Intro To Pro Clima

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The Pro Clima Advantage

Pro Clima is a world leader in airtight systems that simultaneously optimize air and moisture control, manufacturing vapor intelligent membranes, adhesives, tapes and more. They developed and sold the world’s first smart vapor retarders under the brand ‘B.I. Baupappen’ starting in 1985, and have continued to innovate cutting edge ecological building materials ever since. 475 High Performance Building Supply has proudly been the exclusive supplier of Pro Clima products in North America since 2011. When used as a complete system, Pro Clima provides a 10-year system warranty, including replacement cost and 6-year material warranty in other cases.

While airtightness is key to a high performance building envelope, air sealing alone is not enough to ensure a structure is protected against the elements. Moisture is important to consider, as it can enter building structures in a number of ways, and most often from the air itself. If humidity levels are too high, then moisture damage to building structures is likely. Traditional vapor barriers with high diffusion resistances restrict drying and often create higher risk wall and roof assemblies.

A much better option is Pro Clima’s intelligent vapor retarders that have humidity-variable diffusion resistance. What this means is that they limit water vapor diffusion into the assembly during the winter, limiting wetting, but can open up in the summer, maximizing drying. Limiting wetting and maximizing drying is the best way to keep assemblies lasting for generations by reducing moisture related risks.

For a deeper dive into the value of Pro Clima airtightness and vapor control as a system, and for an overview of how it’s used to make high performance, low-energy building possible, watch our introduction to airtight construction methods with 475’s Nick Shaw (22 minute run time):

Our Guide To Help You Put It Together: the Smart Enclosure

After years of assisting professionals in the development of high performance details in North America, 475 encapsulated our top recommendation in a series of books that we call the Smart Enclosure. The Smart Enclosure system offers a 21st-century guide to advanced high-performance building assemblies. It’s a toolkit that can help you maximize the positive impact of your building projects: providing optimized comfort, safety, energy efficiency, and negative carbon emissions. Download the ebooks and CAD details to learn how to simply and effectively integrate the Pro Clima system into your next project.

DOWNLOAD FREE SMART ENCLOSURE DETAILS

Choosing The Right Ingredients

Now that you know the importance of airtightness and vapor control provided by the Pro Clima system, and you have details on how to integrate this system into your plans, you need to decide exactly which materials to specify. Here’s a breakdown of navigating the variety of components to choose from.

1) Choose your Interior Airtightness and Vapor Control

An interior air barrier does it better. Let’s think for a second about what a high performance assembly wants to be, and not just what’s the simplest way to pass the blower door test. Generally speaking, in cold/mixed climates the exterior wants to be relatively vapor open. The exterior doesn't need to be absolutely airtight (though tighter is always better) - it just needs to be what we call windtight, to avoid wind-washing from degrading the insulating layer. The exterior side is the secondary airtight layer.

The primary air barrier layer should be inboard of the insulation - keeping convective air movements away from the insulation and cold components. Better still, that inboard air barrier can now also serve as the vapor control layer - doubling as a smart vapor retarder and airtight membrane. As a result, by keeping conditioned and moist air out of the insulated enclosure, airtight smart vapor retarders can provide robust protection from moisture damages for the life of the building. There are only a few to choose from, and they each have pretty clear specialties (hint: you’ll most likely need INTELLO PLUS, this choice is easy).

Name	When To Use It	Fastening	Permeability	UV exposure rating
INTELLO PLUS	Interior air barrier, smart vapor control, and dense-pack reinforcement all in one. INTELLO PLUS is the most common choice for most projects.	stapled, taped with TESCON VANA	Variable: 0.13 to 13 perms	Do not expose to the elements
VISCONN	Liquid-applied air barrier and water resistant barrier (WRB) for both interior and exterior use on CMU / masonry and difficult to seal junctions in any project.	Spray, roll, brush-on, or use AEROFIXX tool	*Variable - 0.3 perms to 25 perms	3 months
INTELLO X	Airtight commercial grade, heavy-duty, smart vapor retarder that doubles as temporary WRB - use inboard of insulation layer.	stapled, taped with TESCON VANA	Variable: 0.13 to 13 perms	2 months
DB+	A paper-based smart vapor variable and airtight membrane. Ideal environmentally friendly air barrier option for the environmentally conscious contractor.	stapled, taped with TESCON VANA	Variable: 0.8 to 8 perms	Do not expose to the elements. Requires additional care, as it is paper-based

2) Choose your Exterior Airtightness and Water Resistant Barrier

Pro Clima's exterior water resistant membranes (WRB) and roof underlayments incorporate a monolithic TEEE film. These membranes, unlike conventional WRBs, have no pores and are completely waterproof and wind/airtight. The TEEE film creates a monolithic membrane that transports vapor by passing it along its molecular chain. Even the slightest vapor pressure differential will engage the molecular chain reaction and allow the assembly to dry through diffusion. Consequently, these membranes, unlike conventional WRBs, are very vapor open (38 perms, Sd-value 0,05m) in every condition. For more on our Pro Clima exterior membranes operate, we break it down in our blog post, The Pro Clima SOLITEX MENTO Difference.

