Certified Air Barrier: Passive Purple Meets ASTM E2178 and ICC-ES ESR-4715
Airtightness is a global concern, but the standards that prove it are not. Europe specifies to EN; the United States specifies to ASTM and demands code-compliance evidence through ICC-ES. Passive Purple is one of the rare air-barrier products certified to both — so it can be written into a specification on either side of the Atlantic. 🔒
What ASTM E2178 measures
ASTM E2178 is the US standard test method for the air leakage of a building material. It measures how much air passes through the material itself under a defined pressure difference, and it is the test that decides whether a product qualifies as an air-barrier material. The recognised threshold is an air leakage of ≤0.02 L/(s·m²) at 75 Pa. A material below that line is accepted as an air barrier; above it, it is not.
Passive Purple was tested to ASTM E2178 by ICC NTA in the USA, with these results:
- Total air leakage of 0.01 L/(s·m²) at 75 Pa — half the qualifying threshold, so the report meets the air-barrier criteria comfortably.
- Passive Purple air permeance: 0.000011 L/(s·Pa·m²).
- Passive Purple Brush air permeance: 0.000002 L/(s·Pa·m²).
These are the figures a US air-barrier specification asks for, delivered by an accredited independent laboratory.
What an ICC-ES Evaluation Report actually is
Passing a test is one thing; proving code compliance is another. In the US market, the document that carries weight with building officials and specifiers is an ICC-ES Evaluation Report (ESR). ICC-ES is the evaluation service of the International Code Council — the organisation behind the model building codes used across the United States. An ESR is an independent assessment that ties a product's test data to specific code requirements, so an official can approve it without re-litigating the science.
Passive Purple is certified in ICC-ES Evaluation Report ESR-4715, issued to Intelligent Membranes. The report recognises both Passive Purple and Passive Purple Brush as:
- A qualifying air-barrier material to ≤0.02 L/(s·m²) at 75 Pa; and
- A Class A interior wall and ceiling finish (tested to ASTM E84, the surface burning characteristics test). 🔥
The report confirms compliance with the 2015, 2018 and 2021 editions of the IBC, IRC and IECC (the International Building Code, International Residential Code and International Energy Conservation Code), as well as the City of Los Angeles codes. For a US specifier, an ESR number in a submittal is the fast route to approval.
The same product, proven to two standards
This is the point that matters for anyone working across markets. It is not that Intelligent Membranes sells one product in Europe and a different one in America. It is the same Passive Purple, proven independently to both regimes:
- Europe: Passive House Institute Class A (phA) to EN 12114, confirmed at Ghent University.
- United States: air-barrier material to ASTM E2178 and code compliance via ICC-ES ESR-4715.
For a design practice with projects in more than one country, that removes a genuine headache. You are not sourcing and re-detailing an alternative product to satisfy a different rulebook — the airtight layer, the application method and the details stay consistent, and the paperwork is already in place for both. And because Airtight White is the same formulation as Passive Purple, simply white-pigmented, these certifications carry across to it as well.
Specifying in the US market
To make US specification straightforward, US specifications are available in CSI MasterFormat — the standard specification structure American architects and specifiers already work in. Supply and installation on the ground is supported by a Chicago-based distribution and install partner, WickRight, so specifying the product does not mean sourcing it from overseas with no local support.
Why it matters
An air barrier is only as good as the evidence behind it. A liquid-applied membrane that carries a real ASTM E2178 result and an ICC-ES evaluation report gives US specifiers everything they need to write it into a compliant spec — and the parallel EN certification means a single product answers the requirements of both continents.
You can review the full reports, classifications and the ESR itself on our full test data & certifications page, and see the product here: Passive Purple. Whether your project answers to EN or to ASTM, the airtight layer is already certified.