flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

New guide for prevention of thermal bridging in commercial buildings

New guide for prevention of thermal bridging in commercial buildings

The guide aims to overcome obstacles with respect to mitigating thermal bridging to reduce energy consumption in buildings.


By Morrison Hershfield | August 11, 2014
Photo courtesy BC Hydro
Photo courtesy BC Hydro

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

| Mar 29, 2013

Detroit's historic Whitney Building to be renovated for hotel, apartments

Detroit's David Whitney Building, a 19-story landmark erected in 1915, will be renovated for an Aloft hotel and apartments.

| Mar 29, 2013

PBS broadcast to highlight '10 Buildings That Changed America'

WTTW Chicago, in partnership with the Society of Architectural Historians, has produced "10 Builidngs That Changed America," a TV show set to air May 12 on PBS.

| Mar 29, 2013

Shenzhen projects halted as Chinese officials find substandard concrete

Construction on multiple projects in Guangdong Province—including the 660-m Ping'an Finance Center—has been halted after inspectors in Shenzhen, China, have found at least 15 local plants producing concrete with unprocessed sea sand, which undermines building stabity.

| Mar 29, 2013

Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee joins Clark Nexsen

Clark Nexsen, PC, headquartered in Norfolk, Va., has announced that the architecture firm Pearce Brinkley Cease + Lee (PBC+L) of Raleigh and Asheville, NC, has officially joined Clark Nexsen.

| Mar 29, 2013

Cuningham Group acquires NTD's healthcare practice, expands into key markets

The international design firm Cuningham Group Architecture, Inc. has announced that NTD Healthcare has the joined the company in a strategic expansion. A practice of NTD Architecture, NTD Healthcare joins Cuningham Group with three principals: Wayne Hunter, AIA, NCARB, ACHA and Phillip T. Soule, III, AIA, ACHA in San Diego, along with Maha Abou-Haidar, AIA in Phoenix.

| Mar 27, 2013

Small but mighty: Berkeley public library’s net-zero gem

The Building Team for Berkeley, Calif.’s new 9,500-sf West Branch library aims to achieve net-zero—and possibly net-positive—energy performance with the help of clever passive design techniques.

| Mar 27, 2013

RSMeans cost comparisons: college labs, classrooms, residence halls, student unions

Construction market analysts from RSMeans offer construction costs per square foot for four building types across 25 metro markets.

| Mar 26, 2013

Will Google Glass revolutionize the construction process?

An Australian architect is exploring the benefits of augmented reality in the design and construction process.

| Mar 24, 2013

World's tallest data center opens in New York

Sabey Data Center Properties last week celebrated the completion of the first phase of an adaptive reuse project that will transform the 32-story Verizon Building in Manhattan into a data center facility. When the project is completed, it will be the world's tallest data center.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category



Urban Planning

The magic of L.A.’s Melrose Mile

Great streets are generally not initially curated or willed into being. Rather, they emerge organically from unintentional synergies of commercial, business, cultural and economic drivers. L.A.’s Melrose Avenue is a prime example. 


Curtain Wall

7 steps to investigating curtain wall leaks

It is common for significant curtain wall leakage to involve multiple variables. Therefore, a comprehensive multi-faceted investigation is required to determine the origin of leakage, according to building enclosure consultants Richard Aeck and John A. Rudisill with Rimkus. 

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021