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Daylighting Integrated Facade Design

Download the Daylighting Integrated Facade Design presentation.

2010 Air Barrier Challenge

The BSA Building Enclosure Council and Architectural Testing (ATI) co-sponsored the 2010 Air Barrier Challenge. Nine teams of practicing architects, construction professionals, tradespeople and students convened at ATI's Chelmsford lab on May 15th to assemble air barrier system mockups for the purpose of seeing who designed and constructed the best-performing air-and-water barrier system. On May 22nd, each team's mockup was subsequently performance-tested according to ASTM E 783 and ASTM E 1105 at the IAS and AAMA-accredited ATI facility following ATI's Education Symposium and Open House to evaluate each team's efforts and determine the winning team(s).

The design challenge afforded an opportunity for technology exchange related to air-barrier construction and testing and gave each participant the opportunity to actually work with the chosen materials. To simulate the conditions, each team was provided an 8' by 8' panel, an aluminum window, and the materials to assemble a complete air barrier system. All materials were donated by various manufacturers or provided directly by the product representatives of the various systems.

A worthy thanks goes to all who participated, including ATI, who was so generous to provide the facilities, and staff, and to The Air Barrier Association of America for providing the food to the hard-working teams.

Who we are

This Building Enclosure Council Boston, originally the Building Envelope Committee, was formed in 1996 as a committee of the Boston Society of Architects to address concerns about the lack of understanding among many design professionals of the principles involved in enclosure design and of the level of detail required to convey critical design features to contractors. Our primary objective is to improve the performance of the building enclosure. We are now a part of a national network of Building Enclosure Councils, Building Enclosure Council – National.

General purpose

To increase awareness of building envelope design as a critical aspect of the successful construction of buildings and to foster the education of building industry professionals regarding proper design, construction, and maintenance of building envelopes.

Specific purposes

Better approaches

To promote approaches to envelope design that are reliable, durable, constructible, and cost efficient.

Comprehensive approaches

To provide solutions for the interconnection of various envelope systems and to increase design professionals’ awareness of the need to design the interfaces between the different trades. To increase design professionals’ and contractors’ awareness of the importance of the continuity of air barriers and of the details of the drainage plane for moisture protection and control of indoor air quality. To increase awareness and understanding of vapor migration and condensation as a component of these issues. To promote the consideration of the interaction of the building envelope with the exterior and interior environments.

Up-to-date approaches

To increase awareness of state of the art information on available materials (which are continually changing) and resources for obtaining such information.

Members of BEC Boston

BEC Boston is a committee of the Boston Society of Architects/AIA and is open to all members and non-members of the BSA.

Brain trust

BEC Boston is lead by the following brain trust:

Richard Keleher AIA CSI LEED Co-chair
978-369-4550 kel@rkeleher.com

Richard is a consultant in private practice, offering technical drawing reviews, building envelope design, and construction document quality control services. He has been a senior architect in charge of technical quality reviews for design and construction documents on over a billion dollars worth of heavy construction, office buildings, libraries, museums, hospitals, laboratories. He is nationally known for expertise on building envelopes and specializes in providing creative technical support for early-stage integrated design. He is the creator of standard details and drafting conventions and is an expert on the construction administration process. He is also Chair of the AIA Building Science Knowledge Community Advisory Group, author of articles in Progressive Architecture, ArchitectureBoston, and The Construction Specifier, and founder of the Green Team in Concord, MA, which advocates for high performance sustainable design of public facilities.

Jonathan Baron, AIA, LEED a.p. Co-chair
617-423-1700 jbaron@sbra.com

Jonathan is a Project Architect with Shepley Bulfinch, working on healthcare and higher education projects projects. Jonathan also has extensive experience with educational, multi-family residential and commercial projects, including overseeing both new construction and renovation projects up to over 300,000sf, in both the public and private sectors. In addition to his project responsibilities, Jonathan has also participated in leading transitions from basic CAD drafting to BIM technologies, including strategic planning as well as development of training curricula.

