the sealing member includes a compliant seal having a seal thickness, a seal width, and a seal length that is greater than the seal thickness and the seal width, and an adhesive along at least one side. The method also includes coupling a second structural member to the first structural member, where the second structural member includes a structural member thickness, a structural member width, and a structural member length that is greater than the structural member thickness. The sealing member is positioned with the seal length generally aligned with the structural member length. The sealing member forms a restrictive fluid path between the first structural member and the second structural member.
According to yet another embodiment, a building structure includes a structural member having a structural member thickness, a structural member width, and a structural member length that is greater than the structural member thickness and the structural member width. The building structure also includes a sealing member coupled to the structural member, where the sealing member includes a compliant seal having a seal width, a seal thickness, and a seal length, where the seal length greater than the seal width and the seal thickness, and an adhesive applied to one side of the compliant seal. The compliant seal is free from adhesive along a side opposite the side to which adhesive is applied. The building structure further includes a first wall sheathing element coupled to the structural member. The sealing member is positioned with the seal length generally aligned with the structural member length. The sealing member forms a restrictive fluid path between the structural member and the first wall sheathing element.
Additional features and advantages of the embodiments described herein will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description or recognized by practicing the embodiments described herein, including the detailed description that follows, the claims, as well as the appended drawings.
It should be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description describe various embodiments and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the claimed subject matter. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the various embodiments, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate the various embodiments described herein, and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operations of the claimed subject matter.
The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplary in nature and not intended to limit the subject matter defined by the claims. The following detailed description of the illustrative embodiments can be understood when read in conjunction with the following drawings, where like structure is indicated with like reference numerals and in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of wall sealing systems and sealing members for such sealing systems. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.
As used herein, the phrase “conditioned air” refers to air has been conditioned by HVAC equipment to modify the temperature and/or humidity of the air, and is the directed through ducting to rooms that are remotely located from the HVAC equipment. As used herein, the phrase “unconditioned air” refers to air that is drawn from a room that is remotely located from HVAC equipment and is drawn towards the HVAC equipment for conditioning. It should be understood that air may recirculate throughout a building over time, such that air may be “conditioned” or “unconditioned” at various times.
Referring now to
The wall sealing system 102 may be incorporated into a building design such that the wall sealing system 102 is used as part of a cold air return for an HVAC system 80. HVAC systems 80 provide remotely located rooms with conditioned air. To manage air flow of conditioned air into the rooms and unconditioned air out of the rooms, cold air return lines 82 are typically installed, which return unconditioned air from the room to the HVAC equipment for conditioning. Exchange of conditioned air in a room for unconditioned air may be important to ensure even distribution of air flow throughout the building, as to improve occupant comfort.
As depicted in
In other embodiments, the wall sealing system 102 may be used as part of a conditioned air delivery ducting for an HVAC system 80.
Referring now to
Referring now to
The sealing members 120 are positioned between the wall structural members 130 and the first wall sheathing element 110 and the second wall sheathing element 140, as depicted in
Comparing
It should also be noted that the relative thickness of the sealing member 120 as compared to the wall structural members 130 and the sheathing 110, 140 may vary without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the compressed thickness of the sealing member 120 may be small, as to minimize any variation in dimension of the outward-face of the sheathing 110, 140 that encloses the wall.
Referring now to
The compliant seal 122 may be made from a variety of materials including, for example and without limitations, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, polymeric materials, elastomeric materials, and the like. In one embodiment, the compliant seal 122 may be made from a compressible foam rubber, such that the compliant seal 122 has an air-filled matrix structure. In some of the embodiments, the compliant seal 122 may be an open-cell or a closed-cell foam. In other embodiments, the compliant seal 122 may be made from ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber. In yet other embodiments, the compliant seal 122 may be made from polyurethane. In yet other embodiments, the compliant seal 122 may be made from polyethylene. In each of the embodiments, the compliant seal 122 is solid in form, such that the compliant seal 122 includes a thickness 123. In some embodiments, the compliant seal 122 may be highly compressible in the thickness 123 direction, such that the thickness 123 may vary between compressed and uncompressed states. In other embodiments, the compliant seal 122 may exhibit low compressibility in the thickness direction 123, such that the thickness 123 does not significantly vary between compressed and uncompressed states.
