New Developments in Air Sealing – GreenBuildingAdvisor

By Martin Holladay | February 6, 2026

Builders have been sealing building air leaks with a product called AeroBarrier for at least the past eight years. The technique uses a blower door paired with aerosolized latex to seal leaks in a building envelope.

In 2018, soon after AeroBarrier was first commercially introduced, a GBA article by Scott Gibson explained the new technology: “Technicians start by setting up a series of spray nozzles … throughout the house. The brains of the operation is a machine that controls the flow of sealant to the emitters and controls temperature and humidity inside the building. … Anything that should not be sealed—bathroom fans, for example—must be protected so they don’t get plugged. The low-VOC, waterborne latex sealant can fill gaps up to 1/2 inch wide. With a blower door running [to pressurize the house], the emitters start misting the sealant. … Installers monitor progress on a computer screen. When the building is tight enough to hit whatever target the installer is looking for, the equipment is turned off.”

A year later, Patrick McCombe authored a 2019 Fine Homebuilding article that described an AeroBarrier job at a residential construction site in Sloatsburg, New York; the builder’s name was T.J. Ryan. McCombe wrote, “The AeroBarrier installation I witnessed brought the house from 4.5 ach50 to 1.5 ach50 in a little over two hours. … AeroBarrier is normally installed on new homes just after the drywall is hung and finished and before any trim is installed. This allows the sealant to flow more efficiently into the small gaps between the framing and the sheathing. … Including AeroBarrier with Ryan’s insulation package on the 2,200-sq.-ft. house cost an additional $1,500, but Ryan figured it eliminated at least $500 in air-sealing materials and hours of work. When I asked him about the price, he told me, ‘It costs…