Mark your calendars! – EDUCATION SUMMIT 2026 returns on November 4-5, 2026! Don’t miss out on BC’s premier event for the construction industry. Check out the Summit page for details!
1
Construction technology
1 hour
Online Recording
Getting the base-of-wall right is one of the most consequential decisions in enclosure design, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Where insulation meets the foundation, where thermal mass meets resistance, and where air barriers have to transition across assembly types, the details stack up fast. Skipping or simplifying any one of them can compromise the performance of everything above.
In this live studio broadcast, RDH Building Science specialist James Bourget deconstructs an at-grade wall assembly to show how insulation placement and thermal mass work together to reduce heat flow and improve overall enclosure performance. Participants will see firsthand how interior thermal mass and exterior resistance complement each other and why getting that balance right matters for long-term energy efficiency.
The session also walks through the air barrier transitions that occur at grade level, comparing approaches across different assembly types. Drawing on real project experience, James highlights common decision points, trade-offs, and the factors that should drive material and detail selection at this critical enclosure zone.
This session is ideal for builders, architects, and trades who want a clearer picture of how at-grade decisions affect the whole enclosure system, and who want practical strategies they can apply on their next project.
Course Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, participants will be able to:
PRESENTED BY: James Bourget | RDH Building Science
*This course is supported by 
*This online recording was recorded from a live webinar held in September 2026. Students who have taken the webinar for CPD are not eligible to receive CPD points for the online recording.
This online recording is Part 3 of RDH’s five-part High-Performance Enclosures series.
All online courses require successful completion of the following components:
All course materials are contained directly within the online course modules.
