Building science, and subsequently building envelope consulting, is a relatively young profession. We emerged largely in response to things going wrong in the AEC industry—leaks, mold, energy inefficiency, and the resulting lawsuits—that nobody else was specifically equipped to prevent or fix. Thanks to this somewhat pessimistic origin story, we’ve developed quite the reputation for ourselves. Tattletales. Idealists. Worrywarts. Negative Nancys. We’ve seen how badly a “minor” drafting inconsistency or a sloppy flashing detail can end, so yes, we can admittedly be a buzzkill sometimes. But here’s the thing: we really do care about all the same stuff you do, and maybe even more.
We care about cost
Surprise! We care about money. We like buildings, so naturally we want them to be built and repaired, which simply can’t happen if nobody can afford the work. We’re not arguing for gold-plated solutions. But we all know that “you get what you pay for” applies to most things in life. Buildings are no exception. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that band-aid repairs and crappy materials are going to be cost-effective in the long run.
So yes, we want things to be affordable. But you know what gets really expensive? Getting sued for construction defects. Exorbitant utility bills over the entire lifespan of the building. Premature replacement of entire cladding systems. Those costs will almost always outweigh the cost of doing it right the first time—trust us on this one.
We care about practicality
The most scientifically correct solution isn’t always the right one. We work in the real world, with real budgets, real schedules, and real crews of varying experience levels. A detail that looks perfect on paper but can’t be built consistently doesn’t mean squat. Part of our job is balancing the physics, the constraints of construction, and the project goals to find solutions that work off the paper. “Theoretically perfect” can be the enemy of built.
We care about risk
Oh, this one is a doozy. The middle of the Venn diagram for “better design,” “better installation,” and “better maintenance” is RISK REDUCTION in red, bold, capital letters. While improving building performance certainly holds many altruistic benefits, improving the quality of our built environment ultimately reduces risk for everyone involved in a project. Again, we like buildings. Failures are fundamentally avoidable. Avoiding failures means minimizing risk. Let’s be proactive and risk-averse and stop doing dumb things, so we can stay out of the red zone and enjoy our lives.
We care about aesthetics
We want buildings to be used and enjoyed. We’ll admit it: from a pure building science standpoint, the most durable high-performance building is probably some kind of insulated concrete box with no windows. Are we suggesting anyone build that? Absolutely not. Beauty is a critical part of the building performance algorithm. People don’t take care of ugly buildings. Help us help you make a building that is beautiful inside and out, rather than one that is the construction equivalent of putting lipstick on a pig.
We care about schedules
No, our recommendations may not always be the fastest way to do something. Pick two: doing something well, doing something fast, and doing something cheap. You can’t have all three, and rushing through critical details means a higher risk for building downtime and other unwelcome delays down the road (lawsuits, major repairs, detrimental roof leaks, disruptions to operations… you get the gist). Spending that extra time in QA/QC during design and construction will pay dividends in both dollars and hours in the long run.
We care about sustainability
“Little” mishaps during the design, construction, and maintenance of buildings result in a big pile of waste. Construction materials account for absurd amounts of embodied carbon—the carbon emitted just to manufacture and install them. Do you want all the sheathing on your new building to turn into leaky mush within two years of operation and waste all those materials? Neither do we.
And don’t get us started on operational carbon. Discontinuities and workmanship flaws in the air barrier, the water barrier, and the thermal barrier add up to a building that hemorrhages energy for its entire service life. Sustainability is top of mind for us building performance enthusiasts.
We care about collaboration
This is a big one for us. We care deeply about preventing building failures, but we can only be as effective as the team around us makes us. The best project outcomes happen because everyone—architect, contractor, owner, consultant—acknowledged our common goals and respected each other’s expertise.
We want to figure out how to make that ambitious curtain wall detail work. We want to find flashing solutions that any installer on the crew can execute regardless of experience. We want to identify answers that fit the owner’s budget. None of that happens without mutual respect, open communication, and a team that actually returns calls. People design buildings. People build buildings. People use buildings. For all its technical complexity, this is a people industry, and we learn just as much from our partners as they learn from us.
Yeah, we know you might cringe a little when you see us walk onto site with a too-clean hard hat and an iPad, or when you get an email saying we’ve been added to the next OAC meeting. But we promise you: we’re on the same team. We always have been. We want your building to work well and last long. It’s that simple.
Bottom line: to put it simply, we care about the project.
Talk to a building envelope consultant
We help owners, design teams, and attorneys think through roofing, commissioning, and litigation questions. Tell us about your project and we’ll point you in the right direction.
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