Building Enclosure Consulting

I have all kinds of people approaching me after my seminars, and I distinctively remember one gentleman who came to me in Coral Gables two or three years ago. He identified himself as a mechanical engineer and asked me for my advice. He said his son contracted a chronic respiratory illness after he replaced fenestration […]

I am currently in process of setting up the online video-on-demand system, which would make the facade engineering university videos available for an immediate download. It will require a paid site membership in order to view the videos. The idea is to replace the current system of producing physical DVD discs, which are still available via […]

It’s not always rain leakage, we find in our investigations as facade doctors. We sometimes find no traces of water intrusion, as opposed to water condensing inside, where it can damage moisture-sensitive materials, and contribute to microbial growth i.e. mold and mildew. In such a case,

One of the chief reasons of weatherproofing failures of facades is the thermal stresses and associated movements in excess of  seals’ elastic capacity. This is particularly true for metal curtain walls, because of

We assist designers  in verification of performance of bespoke components and assemblies via computerized finite element analysis (FEA): thermal, hygrothermal, optical, solar,  static, and dynamic. Many of these state-of-the-art computer generated analysis are unique worldwide. E.g., we are recognized as a world-class leader in the field of 3-dimensional computer simulations. Download the printable scope of […]

What is computational fluid dynamics? These simulations are performed as a virtual wind tunnel analysis (e.g. for shape optimization or tracing wind-borne projectiles) or for identification of boundary conditions for thermal analysis.

Would there be a water damage inside, at the absence of any rain intrusion or plumbing leaks? Microbial growth? We found the answer in many cases is yes. These hygro-thermal analyses are performed on facades of buildings in design stages, in order to assess the moisture behavior of very simple assemblies. Most typically performed to assess the […]

2-Dimensional Steady State Thermal Analysis is performed on simple assemblies to identify the thermal transmittance (U value) and assess the condensation risk.  What is the thermal transmittance? It’s composed of the three modes of heat transfer: thermal heat conductivity, thermal heat conductivity, and radiation thermal.   It’s often expressed as U values (for windows, curtain walls, skylights, and other […]

We  are sometimes asked to simulate or test assemblies, in order to verify whether the inferior specifications are met. It’s always awkward for us to volunteer to identify the engineering question actually worth answering, or to actually respond to the question no-one have asked. For the benefit of those specification writers who are still on speaking terms […]