This is a bit of digest of a digest, if you will, for JLC. It comes from the well-known and respected Allison Bailes - a physicist turned home-performance guru and trainer turned building-science geek. (If you haven't subscribed to his Energy Vanguard blog yet, there's no time like the present.)
The cathedral ceilings compendium of papers that Allison points us to is gathered by RDH Building Science Laboratories, a Canadian-based research firm that includes the venerable Dr. John . If you have questions or want grounding on the building-science principles and performance issues of vented vs. unvented roof assemblie, this is a one-stop place go.
The other is by the illustrious Peter Yost, writing in GreenBuildingAdvisor on "Installing Basement Waterproofing from the ‘Negative’ Side." By "negative side" he's referring to basement waterproofing applied to inside, which is a bit of a holy grail for existing buildings with wet basements. And this paper a bit of an advanced study, but the resources Peter links to and his conclusions make this a must-read if solving wet basement woes is part of your domain.
Allison nails it on why these are both important collections: "Both of these topics are fraught with risk for doing things the wrong way and owning liability that you could avoid."
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