Wagdy Anis FAIA
617-225-9080 wanis@wje.com

Mr. Anis' professional focus is the integrity and performance of the building enclosure from a research, design and troubleshooting perspective, as well as sustainable design and indoor air quality.  He consults regularly to building owners, architects, contractors and product manufacturers regarding the design and performance of the building enclosure and lectures extensively on building science and the building enclosure.

Prior to joining WJE, Mr. Anis was Principal at Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott (SBRA). During his 40 year career at SBRA, Mr. Anis provided leadership in developing technical excellence in building enclosure design while contributing to the building science industry. He established an energy efficient, high performance wall system which formed the basis of the Massachusetts State Energy Code. His commitment to high quality technical design of the building enclosure and the industry has allowed him to play a significant role in establishing Building Enclosure Councils throughout the country.

Mark Kalin, FAIA FCSI LEED
President, Kalin Associates Inc.
617-964-5477 mkalin@spec-net.com

Mark is President of Kalin Associates, an independent specification consulting firms. Founded in 1984, Kalin Associates has provided construction specifications for over 2,000 projects with a total construction value of over $15 billion.  Mr. Kalin is one of only 24 individuals who have been advanced to Fellowship in both the American Institute of Architects and the Construction Specifications Institute. Mr. Kalin is a past-president of CSI/Boston and SCIP - Specifications Consultants in Independent Practice.  He is past chair of the AIA PIA for Specifications and Building Technology, AIA Masterspec Review Committee, and AIA Library and Archives Committee.  He is the author of The Architect's Guide to the New Energy Code in Massachusetts (2001), GreenSpec (1996), and Kalin Associates' Master Short-Form Specifications (6th Edition, 2003). Mr. Kalin’s experience with other firms includes Sasaki Associates, a multi-office, multi-disciplinary design firm, where he was Director of Information Services and developed interdepartmental technical databases. Mr. Kalin was also Head of Specifications for Jung/Brannen Associates and for Brown Daltas and Associates in Cambridge, MA.

Thomas A. Schwartz, P.E.
781-907-9000 taschwartz@sgh.com

Tom is the president of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. and the head of its building technology group. For over 30 years, Mr. Schwartz has conducted field and laboratory investigations, and produced new and remedial designs for building envelope systems, including curtain walls, glazing, roofing, waterproofing, and masonry. He has worked on many notable projects including determining the cause of breakage of the insulating glass breakage at the John Hancock Tower in Boston, MA, and designing the post-earthquake glass curtain wall recladding at Warner Bros. Glass Building in Burbank, CA. He is active in national standards development and research on various topics related to the construction industry and is a fellow of ASTM International.  He is the Chairman of ASTM’s Subcommittee on Performance of Exterior Building Wall Systems. Mr. Schwartz is a registered engineer in nine states and the District of Columbia. He received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Tufts University and his Master of Science in Materials Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Vince Cammalleri, AIA
781-907-9000 vcammalleri@sgh.com

Vince is a Senior Project Manager in the Boston area office of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc. He has extensive experience investigating and designing repairs for walls, roofs, glass curtain walls and windows.  He specializes in the investigation, analysis and remedial design of building envelope problems caused by moisture/vapor migration. Vince has lectured as an adjunct professor at the School of Architecture, McGill University and as a visiting lecturer at the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has published numerous papers related to building technology in the United States and Canada, and is an active member of the Boston Society of Architects and ASTM International.

Jeffrey T. Wade, AIA, CSI
617-234-3100 jwade@addinc.com

Jeff is a Principal at ADD Inc, an architectural and interior design firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is in charge of various projects, development of contract standards, and Project Delivery. As the Director of Project Delivery, he has been instrumental in implementing systems that assure the highest standard for our design, documentation, management, and construction administration. Jeffrey is also very active in technical training of Architects and Interior Designers both in house and throughout the profession at events such as the AIA National Convention, BuildBoston, and various Universities. A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY (M-Arch) and a member of the American Institute of Architects, the Construction Specifications Institute, NFPA, and ICC and the Boston Society of Architects' Codes Committee.