To help you out, we’ve created this Pro Clima WRB Cheat Sheet below. This chart is your cheat sheet to each exterior membrane and its use. Note that “Roof” refers to pitched roof applications (3:12 pitch or greater). We do not carry any membranes for flat roof or low pitch applications at this time. Read more about our advice for flat roofs here.

Name	Application	When to use it	Fastening	Permeability	UV exposure rating
SOLITEX MENTO 1000	Wall	Airtight, vapor open WRB	stapled, taped with TESCON VANA	38 perms	3 months
VISCONN	Wall. VISCONN acts as a primer for ProClima tapes and adhesives.	Liquid-applied air barrier and WRB for both interior and exterior airbarriers on CMU / masonry and difficult to seal junctions in any project.	Spray, roll, brush-on, or use AEROFIXX tool	Variable: 0.33 to 25 perms	3 months
(SOLITEX) FRONTA QUATTRO	Wall	This 3-layer dark black WRB is meant for open joint siding, and is long-term UV stable.	stapled, taped with TESCON INVIS	38 perms	6 months
(SOLITEX) FRONTA PENTA	Wall	A step up from the already durable QUATTRO, this 5-layer, dark black WRB is an even more rugged membrane for open-joint, long-term UV stability.	stapled, taped with TESCON INVIS	17 perms	6 months
SOLITEX MENTO PLUS	Wall + Roof	Reinforced membrane for dense packing insulation without the need for exterior sheathing.	stapled, taped with TESCON VANA	38 perms	4 months
SOLITEX UM	Roof	Standing seam metal roofing underlayment with integrated 3-D mesh to provide drainage.	stapled, taped with integrated adhesive strip	38 perms	3 months
(SOLITEX) ADHERO	Wall + Roof	Commercial grade self-adhered airbarrier / WRB for gypsum boards, or plywood.	self-adhered - use PRESSFIX XL tool	8 perms	3-6 months (see product details)
INTELLO X	Wall + Roof	Airtight commercial grade, heavy-duty, smart vapor retarder that doubles as temporary WRB - use inboard of primary insulation layer.	stapled, taped with TESCON VANA	Variable: 0.13 to 13 perms	2 months
SOLITEX MENTO 3000 Connect	Roof	Underlayment for pitched roofs with integrated adhesive strip. Making application easy and requires far less tape.	stapled, taped with integrated adhesive strip	38 perms	4 months
SOLITEX MENTO 5000 Connect	Roof	A 3-ply roof underlayment membranes with high resistance to wear, temperature exposure and driving rain, and 2 integrated self-adhesive strips	stapled, taped with integrated adhesive strip	38 perms	6 months

3) Choose Tapes, Gaskets, And Adhesives

Finally, to finish off your Smart Enclosure, you’ll want to choose the perfect connection methods to optimize your envelope, and seal off any lingering penetrations to make sure your building is as air- and water-tight as possible. Pro Clima tapes, adhesives, and gaskets are in the highest class of material when it comes to strength, durability, longevity, and ease of installation and a wide variety are available for every connection necessary. These materials surpass the highest standards for maximizing healthy indoor conditions.

Adhesives

The CONTEGA products of Pro Clima adhesives offer both superb adhesion and exceptional durability. Each can be used for both interior and exterior connections, and their most important feature is that the adhesive never dries out or embrittles, and hence it won't crack or peel away. To keep from embrittlement, CONTEGA adhesives are made of non-ageing acrylate polymers, without softeners or halogenated compounds. For this reason they are also zero-VOC (CONTEGA CLASSIC) or low-VOC (CONTEGA HF contains natural ethanol as a solvent to allow for storage below freezing). CONTEGA adhesives also comply with the very stringent German Sentinel IAQ standards. So unlike some well-known acoustical sealants, you won't be bothered by toxic smells - especially if you're working indoors without ventilation.

