New Release

Building Envelope Online

A new journal that examines topical issues concerning building envelopes is just hitting cyberspace. Geared to people with building and design dilemmas, the online Building Envelope Forum (BEF) will be published quarterly by York Communications, starting this month.

What is the advantage of such an online journal when a vast library on the subject is available at your fingertips on the Internet? “In this day and age if you put a word or two in the search line of Google you can end up with 5,000 hits,” explains BEF’s editor and founding member Jacques Rousseau. “Narrowing down your search in Google can be time consuming and not all the information you find is factual. We want to save people the time of going to all that trouble.”

Walls, roofs, windows, cladding systems, foundations drainage, green buildings and heritage structures will be covered in the online journal, points out Rousseau, a civil engineering technologist who worked on envelope research and building materials evaluation for the CMHC for 30 years. The quarterly will be written with input from architects, specifiers, designers, manufacturers, engineers and installers. It will also be promoted to and address the needs of building owners, developers and property managers, thereby bridging the gaps between designers, contractors, suppliers and buyers.

BEF’s publisher York Communications has produced Construct Canada over the past 16 years. The idea for the online journal came to York’s principals Jacqui Elliott and George Przybylowski as a result of growing interest over the years at the show in building envelope related issues. “In talking with industry members, associations, research centres and government agencies, it became clear to us that a large percentage of new building innovations were producing new building envelope issues that needed to be addressed,” explains Elliott.

York first responded to the need years ago by introducing building envelope related sessions into the seminar program of Construct Canada, the nation’s largest building and design show. But this year York decided to take it a step further with the publication of Building Envelope Forum. “While there are other publications that address issues relevant to a specific profession, Building Envelope Forum cuts across professional lines because building envelope issues are relevant to everyone in the industry,” says Przybylowski.

Fully illustrated, the online journal will be indexed for quick access to areas of specific interest to architects and designers, builders, project managers, engineers, suppliers, building code officials and teachers. “For example, if someone is looking for something related to design, it can be found under a section called design,” points our Rousseau.

There will also be categories on climate, indoor air quality and even a section for product reviews and rebuttals. The idea is to open up discussion to a host of issues experts have quietly been concerned about for years.

The importance of “tight” buildings became a significant issue 20 or so years ago as a result of soaring energy costs. But while improved insulating and sealing technologies brought heating bills down, the new tight building introduced the potential for a host of new problems. For example, many tight buildings proved to be the source of trapped moisture in walls and roofs that could lead to the decay and rot of wood sheathing and structural members. What’s more, indoor air quality deteriorated as concerns of mold increased.

Writer Rick Quirouette is examining ice dams in the first issue of BEF. Other topics covered by industry experts include the EIFS Best Practice Guide and how-to procedures for applying exterior brick veneer.

Quirouette is a founding member of the online journal. He says BEF’s objective in part is to expose myths and investigate building trends and how they can lead to problems. “We want to present the big picture. Most of us are so busy with our own areas of expertise that no one is looking at the big picture anymore. In B.C., for example, we had a convergence of a number of trends, most of which were good, but the end results were disaster (leaky condominium crisis) because no one foresaw the consequences.”

 

Building Envelope Forum is published by York Communications/MMPI, the owners of  the Construction Law Update News Bulletin, Canadian Apartment Investment Report, and Real Estate Forum. York Communications/MMPI also produces Canada’s largest expositions and conferences for design, construction, and real estate management professionals including Construct Canada, HomeBuilder & Renovator Expo, Concrete Canada, PM Expo, DesignTrends, RoofTech and the Real Estate Forums. For more details, see our website at www.yorkcommunications.ca.