Morrison Hershfield has announced that the Building Envelope Thermal Bridging Guide – Analysis, Applications, and Insights is now public and can be downloaded from BC Hydro. The guide aims to overcome obstacles confronting the industry with respect to mitigating thermal bridging to reduce energy consumption in buildings.
The guide was developed by Morrison Hershfield in collaboration with co-sponsors and industry partners. Co-sponsors include BC Hydro Power Smart, Canadian Wood Council, Fortis BC, FPInnovations, and Homeowner Protection Office. Industry partners helped extend the scope of the guide to include many additional details.
The principle goal of these collaborating organizations is to promote energy-efficiency in buildings by increasing awareness of the impact of and methods to mitigate thermal bridging. To meet these goals, the guide addresses a number of obstacles currently confronting our industry by:
-
Cataloging the thermal performance of common building envelope assemblies and interface details.
-
Providing data-driven guidance that will make it easier for the industry to comprehensively consider thermal bridging in building codes and bylaws, design, and whole building energy simulations.
-
Examining the costs associated with improving the thermal performance of opaque building envelope assemblies and interface details, and forecasting the energy impact for several building types and climates.
-
Evaluating the cost effectiveness of improving the building envelope through more thermally efficient assemblies, interface details, and varying insulation levels.
-
The guide, which is broken into three main sections for ease of use, contains helpful information for technical committees for energy standards, regulators, utilities, architects, mechanical designers, building envelope consultants, energy modellers, developers, manufacturers and trade organizations.
The guide outlines how to effectively account for thermal bridging and is backed up by an extensive catalogue of thermal performance data. This information is essential for practitioners evaluating building envelope thermal performance.
Researchers and regulators will be interested in the sections focused on market transformation, which includes an evaluation of cost effectiveness and energy savings in common large building types.
Related Stories
Sponsored | | Oct 13, 2014
Think you can recognize a metal building from the outside?
It’s getting more and more difficult to spot a metal building these days. What looks like brick, stucco or wood on the outside could actually be a metal building in disguise. SPONSORED CONTENT
Sponsored | | Oct 13, 2014
Liberty Utilities protects installers with Viega MegaPress
Liberty Utilities of New Hampshire wanted a way to keep its installers safe without compromising the quality of their installations, which is why the utility provider decided to start installing Viega MegaPress. SPONSORED CONTENT
| Oct 13, 2014
Department of Agriculture launches Tall Wood Building Competition
The competition invites U.S. developers, institutions, organizations, and design teams willing to undertake an alternative solution approach to designing and building taller wood structures to submit entries for a prize of $2 million.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
| Oct 10, 2014
A new memorial by Zaha Hadid in Cambodia departs from the expected
The project sees a departure from Hadid’s well-known use of concrete, fiberglass, and resin. Instead, the primary material will be timber, curved and symmetrical like the Angkor Wat and other Cambodian landmarks.
| Oct 9, 2014
Regulations, demand will accelerate revenue from zero energy buildings, according to study
A new study by Navigant Research projects that public- and private-sector efforts to lower the carbon footprint of new and renovated commercial and residential structures will boost the annual revenue generated by commercial and residential zero energy buildings over the next 20 years by 122.5%, to $1.4 trillion.
| Oct 9, 2014
More recession-postponed design projects are being resurrected, says AIA
About three quarters of the estimated 700 firms that serve as panelists on AIA’s Architectural Billings Index (ABI) had delayed or canceled major design projects in response to recessionary pressures. Nearly one-third of those firms now say they have since restarted stalled projects.
| Oct 9, 2014
Steven Holl's 'intersecting spheres' scheme for Taipei necropolis gets green light
The schematic design has been approved for the 50 000-sm Arrival Hall and Oceanic Pavilion for the Taiwan ChinPaoSan Necropolis.
| Oct 9, 2014
Beyond the bench: Meet the modern laboratory facility
Like office workers escaping from the perceived confines of cubicles, today’s scientists have been freed from the trappings of the typical lab bench, writes Perkins+Will's Bill Harris.
| Oct 8, 2014
New tools for community feedback and action
Too often, members of a community are put into a reactive position, asked for their input only when a major project is proposed. But examples of proactive civic engagement are beginning to emerge, write James Miner and Jessie Bauters.