Building Enclosure Consulting

We value patronage of our clients, to mention a few, and in no particular order: Loews Hotels HDR, Inc Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope LEO A DALY Florida Atlantic University Stantec Consulting Services Inc. Hutchison Lucaya Ltd. WCD Group Oceanview Owners Association Accolade Construction Fox Rothschild LLP Morrison Hershfield Paramount Consulting and Engineering, LLC Z.W. Jarosz Architect P.A. […]

The functionality of a blog relies on two-way communication between the author and readers, externalized as comments under posts. The trouble is that every time I sit to the computer, there is a couple of thousands comments placed by spammers. There is no easy way to sort them, delete the spam, and obviously no time to […]

People ask me how come I no longer need a cane to walk.  I have five bad discs in my lower spine, and while cleaning my truck recently I stumbled on my two canes and just realized I haven’t used them for  almost two years. No, I didn’t get the surgery.   So I thought I would share what worked […]

Impressive Modern Architecture Impacted by Deconstructivism. I just spent two weeks in an Eastern country. While sorting the 120GB of photos and videos taken there may easily take a year or so, I thought it would be interesting to share the early key observations. These items we often see in Western architecture as well; however, […]

Picture is worth a thousand words. A good picture can also save a lot of nerves. A good photo of a construction defect or a facade failure is self-explanatory and often cuts unnecessary disputes before they even start. This is why I consider a camera to be my primary tool of  the trade. Apparently, the photos illustrating […]

I recently found myself underestimating the language gap separating my compatriots.  This, coupled with their demonstrated overconfidence, resulted in awkward situations. Awkward for me, since I recommended them to my American associates. The remainder of this post is in Polish, because it’s written for benefit of Polish speakers.

We tackled the question What Is The Building Envelope or Enclosure? in my other post. Now it’s time for the General Description of the Profession. Building facades are a very emotional subject – they are expressions of owners’ and architects’ individualities and become a lasting monument of their earthy achievements. Facades account for up to […]

Consulting architects, I often get surprising elementary questions. Building architecture design of glass houses resulted in careers for consulting engineers occupied full-time by 3-d modeling heat transfer, while some facade architects still ask why double glazed windows or doors are required by building codes. Here are some frequently-asked questions:

Facade Engineering – How To Design a Functional Building Enclosure – Free PDF The paper presents elementary concepts of façade engineering and focuses on areas typically overlooked by architects and engineers, chosen on the basis of observations derived from forensic investigations of failed assemblies, peer reviews of architectural documentation, and a façade engineering practice. A […]

My visitors are always surprised by tons of books and folders on my bookshelves.  It took me many years to collect my library of facade engineering books and publications, and since I consider it an indispensable tool, I would like to share some of it here, for your benefit. Glass and Glazing Glass Construction Manual ISBN 3764360771 (Birkhauser, 1999); by Christian Schittich,Gerald Staib, […]

I am writing this post very excited. I just discovered a great facade engineering blog, titled Facade Confidentials: http://facadesconfidential.blogspot.com, and I wholeheartedly recommend you visit it. In the flood of misinformation, there are few objective and well-researched sources like this, including the magnificent John and Joe’s webpage, Birkhauser construction books, Facade Engineering Society, National Research Council Canada, […]

DVD seminars now come with AIA CES Learning Units! Each seminar qualifies toward your continuing education upon meeting certain requirements in 2011. AIA members will accrue 1 learning unit (LU) if they correctly respond to all questions in an email query, testing their understanding of the principles taught in the seminars. Certificates of completion to […]

“An engineer went to see the architect and was asked to design a structure…”  Fascinated by “skyhook” jokes and real life stories shared by structural engineers, Kaz developed a short fictional story to illustrate the difference between the inexperienced and experienced engineer, and how both scenarios negatively affect the construction. Below are two fictional stories […]

Introduction Reportedly, no architect was sued for a color of a paint yet, even in the litigious American work environment. Unlike the less tangible functions of buildings, the protective function of building enclosures makes them a subject of many emotionally charged disputes, due to their widespread poor design and construction. Therefore, building enclosure science consultants […]

Design Tangible Functionality in Practice The building enclosure performs a number of functions, protecting the interiors against adversary forces such as wind, rain, snow, hail, flood, sun, light, wind borne debris, blast, heat flow, water vapor, wildlife, aggressive airborne and waterborne chemical, noise, vibrations, fire, smoke, theft, dirt accumulation, maintenance loads, and normal wear and […]

If you are reading these words, there is a chance you have one and you deserve our sympathy. We will try to help you. As all other materials on this website, this advice is directed to owners and managers of high-rise buildings, as opposed to single family residential houses. It is meant to give you […]

What Is Building Envelope? A building envelope is the imaginary separation between a conditioned, semi-conditioned, and an unconditioned space. This includes certain walls, doors, windows, roofs and floors. Conditioned space are made comfortable for occupants by means of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC). Unconditioned spaces include the outdoors and any space within a building […]