Henry R. Heywood
617-492-2111 hheywood@thompsonlichtner.com

Henry R. (Bob) Heywood is President and Chief Operating Officer of The Thompson & Lichtner Company, Inc.  He joined the firm's Laboratory Testing and Inspection Weatherproofing Division in 1974 where he became senior specialist in 1979, senior manager in 1982, Vice President in 1984, and President of the firm. Since joining T & L, Mr. Heywood's professional assignments have been concerned almost exclusively with the identification, analysis, and solution of weatherproofing design and construction problems in building envelopes, from below grade to roofs. He has prepared specifications for weatherproofing corrective work based on his investigations and he has provided expert testimony in depositions, arbitrations, and court litigation concerning these investigations. Bob is in charge of the firm's inspection and testing services relating to below-grade and above-grade weatherproofing of building construction. He has presented a seminar on "Flashing of Masonry Walls" and he provides his knowledge and experience to the Council in its role of extending the knowledge of the profession regarding windows, curtain walls and the building envelope in general.

Joseph Lstiburek, P. Eng.
joe@buildingscience.com

Joseph Lstiburek, B.A.Sc., M.Eng., Ph.D., P.Eng., is a principal of Building Science Corporation and an ASHRAE Fellow. He is a building scientist who investigates building failures. Dr. Lstiburek received an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Toronto, a masters degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Toronto and a Doctorate in Building Science at the University of Toronto. Dr. Lstiburek has been a licensed Professional Engineer since 1982.

NIST Investigation Report

NIST Investigation of the Impact of Commercial Building Envelope Airtightness on HVAC Energy Use.

This report presents a simulation study of the energy impact of improving envelope airtightness in U.S. commercial buildings. Despite common assumptions, measurements have shown that typical U.S. commercial buildings are not particularly airtight. Past simulation studies have shown that commercial building envelope leakage can result in significant heating and cooling loads. To evaluate the potential energy savings of an effective air barrier requirement, annual energy simulations were prepared for three nonresidential buildings (a two-story office building, a one-story retail building, and a four-story apartment building) in 5 U.S. cities. A coupled multizone airflow and building energy simulation tool was used to predict the energy use for the buildings at a target tightness level relative to a baseline level based on measurements in existing buildings. Based on assumed blended national average heating and cooling energy prices, predicted potential annual heating and cooling energy cost savings ranged from 3 % to 36 % with the smallest savings occurring in the cooling-dominated climates of Phoenix and Miami. In order to put these estimated energy savings in context, a cost effectiveness calculation was performed using the scalar ratio methodology employed by ASHRAE SSPC 90.1.

Click here to download the report in PDF format.

ARCOM Air Barrier Spec Drafts

Three new MASTERSPEC Sections have been introduced: Section 07271 - Self-Adhering Sheet Air Barriers, Section 07272 - Fluid-Applied Membrane Air Barriers, and a common Evaluations Section 07270 - Air Barriers. These Sections have been developed with the help of the members of the Air Barrier Association of America and with the guidance of Wagdy Anis, AIA, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott, in Boston, Massachusetts. Read more in Air Barriers by by Paul Brosnahan, AIA, CSI, CCS ARCOM Director of Architectural Specifications.

For the latest news about ARCOM visit http://www.arcomnet.com/ or http://www.arcomnet.com/visitor/masterspec/libraries/asc.html.

Bibliography

Recommended publications on Building Enclosure

Download the BEC Bibliography as PDF.

Sponsoring Organizations

Organizations that have contributed to Boston BEC

• Boston Society of Architects
• American Institute of Architects
• National Institute of Building Sciences Building Environment and Thermal Envelope Council
• BBRS Energy Page

Links

Links to other resources for Building Enclosure organized by topic

Air Barriers

Air Barrier Association of America

Building Enclosure Councils

• Building Enclosure Council – National
• Canada’s National Building Envelope Council
• Ontario Building Envelope Council

Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council

• BETEC
• JBED sign-up page

High Performance

• Whole Building Design Guide
• Building Envelope Forum

Energy Efficiency

• Better Bricks
• U.S. Department of Energy
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory
• Study of daylighting in schools

Daylighting Initiative

• Daylighting Collaborative
• Windows and Daylighting Group, LBNL
• The ATLAS Project
• Daylighting Studies