Building Envelope
The building envelope, or building enclosure, protects us and the building interior from the elements and enables occupant comfort. The building envelope includes the cladding, air barrier, weather barrier, thermal insulation, and other components.
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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Better Choices in Low-Slope Roofing
Feature Article
There are big differences in environmental impacts of commercial roofing materials, but the biggest variable may be service life.
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Making Windows Work Better
Feature Article
How to choose curtains, solar screens, awnings, and storm windows? The options are dizzying, but the right choice can cut energy bills.
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Re-Framing Sustainability: Green Structural Engineering
Feature Article
Want to design the greenest building possible? Get a handle on the best structural options available to you, and invite a creative structural engineer to join your team.
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Choosing Windows: Looking Through the Options
Feature Article
We ask a lot from windows: energy efficiency, aesthetics, durability, affordability, and more. Which window frame materials and low-e glazing options balance these choices best? This article explores all the options and decodes the performance labels we see when buying windows.
Quick Takes
Jump straight to the essentials with these short explanations of green building concepts.
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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.
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Radiant Barriers and Reflective Insulation
Primer
Shiny materials control radiant heat flow, but there is a great deal of misinformation about these systems.
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How Smart Windows Work
Primer
Smart windows have a lot of energy-saving potential, but can they really pass the test in the marketplace?
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What Is Building Science, Anyway?
Primer
Building science is an integrated discipline that stands many conventional design and construction ideas on their heads.
Product Guidance
Unbiased information from our product experts helps you separate green from greenwash.
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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.
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A New Halogen-Free Polyiso Insulation from GAF
Product Review
GAF now offers a full line of polyisocyanurate foam insulation that is free of toxic halogenated flame retardants.
In The News
We break news down to the essentials and provide expert analysis.
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The Search for Better Insulation Continues
News Analysis
We can all celebrate 25 years of improvements to insulation, but we still have a wish list of seven better products we’d like to see.
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Study Vets Materials for Entire Wall Assemblies
News Brief
When you look at the whole assembly, it can change how you see the materials. Here XPS and fiberglass come out ahead, and SPF behind.
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Styrofoam’s Chemistry Becoming Less Hazardous, Gradually
News Analysis
The world’s leading manufacturer of extruded polystyrene will phase out a toxic flame retardant around 2017 and problematic blowing agents by 2020.
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Polyiso Impacts Are High, but Performance May Make Up for Them
News Analysis
An EPD for polyisocyanurate insulation shows large embodied impacts while suggesting R-value cancels some of them out.
Perspective
Thought-provoking opinions from the most trusted minds in sustainability.
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The Energy Conservatory’s New Blower Door Kit
Blog Post
TEC did its homework: its new blower door package is a well-engineered and integrated equipment system
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Our Real-World Flashing Tape Tests Find a Clear Winner
Blog Post
We took the best PSA tapes from our last round of testing and worked them over on rough OSB and window flanges. One tape worked no matter what.
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Testing Pressure-Sensitive Tapes: Rounds Two and Three
Blog Post
Tension and pressure, tears and creeps. The Wingnut Test Facility (WTF) gets dope-slapped in our latest round of experiments.
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Plastics Industry Still Shouting "Fire" At Its Own Peril
Op-Ed
The foam insulation industry's united stand against code changes could backfire in the marketplace.
Learning Resources
Syllabus supplements and CEU content, with automatic reporting for AIA and GBCI.
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