Building Envelope Forum

8:00 a.m.
Registration & Continental Breakfast

8:45 a.m.
Introduction & Opening Remarks

Bob Passmore, President, Alberta Building Envelope Council (ABEC)

8:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Building Science: The Building as a System

As an environmental separator, the building envelop plays a key role in maintaining occupant comfort and health. It also serves a primary passive component to reducing energy consumption and maintaining the service life of buildings. This presentation describes the function of the building envelop with consideration for a world facing depleting energy resources, ill health and consumer demand for higher building performance. Methods to enhance the properties of building envelopes to control air leakage, water intrusion, heat loss and thermal bridging will be discussed. The next generation of building envelopes that serves other functions such as capturing and storing solar energy will also be illustrated.

Professor Tang Lee, University of Calgary

10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Morning Refreshment Break

10:45 a.m. – 11:50 p.m.
Net Zero Buildings

Net Zero” buildings combine a high energy efficiency building envelope with integrated renewable energy options. They produce the same amount of energy as they consume over a year. The “Net” annual energy consumption is “Zero”. Albert will talk about the Net Zero design approach along with several project examples touching on Human Comfort, Energy, Passive Design, Microclimate and Energy modeling.

Albert Bicol, Partner, Cobalt Engineering

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Luncheon

11:50 p.m. – 12:00 p.m.
High Performance Building Envelope: Looking Beyond High-Performance Claddings

Owners want glass buildings. Glass creates challenges in providing comfortable, energy efficient buildings. This session will discuss strategies for tuning cladding systems for different elevations and illustrate how cladding choices can be made to optimize comfort and performance.

Graeme Scott, Halsall Associates Limited

2:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Afternoon Refreshment Break

2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
Mould, Moisture & Related Problems

Perhaps the most significant statement ever made about building science was that “Except for structural failure, about 90% of all building problems are related to moisture in some way”. This presentation will examine the various mechanisms by which moisture can damage buildings, their occupants and their wallets. And, more importantly, techniques to reduce these problems will be discussed. Both new and existing buildings will be considered.

Randy Smith, Partner, AD Williams

3:15 p.m.- 4:00 p.m.

Cost Effective Building Envelope Maintenance Strategies

This session will priorize measures to be taken to effectively tighten the building envelope of existing buildings. Considerable experience has shown that tightening these buildings judiciously can be extremely cost effective. Case studies, methodology and cost justification will be discussed to cover all aspects of the building envelope including the top, bottom, vertical shafts, the side walls and, last but not least, the issue of compartmentalization. Issues such as smoke, odour, dirt and bug control frequently become part of the justification for doing this work. Window retrofit measures including low-e film, weatherstripping replacement, interior sull sash, insulating glass unit replacement, as cost-effective alternatives to replacing windows will also be discussed.

Tony Woods, President, CANAM Building Specialists

3:15 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Panel Discussion

A discussion of key mistakes and remedies for the design, construction, retrofit and maintenance of the building envelope.

Albert Bicol, Partner, Cobalt Engineering
Gary Proskiw, President, Proskiw Engineering Ltd.
Graeme Scott, Halsall Associates Limited.
Tony Woods, President, Canam Building Envelope Specialists Inc.