Nov. 8, 2011: New R&D Facilities to Evaluate Insulation, Air Sealing, and Weatherization Systems
NEW YORK — Dow Building Solutions, a business unit of the Dow Chemical Co., has announced two new research and development (R&D) test facilities located at the Dow Building Solutions’ North American headquarters in Midland, Mich. The Wall Assembly Research Center and Spray Foam Application Technology Research Facility have been built to test and evaluate insulation, air sealing, and weatherization systems in a controlled lab environment in order to provide customers with real-world data of how the products will work together and perform and function in the field.
The Wall Assembly Research Center is a 1,600-square-foot wall system research lab that has over 30 interchangeable wall sections that enables Dow to test various residential and commercial wall systems. It also allows for the testing of exterior wall system components to see how they stand up to outside elements and perform in a cold climate zone. Systems being tested include rigid and spray insulations, exterior cladding, and various framing techniques, in all cardinal directions. The Wall Assembly Research Center is wired with a state-of-the-art monitoring system that allows researchers to collect, analyze, and process the performance of each of these interchangeable wall systems over extended periods of time.