This presentation has been requested and scheduled for the AIA National Convention June 11, 2010. As an early viewing of the same presentation, we will briefly review the latest version of The Living Building Challenge 2.0, while discussing envelope opportunities within this progressive framework.
Whole-building commissioning is a process of quality assurance in building construction. It is a systematic process of ensuring, through documented verification, that building systems are installed and perform according to the documented design and the owner's operational needs.
In the recent construction economy, high performance new building construction has been complimented with prominent energy efficient retrofit projects. In both categories of construction, improved building envelope design and materials are needed to achieve energy savings goals. One important envelope element is a new class of glazing that has entered the market.
The Building Code defines criteria for air infiltration and structural performance for fenestration products but is essentially silent on the topic of water penetration resistance. The industry standard in the U.S. for determining the water penetration performance for fenestration products has essentially been controlled by the manufacturers of the window products themselves.