In general, the adhesive 124 of the sealing member 120 may be selected from a commercially available adhesive. In some embodiments, the adhesive 124 may be a permanent adhesive. In other embodiments, the adhesive 124 may be a temporary adhesive, such that the sealing member 120 may be removably and replaceably attached to the wall structural member 130. The adhesive 124 may be a pressure-sensitive adhesive. The compliant seal 122 should be chemically resistant to the adhesive 124 such that the compliant seal 122 is resistant to chemical attack from the adhesive 124. Further, the adhesive maintains adhesion across a band of temperatures including, for example, from less than about 30° F. to about 200° F.
Referring now to
Structures used in construction of stud assemblies 134 have a structural member length 137, a structural member width 138, and a structural member thickness 139. Stud assemblies 134 are typically constructed according to industry standards using commercially available materials. As such, the structural member length 137 of the wall structural members 130 are typically selected from commonly available stud lengths (e.g., 8 foot, 10 foot, 12 foot, and the like). Further, construction (framing) of the stud assembly 134 is typically produced with even spacing between adjacent wall structural members 130 (e.g., 12 inches-on-center; 16 inches-on-center; 24 inches-on-center; and the like). As such, the sealing members 120 may be supplied in a variety of sealing member lengths 127 to match structural member length 137 and stud spacing. For example, sealing members 120 may be supplied to end users in groups having appropriate seal lengths 137 that correspond to the structural member lengths 137 and run lengths that correspond to the spacing between adjacent structural members 130. Users installing the sealing members 120 may apply the longer lengths of the sealing members 120 to the vertically arranged wall structural members 130 and the run lengths of the sealing members 120 to the portion of the wall plate members 132 to form the sealed-stud bays 136.
Laboratory testing of the sealing member installed between studs and sheathing has been undertaken to evaluate the relative performance improvement of an HVAC system that incorporates the sealing members as described herein. A wall construction similar to that depicted in
In addition, a wall was constructed that incorporated metal ductwork to simulate a sealed cold air return. Seams of the metal ductwork were sealed with mastic, metallic tape, and/or additional sealants as conventionally known to reduce airflow across the seams. The sealed metal ductwork was installed into a stud bay of a partially constructed wall, and drywall was installed onto the studs and around the sealed metal ductwork as to simulate a fully-constructed wall. The same pump settings described hereinabove with regard to the sealed cavity were applied to the wall that incorporated the metal ductwork as the walls described hereinabove. Magnitude of the vacuum pulled across the wall including the sealed metal ductwork was approximately 10% less than the vacuum pulled across the sealed cavity, as discussed hereinabove. While greater sealing of the wall including the sealed metal ductwork as compared to the sealed cavity was expected, it is believed that securement of the drywall to the studs housing the sealed metal ductwork compromised the seals of the sealed metal ductwork. As such, it is expected that walls that incorporate the sealing members as discussed hereinabove are expected to have a greater rate of recovery of unconditioned air from remotely located rooms as compared to walls that incorporate sealed metal ductwork.
Alternatively, the sealing member 120 may be supplied in a variety of forms including a roll having a length of sealing member 120 measuring from about 10 to about 50 feet.
While particular discussion has been made hereinabove in regard to vertically arranged walls, it should be understood that the sealing members 120 according to the present disclosure may be incorporated into any of a variety of orientation and configuration of framed construction building. As such, the sealing members 120 according to the present disclosure may be incorporated into floors, subfloors, ceilings, joists, rafters, and the like.
Referring now to
Referring now to
It should now be understood that wall sealing assemblies according to the present disclosure may be used to construct sealed-stud bays within walls. The sealed-stud bays allow unconditioned air to be returned from remotely-located rooms to an HVAC system for conditioning. In other embodiments, the sealed-stud bays allow conditioned air to be delivered from the HVAC system to remotely-located rooms. The sealed-stud bays may be constructed with minimal time and expense and may improve HVAC efficiency of the building in which they are installed.
It is noted that the terms “substantially” and “about” may be utilized herein to represent the inherent degree of uncertainty that may be attributed to any quantitative comparison, value, measurement, or other representation. These terms are also utilized herein to represent the degree by which a quantitative representation may vary from a stated reference without resulting in a change in the basic function of the subject matter at issue.
While particular embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be understood that various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, although various aspects of the claimed subject matter have been described herein, such aspects need not be utilized in combination. It is therefore intended that the appended claims cover all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of the claimed subject matter.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/674,600 filed Jul. 23, 2012 titled “Wall Sealing Systems.”
Number | Date | Country | |
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61674600 | Jul 2012 | US |