Papers are invited for a Symposium on Condensation in Exterior Building Wall Systems, sponsored by ASTM Committee E06 on Building Construction and its Subcommittee E06.55 on Exterior Wall Systems. The symposium will be held October 10-11, 2010 (Sunday afternoon and Monday morning) in San Antonio, Texas, in conjunction with the October 10-13 standards development meetings of Committee E06.

Control of condensing water on or within the building envelope and fenestration systems is an issue of increasing importance, as thermal insulation systems grow more robust, as interior air quality (IAQ) requirements increase, and as concern for occupants' health amplify in light of the potential for mold and mildew within buildings. ASTM International has been addressing these concerns through leadership in the study of condensation control and in the development of test methods and standards of practice to improve the performance of buildings with respect to condensation control.

Building envelope systems today include air, vapor, and thermal insulating materials that were unavailable, or in very limited use, just a few years ago. Design of condensation control today has been aided greatly by recent advances in computer simulation modeling; nonetheless, condensation problems occur with ever-increasing regularity. Lessons learned from missteps should guide future material and building systems design to improve the resistance of building envelope systems to the damaging effects of condensation.

The symposium continues the traditions of ASTM Committee E06 study and debate on this topic. In addition, a 2-hour pre-symposium workshop on "The Science of Condensation" will be offered Sunday morning. Further details on the workshop will be publicized in early 2010.

This call for papers seeks contributions on the following topics related to condensation control in building envelope and fenestration systems:

• Development of analytical methods and standards that predict condensation
• Application of standards to material design and building systems
• Practical experiences and lessons learned regarding condensation control
• Current problems in the industry pertaining to the sometimes conflicting goals of condensation control and new energy and/or environmental trends

The language of the symposium will be English.

To participate in the symposium, presenters/authors must submit online the Abstract Submittal Form and attach a 250-300 word preliminary abstract no later than May 22, 2009. Scroll to the top of the page to "Go to Abstract Submittal Form". To ensure your abstract was received into the ASTM database system, please email hsparks@astm.org stating that your abstract was submitted. The abstract must include a clear definition of the objective and approach of the work discussed, pointing out material that is new, and present sufficient details regarding results. The presentation and manuscript must not be of a commercial nature nor can it have been previously published. Because a limited number of abstracts will be accepted, be sure that the abstract is complete to allow for careful assessment of the paper's suitability for this symposium. The symposium co-chairmen, Bruce Kaskel and Bob Kudder, will notify you in writing by July 10, 2009 of your paper's acceptability for presentation at the symposium. If the preliminary abstract is accepted, the presenter/author will be requested to submit a final camera-ready abstract several months before the symposium. The final abstracts will be distributed in an abstract booklet at the symposium.

Symposium presenters are required to submit their papers to the Journal of ASTM International (JAI). JAI is an online, peer-reviewed journal for the international scientific and engineering community. You may access information about JAI at www.astm.org/JAI. Additionally, you may wish to review the new web-based submission and peer-review site at http://jai.peerx-press.org. After the final selection of abstracts has been approved, the ASTM Editorial Office will send authors' instructions via email only. Manuscripts to be peer reviewed for JAI are due online no later than January 10, 2010 at the ASTM Editorial Office. The corresponding author (the author who is the main contact with ASTM Headquarters) will receive a copy of his/her paper in portable document format (PDF). All published authors will have the opportunity to purchase reprints of their papers at a nominal cost.

ASTM publishes individual paper(s) in the first available issue(s) of JAI. ASTM also issues a collection of reprinted papers (after publication in JAI) as a Special Technical Publication (STP). (A minimum of ten papers is required for an STP.) Only those papers submitted by the manuscript due date will be included in the STP.

Additional information about the symposium is available from Symposium Co-Chairmen Bruce S. Kaskel, Wiss Janney Elstner & Associates, Chicago, IL, Email: bkaskel@wje.com, tel: 312-372-0555; or Robert J. Kudder, Raths, Raths and Johnson, Willowbrook, IL, Email: rjkuddder@rrj.com, tel: 630-325-6160.