I have read enough of John Straubes material to realize that the exterior of a highly insulated building needs a breathing area near its exterior. The term "cold roof" has been used to help describe this method on roofs. Use of furring strips located below the outer surface on walls also helps the exterior to ventilate and dry out. The old standard of Tyvek is being replaced by direct coating of the exterior surface. My concern is what product to apply to the layer below the outer "rainscreen" to allow vapor to escape and still provide some "water resistant barrier" as well as air barrier effect An example is PROSOCO's R-GUARD FastFlash air and waterproof barrier system which is designed to stop unintended passage of air and water through the building envelope. A use of this product can be found on the internet by looking for Wet flashing Karuna house by Hammer in Hand. The main product cat5 was named due to its ability to withstand very strong air pressures. Although there are many similar products by Tremco, WR Meadows, etc, but my current topofthelist is Sto Emerald Coat. I am looking for High Permeance with water resistance. There are some latex paints that may qualify but I have not yet found any suitable options. I will be coating OSB as supplied on SIPS.

Well, it looks like I have opened an unpopular discussion. Anyone coming across this in the future can perhaps find these links useful. I have also noticed that Porter Sips (Michigan Sip Manufacturer) sells Emerald Coat.

Here is a 2010 article on the topic.
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/housewrap-can-liquid-applied-wrbs

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/node/%2019255

Here is John Straube from 2001
http://web.ornl.gov/sci/buildings/2012/2001%20B8%20papers/184_Straube.pdf
http://www.civil.uwaterloo.ca/BEG/Downloads/ASHRAE_IAQ_Paper_Spring2002.pdf
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCsQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbookstore.ashrae.biz%2Fjournal%2Fdownload.php%3Ffile%3Dstraube.pdf&ei=RVbRUtOiArHfsATdrYHoBg&usg=AFQjCNGW6oAaVQPIKSJpPYSsqEXVEXDXWA

More on similar topics
http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-0412-insulations-sheathings-and-vapor-retarders

http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/reports/rr-0404-roof-design

http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/guides-and-manuals/gm-guide-insulating-sheathing

http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-038-mind-the-gap-eh

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/qa-spotlight/how-make-sip-roof-better

http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-003-concrete-floor-problems/?topic=/doctypes/building-science-insights

Are you spamming? How can you have opened an "unpopular discussion" if there are no replies to it?  Maybe you mean uninteresting?

Thanks for the reply The silence was getting deafening. I guess it is both unpopular .and uninteresting.

I really like the system marketed by Prosoco (R-guard, cat5, joint seam filler, fast flash). It makes a good air barrier as well as outer permeable water resistant surface. It is just a bit expensive at $100 per gallon. There are highly permeable type paints available (by Mapei, Keim, Rialto and Cornish lime) and I was hoping someone had some experience with them.

you'll find more interest in this topic at GreenBuildingAdvisor.com go to the Q&A

Thanks Bob I!
This all seems so important to me, but apparently not to most people on this forum. Systems like Prosoco are comprehensive and deal with leaks at edges, penetrations, and transitions as well as overall WRB and air barrier effectiveness. Driving nails into surfaces coated with these products are also sealed by the nature of their design.

At any rate, I hate to see threads that go totally unanswered, so at least there are some clues here for others that may be slightly interested.

they aren't there yet. And frankly, I'm not either since we have other methods which are working fine. But I have been to seminars and read numerous presentation of these products. They sound great, but they are all new so we'll see in a few years. It's probably a good idea and if it is, and is cost effective, it will catch on. But not every new method and gadget has legs nor is necessary in every situation. Try it and report back, so we all can learn.