Building Envelope
The building envelope protects us from the elements, enables comfort, and ultimately allows us to be at home in our houses, to be productive at the office, to learn in school, or to heal in the hospital.
A building envelope—also commonly called a "building enclosure," should:
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support comfort
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manage moisture
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not poison us or the planet
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allow us to breathe clean air
When possible, it should do all this while using resources effectively—durably, energy-efficiently, and with low embodied impacts.
Here you’ll find strategies for envelope design and material selection that help balance all these demands and more.
Building Envelope
Deep Dives
Get up to speed on complex topics. You can also earn CEUs and download PDF Spotlight Reports.
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Mind the Gaps: Making Existing Buildings More Airtight
Feature Article
Leaky building enclosures create health hazards, comfort problems, and high energy bills. Fixing them isn’t rocket science; but you’d better know your building science.
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Cladding: More Than Just a Pretty Façade
Feature Article
Cladding materials should be chosen to minimize environmental impacts and help maximize a building’s energy performance.
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Innovative Products and Technology from the Greenbuild Expo
Feature Article
Our product editors pick some winners from the expo floor at Greenbuild 2013 while raising questions about some materials.
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Designing for the Next Century's Weather
Feature Article
How do you create a climate-responsive building in a changing climate? Brand new modeling techniques are helping us figure it out.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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Glazing Performance Metrics
Primer
A few key metrics are important for understanding the thermal performance of glazing units used in curtainwalls and windows.
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Building Enclosure Commissioning: Ensuring Durable and Energy-Efficient Buildings
Primer
The building envelope is crucial for all other building systems. How can we use commissioning to make sure it performs?
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The 12 Product Rules
Infographic
These 12 product rules provide a simple approach to selecting better, healthier, and more environmentally responsible building products and materials.
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Three Sources of Air-Pressure Problems in Buildings
Primer
Air movement in and through buildings caused by pressure differentials has important effects on performance and safety.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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New Blowing Agents Revolutionize XPS Industry
Product Review
Due to regulatory changes in Canada and certain U.S. states, manufacturers will be offering XPS with low global warming potential starting in 2021.
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A New Foam-Free Sub-Slab Insulation
Product Review
Foam glass aggregate made from post-consumer recycled glass bottles can replace both foam insulation and aggregate below grade.
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Thin Glass to Change High-Performance Window Market
Product Review
Alpen is rolling out triple-pane products that are thinner and lighter—and will eventually be cheaper.
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Glass Façade with Vacuum Insulation
Product Review
Sedak’s Isomax system incorporates vacuum insulated panels into insulated glazing units to create thin glass façades with improved thermal performance.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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Do Flame Retardants Work? Putting Foam Insulation to the Test
News Analysis
A deeper look at California’s decision to allow flame-retardant-free foam under concrete slabs
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California Approves Flame-Retardant-Free Insulation Below Grade
News Brief
Though products are not yet on the market, a state commission has given the go-ahead for select foam insulation without flame retardants or fire testing.
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New York State Launches Initiative to Scale Net-Zero Retrofits
News Brief
The state has budgeted $30 million to develop a self-sufficient, private sector-based market for deep energy retrofits of multifamily buildings.
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Could Passivhaus High-Rise Become the Norm?
News Brief
Report indicates that designing tall urban residential buildings to the Passivhaus standard is achievable and worth the added cost.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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Installing Insulation With the X-Floc Ventilated Dry Injection System
Blog Post
X-Floc claims the blowing equipment they use delivers cellulose at a more consistent density, and they were willing to prove it with this demonstration.
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SonicLQ: Reconnecting Acoustics and Airtightness
Blog Post
Early on in our work on energy-efficient homes, the connection between airtightness and sound centered on airport noise; now a new technology reconnects acoustics and air leakage
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Pete’s Puzzle: Mold on Painted Clapboards is Food for Thought
Blog Post
There is mold on the factory-primed, latex top-coated wood clapboards on the south but not the north side of our house
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Going to School for Building Enclosure Commissioning
Blog Post
What I learned from a University of Wisconsin course called “Commissioning Building Enclosure Assemblies and Systems”
Learning Resources
A wide range of education options, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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Cladding: More Than Just a Pretty Façade
Feature Article
Cladding materials should be chosen to minimize environmental impacts and help maximize a building’s energy performance.
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The Building Envelope: Innovations in Planning, Materials and Budgets
Webcast
Alex Wilson, founder of BuildingGreen and director of the Resilient Design Institute, recently completed a zero-energy retrofit of an old Vermont farmhouse. In this webcast, Alex and his designer-builder, Eli Gould, review their nuts-and-bolts experiences and lessons learned with innovative products and systems, with a focus on the building envelope.
