Commercial or Residential Air Barriers

Air Barriers are materials that control the movement of air into and out of a building. A number of air barrier materials and components that work together are called air barrier systems. The air barrier system is part of the building envelope. Typically, the building envelope divides the interior environment from the exterior environment, or dissimilar environments. The air barrier is an essential part of the building envelope, by providing the control of air into and out of a building. This system essentially "wraps" the building's shell and ensures that it protects the building from the effects of air leakage. Air Leakage can have detrimental effects on how a building functions and reduces the life span of a building.

Quite often, there is confusion between air barriers and vapor barriers. A vapor barrier's primary function is to stop the transmission of moisture by diffusion through a material. An example of a vapor barrier is Polyethylene. At times, materials can be deemed an air/vapor barrier, in which the material is designed to stop both the movement of air and vapor diffusion.