Five industry leaders align to create complete masonry cavity wall system

The CavityComplete Wall System was designed to take the guesswork out of specifying

By DeAnna Starn

Five of the most recognized and trusted companies in the construction industry have aligned to create the industry's best complete masonry cavity wall system. Owens Corning worked closely with industry leaders and their products to create a completely compatible¹, code compliant and warrantied² system. The CavityComplete™ Wall System for Steel Stud with Masonry Veneer makes it easier to specify and detail an assembly with components that are tested and proven to work together. The CavityComplete™ Wall System is the only wall system that is warrantied to reduce liability and allow architects and specifiers to design and specify with confidence. The system includes components from Owens Corning Sales LLC, Heckmann Building Products Inc., Mortar Net Solutions™, Rodenhouse, Inc. and Tremco® Incorporated. The Wall System for Steel Stud with Masonry Veneer will be unveiled today at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention in Chicago.

"The CavityComplete™ Wall System was designed with one goal in mind: to take the guesswork out of specifying," said Greg Mather, vice president and general manager of Foam Insulation Systems, LLC at Owens Corning. "Working with the industry leaders, we have jointly created and warrantied this wall system to work together as a whole with proven products that are trusted by architects and specifiers."

Owens Corning spearheaded this system with companies that have similar quality, performance and safety standards to ensure the wall system parts would function as a whole, including:

Owens Corning™ FOAMULAR® 250 Extruded Polystyrene (XPS) Rigid Foam Insulation for continuous insulation, EcoTouch® Flame Spread 25 and EcoTouch® PINK® FIBERGLAS™ cavity insulation

Tremco® Incorporated ExoAir® 230 Vapor-Permeable Air Barrier, ExoAir® TWF Thru-Wall Flashing Self-Adhering Membrane, Dymonic® 100 Polyurethane Sealant and TREMstop® Smoke and Fire Sealant

Rodenhouse, Inc. Thermal-Grip® ci prong washers with Grip-Deck™ screws for continuous insulation and Thermal-Grip® brick-tie washers for veneer anchors

Heckmann Building Products, Inc. Pos-I-Tie® masonry veneer anchoring system, with the Pos-I-Tie® ThermalClip® and pintle wire tie

Mortar Net Solutions™ Multi-plane drainage system featuring the TotalFlash® integrated drainage solution and the MortarNet® with insect barrier mortar dropping collection device

Owens Corning™ Thermafiber® Safing Insulation for perimeter joint fire containment, when building codes require it

Industry experts agree that an integrated wall system will help solve many of the specification and installation problems they encounter on a daily basis:

"Architects are always looking for ways to improve the performance of their exterior wall assemblies and CavityComplete™ Wall System for Steel Stud with Masonry Veneer helps make the complicated process more predictable by leveraging the knowledge of multiple product manufacturers. The CavityComplete™ Wall System provides documentation that architects can submit to building officials demonstrating that the assembly meets mandatory building code fire containment, air leakage, water penetration and thermal resistance requirements." - Mark Kalin FAIA, FCSI, president of Kalin Associates

"The building industry has to stop only producing products and to start developing and producing building assembly systems. No one material by itself can provide the functions of air barrier and moisture management. These are the two most critical functions to address. By addressing the functions of a building assembly on a system basis, you will receive something that will work as intended and a building that will perform and be resilient." - Laverne Dalgleish, executive director of the Air Barrier Association of America

"In commercial construction, our customers demand that a Project Team not only have a concern for first cost of cavity wall systems, but also an understanding of and a respect for long term performance costs as well. Specifying, detailing and installing complex cavity wall installations demands a significant, time consuming, multi-disciplinary approach due to the number of individual building elements that must be successfully combined. The CavityComplete™ Wall System team has not run from these challenges, but has embraced a solution that systematically addresses water and moisture management, thermal considerations, fire resistance, air transmission and connection detailing. This unified solution is a big step in the right direction for our owners and for the construction industry in general." - Chris Jahrling, vice president and general manager of Turner Federal Services

The CavityComplete™ Wall System is the next-generation cavity wall system solution designed to meet evolving architect and contractor needs, both today – and in the future. For more details about the CavityComplete™ Wall System for Steel Stud with Masonry Veneer including system component materials, specification resources, green building guides, warranty and more, visit www.CavityComplete.com.

¹The CavityComplete™ Wall System components were successfully tested and found to be fully compatible with each other in the system. Test results are available at www.CavityComplete.com/testing.

²See actual limited warranty for complete details, requirements and limitations available at www.cavitycomplete.com.