The Adhesive and Sealant Council (ASC) recently announced a partnership with the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS). With an official memorandum of understanding, the organizations will work to connect the full value chain—from manufacturer to design professional and end user—with regards to education and awareness on selection and guidance on sealant technology in vertical wall assemblies. 

Initial efforts with NIBS and ASC will be to reposition and revise the sealants section of the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG), a web-based portal providing government and industry practitioners with one-stop access to up-to-date information on a range of building-related guidance, criteria, and technology from a “whole buildings” perspective. The portal is currently organized into four major categories: Design Recommendations, Project Management/Operations & Maintenance, Federal Facility Criteria, and Continuing Education. At the heart of the WBDG are the Resource Pages, which provide reductive summaries on particular topics. ASC and NIBS are working collectively on an updated section for sealants.

“The effort to update the sealants section of the WBDG is intended to provide specifiers, design professionals and personnel making important decisions with sealant technology guidance on performance metrics and important industry documents,” said Steve Duren, managing director of Membership & Industry Programs at ASC. “As the sealant chemistries evolve and find new uses in vertical wall systems it is important that the industry has resources that go beyond standards.”

Lead authors include Jerry Klosowski, formerly with Dow Corning, and Steve Rosenberg, formerly with Sika Corp. The ASC Growth Wall Interface Task Force will also be part of the process, including leadership from Chairman Dave White, senior vice president of Sika. The new sealants section is expected to be written by the end of 2020.

“With the WBDG being a free resource for industry, our intent is to update the sealant section from 2010 and inject state-of-the-art information that a specifier, design professional or architect may consider when making material choices in vertical wall systems,” said White.

For more information, visit www.ascouncil.org and www.nibs.org.