The building enclosure is the ‘skin’ of a structure and protects occupants from the exterior environment. The driving factors of enclosure design have evolved through the decades.
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Water-resistive barriers (WRBs) play a vital role in the performance of a wall system. Unfortunately, barriers can be undermined even before they clad the walls due to ultraviolet (UV) exposure. Understanding and minimizing the impact of UV on WRB is critical to ensuring the integrity of the wall assembly and building performance for years.
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Structural thermal breaks (STBs) address thermal weaknesses in the building envelope by ensuring continuous insulation (ci), thereby improving the overall thermal performance. They are also changing the design philosophy to an “envelope-first approach.”
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Detailing parapet and soffit assemblies requires an understanding of structural building movement and, thermal performance requirements, air control, material limitations, and construction technologies, along
with trade co-ordination.
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Government institutions are increasingly recognizing the role the Passive House standard can play in effectively reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and are beginning to introduce it into their requirements and codes for all types of new buildings. British Columbia is leading the way.
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The trend towards higher performing buildings and envelope systems requires a re-doubling of effort towards achieving durable, constructible, and maintainable transition details. There are many ways for these details to fail. Fortunately, there are also many opportunities throughout the design and construction process to focus on getting them right.
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RCI, an international association of building envelope consultants, will hold its first Canadian Building Envelope Technology Symposium on September 13 and 14 at the Hilton Mississauga/Meadowvale in Mississauga, Ontario.
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With an increased focus on careful stewardship of resources and rapidly rising utility costs, it is now mandatory for new and remediated buildings to be more energy-efficient. This tends to be easier said than done. There are numerous challenges that must be addressed during the design and construction phases of such a project.
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Today, more and more architects are literally thinking outside the box. Modern buildings are taking on unique shapes and forms, and structures are reaching staggering new heights. This shift means the purpose of the building envelope is also expanding.
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