Christine Williamson: The Four Elements of a Leak | BSFC | AIA

In this video course, she talks about how to identify the four components of a leak and articulate how each matters in the context of a typical framed wall. Proper water management affects health, safety, and welfare in that it permits us to create dry interior environments with good indoor air quality and protect the building materials themselves from damage such as rot, mold, corrosion, and pests.

A building leak has four components, and there is no leak, properly understood, without all four: (1) a source of water; (2) a pathway for that water to travel from where it is to someplace we do not want it to be; (3) a driving force to push water along that pathway; and (4) something that can be damaged as a result. Thinking about leaks in this way helps us to understand important missed opportunities in architecture when it comes to controlling water in buildings.

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