Designing and Constructing High Performance, Low Risk Building Envelopes | Avoiding Catastrophic Mold and Moisture Problems
“The client did not see the value in LEED(r) certification” were the words of an architect in a recent talk at a national conference. “But they did want a high-performing building”. These statements shaped the basis for their client’s new national headquarters. The mission of designing high-performance buildings while also promoting green and sustainable objectives has led to new success stories, yet it has also revealed areas of potential for mold and moisture failures. The interaction between the HVAC system and the envelope creates an unusually high risk area. Any deficiency in either system can cause dramatic, building-wide moisture and mold problems which can compromise the integrity of the building structure as well as effect air quality and occupant health. With the emergence of high-performance buildings (including building envelopes) and the use of certain new green products, we have inadvertently designed and constructed high-risk building envelopes, when, in fact, the goal should be to develop a high-performance building envelope that has the lowest possible risk of failure. This webinar or designers (architects and mechanical engineers) focuses on the design and construction decisions that are required to avoid mold and moisture related failures while still achieving high-performance building envelopes.
Learning Objectives
- Identify the high-risk decisions that are required to make to avoid mold and moisture problems in high-performance building envelopes.
- Apply good peer review techniques to projects so that sound building envelope and related HVAC design decisions that achieve high-performance building envelopes that have a low risk of moisture failures.
- Define for projects what areas of design are of highest risk of moisture failures in high-performance building envelopes.
- Compare designs with the areas of the 2015 ICC codes that result in higher risk of failures in high-performance building envelopes.
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