Name	When To Use It	Minimum Storage Temp.	Application Temp.
CONTEGA HF	Connections between interior or exterior air barriers and/or uneven substrates.	>-4 °F (-20 °C), cool and dry	14 °F to 122 °F (-10 °C to 50 °C) Adhesion to frozen objects is not possible.
CONTEGA CLASSIC	Durable and elastic connections between membranes and uneven substrates and/or difficult junctions.	>-4 °F (-20 °C), cool and dry	> 32 °F (0 °C ) to 122 °F (50 °C)
CONTEGA MULTIBOND	Durable and elastic connections between membranes and uneven substrates and/or difficult junctions.	Cool and dry, protect from direct sunlight.	Above 5°F (-15°C)
PRIMER RP	Primer for wood, OSB, plywood, fiberboard, brick, concrete, roofs, walls and floors to prepare the substrate for the adhesion of Pro Clima tapes and the adhesive CONTEGA HF/LINE.	Application Temperature: 15 F° to 113 F°, -10 C° to +45 C°	32 F°, 0 C° (frost free)
VISCONN	Liquid-applied air barrier and WRB for both interior and exterior airbarriers on CMU / masonry and difficult to seal junctions in any project.	Both	41°F to 95°F (5°C to +35°C)

Gaskets

Pro Clima’s flexible EPDM gaskets fit around the pipes and wires to easily accommodate any movement while maintaining an airtight seal. KAFLEX gaskets are for wires, ROFLEX for pipes. ROFLEX SOLIDO gaskets have built-in tape that seals directly to your air barrier (whether it’s a Pro Clima membrane, plywood, drywall, masonry, etc) without the need for primer.

Name	When To Use It	Interior/ Exterior	UV Exposure Time/Temp.	Fastening
ROFLEX	Airtight sleeves for sealing around pipes and ducts.	Both	14 °F to 122 °F (-10 °C to 50 °C) Adhesion to frozen objects is not possible.	ROFLEX is installed using TESCON VANA tape.
ROFLEX SOLIDO	Highly flexible EPDM gaskets for air sealing and waterproofing round pipes and ducts.	Both	3 months	ROFLEX SOLIDO has CONTEGA SOLIDO tape integrated into the gasket for reliable waterproofing and adhesion to all common building materials and Pro Clima membranes.
KAFLEX	Airtight EPDM gasket/sleeve for sealing around cables or small pipes.	Both	3 months	KAFLEX water resistant sleeve is made from EPDM and TESCON VANA for fast and secure application.

Tapes

Pro Clima’s solid acrylic pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) tapes are among the strongest, longest-lasting, and most robust high performance PSA tapes available in the world. All tapes should be pressure-activated using a Pressfix. The tool can be used to provide sufficient pressure to get the optimum bond with Pro Clima tapes -- it might be small, but it is a very important step to pressurize your tapes! Be sure to add a few into your order. They also come in an XL version for ADHERO. The tapes differ in common usage, vapor profile, and exposure time—interior tapes are low perm, while exterior tapes are higher perm to encourage outward drying of the assembly.

Name	When To Use It	Interior/Exterior	Perm Rating	UV Exposure Time	Widths
TESCON VANA	The all-around tape for any airtight project. Use to tape flat seams on membranes or sheathing.	Both	8	6 months	2 3/8", 3", 3 7/8", 5 7/8", 7 7/8"
TESCON INVIS	In place of TESCON VANA when paired with FRONTA QUATTRO	Both	8	6 months	2 3/8"
TESCON PROFIL	The essential window airsealing tape with 3 backing release strips for precise corner and edge taping	Both	8	6 months	2 3/8"
TESCON PROFECT	Like TESCON PROFIL, but slightly thinner width, plus pre-folded on the roll for lightning fast taping	Both	8	3 months	2"
EXTOSEAL ENCORS	Super stretchy, durable, and waterproof window and door sill protection	Exterior	0	6 months	6", 8", 12"
CONTEGA SOLIDO EXO/EXO-D/SL/SL-D	CONTEGA SOLIDO EXO discontinued. See below for product recommendation: CONTEGA SOLIDO IQ/IQ-D
CONTEGA SOLIDO IQ	A humidity-dependent window tape for interior OR exterior airtightness with smart vapor control.	Both	< 0.13 - 8	8 months	3 1/8", 5 7/8", 11 3/4"
CONTEGA SOLIDO IQ-D	A humidity-dependent window tape for interior OR exterior airtightness with smart vapor control.	Both	Vapor variable material < 0.13 - 8 US perms	8 months	3 1/8"
CONTEGA PV	Fleece tape with netting for plastering over, connection plaster to solid surfaces	Interior	1.4	N/A	3 3/8” tape + 4 1/2″ mesh
COMPEGO	Designed for robust connections to sub-slab vapor barriers	Both	0	6 months	2 3/8"
TESCON NAIDECK	Double-sided tape for under roof battens on SOLITEX membranes	Exterior	0	6 months	2"
EXTOSEAL FINOC	A 5 7/8"" wide watertight barrier tape to air seal under sills in timber structures and form capillary break	Both	0	6 months	5 7/8"
CONTEGA FIDEN EXO	A heavy-duty expanding foam tape for windows	Exterior	<6.5		9/16", 13/16", 2 1/2"