The 2018 ABAA Conference & Trade Show took place in Salt Lake City, Utah from May 8-9, 2018.  This was the 7^th annual conference and the first year that the conference headed out west.  The program included 26 different technical presentations by some of the foremost experts in building science, building enclosures and air barriers.

On the first day of the conference, key experts from around the U.S. presented on topics such as building enclosure commissioning, detailing for air, water, vapor and heat, moisture transport due to air leakage, insurance claims and why quality control of building enclosures matter.

The updated air barrier calculator was presented by Oak Ridge National Labs (ORNL) that now not only shows energy savings, but also the reduction in moisture movement due to air leakage. This updated tool will soon be posted on the ABAA website for free. 

Four concurrent educational sessions geared towards general contractors, design professionals, air barrier contracts, consultants and testing labs were offered on Day 2 of the conference. Topics included whole building testing, designing critical interfaces, code requirements, specifications development, quality assurance and quality control techniques.

If you missed out on a presentation or were not able to attend, all the educational presentations can be viewed and downloaded on our conference website. Visit, www.abaaconference.com/2018-abaa-conference-presentations.

This was the largest trade show to date, with over 37 exhibitors from a variety of material manufacturers, service providers, equipment manufacturers and testing labs. Running concurrently with the conference were training and certification classes for installers of air barriers and auditors. 

During the conference, a number of contractors were recognized for work on ABAA-specified quality assurance projects, and the chairman awarded a number of committee members for their work in the technical and research field. 

The following committee chairs were recognized for their hard work and helping to facilitate and undertake numerous initiatives:

Research Committee:

Andrew Dunlap

Smith Group

Sara Flock

Raths, Raths & Johnson

Technical Committee:

John Posenecker

Building Exterior Solutions

Andrea Wager-Watts

Dow Chemical

This year, a new award was created called the “Wagdy Anis Award of Dedication.” It was created to honor Wagdy, one of the founding members of ABAA. The award is for a member that exemplifies dedication to the air barrier industry by providing mentorship, leadership and setting the standard in volunteer excellence.

The first ever award was given to Roy Schaufelle, a long-time board member, past chairman and member of the executive committee. This conference was another resounding success that continues to improve next year. Watch out for the announcement for next year’s conference shortly.