Building Enclosure Consulting

Although not all our work results are documented in writing, reports generally give a good example of what we do: example of a roof moisture survey report prepared for an owner. example of a leak investigation report prepared for an owner. example of a facade maintenance inspection report prepared for an owner. example of a leak investigation report accompanied with remedial work specifications. example of a […]

As difficult as it is to imagine, buildings move. Introduction of curtain walls gave the buildings even more freedom to move. The peaceful rigidity of bulky bearing walls and relatively short spans of oversized structural members belong to the past. Today’s buildings move a lot more. In fact, the biggest single difference between curtain walls […]

Curtain wall supports are important to understand because they have a large impact on crucial architectural dimensions and perimeter transitions.

 The need for access becomes obvious early, but not early enough. Adding window-washing equipment, for example, can come as a late surprise, affecting design, budget, and construction schedule.  This new article by Kaz and Mr. Jerzy Tuscher was printed in the May edition of Construction Canada. Kaz spent hundreds of hours hanging on the wrong side of a wall and […]

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, […]

In the recent floods in New York and Miami, we saw pictures we hoped we would never see again: abandoned, submerged cars, inundated houses, and gigantic traffic jams. Human memory works in a mysterious fashion: we tend to remember good times, while we push away bad memories. This may explain the irrational exuberance evidenced in some new construction […]

This is the BEST3 Conference paper. The DVD will follow soon. Its working title is  “Skylight 101, or what you have always wanted to learn about sloped glazing.” It presents typical challenges and solutions associated with sloped glazing and skylights,

This time of a year in the South, we experience very high water vapor pressures, manifesting itself by miscellaneous moisture problems of mysterious nature. Do you feel uncomfortable, your printers and copiers fail to print, envelopes glued themselves together, steel is covered with a thin layer of rust, wood delaminated and bowed, pests overrun the place, and […]

Windows are as old as buildings, the word itself derived from the ancient Norse language in times when Vikings raided North Europe. How to design a window? How should an architectural glass be chosen?  Vikings are long gone, and we found the knowledge remains common among architects in the North Europe, but has not spread much […]