Tag: building science

It’s About the Water

It’s About the Water

Matt

One could boil down our job as enclosure consultants to this: help people to keep water from accumulating where it shouldn’t.

Water causes all kinds of trouble with many building materials. Wood rots, steel corrodes, masonry spalls and cracks, microbes and fungi grow. Gypsum that once formed solid panels turns to mud.

We call these parts of the building—the ones damaged by water—the “moisture-sensitive” components. The main goal of the building envelope is to protect these moisture-sensitive components from exposure to water. Sounds simple, right?

Unfortunately nature conspires to foil our water control efforts in a variety of ways. In this post we’ll explore some less-than-obvious ways that water ends up where it can cause problems.

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Adrian Lowenstein on High Performance Construction, BERDO, Local Law 97 and Energy Codes (#2)

Matt

Adrian Lowenstein, PE, MBA (on LinkedIn) is the National Business Development Manager for Skyline Windows. In this episode we discuss how the AEC industry can move towards higher performance and lower energy use, including a couple of relatively new local ordinances: Building Energy Reporting and Disclosure Ordinance (BERDO) in Boston and Local Law 97 in New York City. We also touch on topics such as pre-fabricated pre-glazed wall construction techniques, the opportunities for higher performance afforded by advancing technology and project team relationships that lead to better project outcomes.

#2: Adrian Lowenstein of Skyline Windows on High Performance Construction, BERDO, Local Law 97, and Energy Codes – Pushing the Envelope

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Introducing the Pushing the Envelope Podcast

Matt

Since we love building science, building envelope technology, and high performance construction we started a podcast! All the cool kids have a podcast these days so why not us?

The show is about making buildings better. We’ll talk about architecture, engineering and construction as well as building science and how all of this goes into making more durable, comfortable and efficient buildings. It’s hosted by CopelandBEC Principal Matt Copeland and will feature guests from around the industry.

In the first episode Matt talks with Ken Kiefer (on LinkedIn) of SIGA North America. Matt and Ken discuss a variety of topics including Ken’s work on a recent passive house project in Cambridge, MA, what contractors and designers are looking for from manufacturers of high performance building materials, and some of the resources available at SIGA’s High-Performance Construction Academy.

#1: Ken Kiefer, High Performance Construction Academy Director, SIGA North America – Pushing the Envelope

All episodes are available to stream from on our podcast page.

Pushing the Envelope is currently available on Apple, Spotify, Google, Anchor and others. Please check it out and leave a review! Contact us for feedback or to suggest a guest.

How Water Moves: Airflow and Diffusion

How Water Moves: Airflow and Diffusion

Matt

Building science and building enclosure consulting is often all about understanding, and controlling, how water moves through a building. Water is the cause of most of the problems we are trying to solve (or, ideally, prevent in the first place). In order to solve those problems, we need to understand how the water is getting to where it is not supposed to be.

Liquid water intrusion into buildings is the main thing to worry about, and there are a number of ways that liquid water can penetrate a building’s defenses. Those pathways, though, will be the subject of a future post. Today, we’re going to focus on the oft-misunderstood water transport mechanisms of airflow and water vapor diffusion.

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