Building science / Guides

...Building Science The wall we designed for the Edelweiss house, Canada's first LEED Platinum V4 Home is best categorized as a 'REMOTE' wall, a high performance building envelope developed by the Cold Climate Housing Research Centre in Alaska. REMOTE stands for 'Residential Exterior Membrane Outside-insulation TEch...

...building significantly more energy efficient homes. Building science training is mandatory for participation in the Canadian Home Builders' Association Net Zero Homes Labelling Program. This training introduces the concept of treating the building as an integrated system, the basic principles of building science and ...

...buildings. Lorne Ricketts is a Building Science Engineer [EIT] with RDH Building Engineering Ltd. and has significant experience with the thermal performance of building enclosures and insulation products. He was the lead investigator on a recent project by RDH which assessed the thermal performance of conventional...

...building homes But the principles of building science remain the same in all climate zones ; in relation to moisture movement though walls, and thermal dynamics (meaning how heat moves from one place to another). To better understand the basics of how to build an energy-efficient and durable home , see our building s...

...building envelopes. Building codes are making you do stupid things. The laws of physics trump code. - Joe Lstiburek This article was inpired by building scientist Joe Lstiburek, one of the most globally trusted and well-known names in building science who has left an indelible mark on the building codes of the ...

...buildings worldwide that will provide “net positive” benefits to the environment. It reduces UBC ’s carbon emissions, powers itself and a neighboring building with renewable and waste energy, creates drinking water from rainwater and treats wastewater onsite. The CIRS building includes a green roof cour...

...Science NetLinks: Earth Day Lesson Collection : A collection produced for last year’s Earth Day, but still relevant this year. Science NetLinks produced a big list of lessons and learning tools on a variety of earth science subjects, and they’re all easy to browse by grade level, subject, and type of project. ...

...building science makes mundane tasks like folding laundry a joy. This particular episode was about phase change building materials (PCMs) and how they can be incorporated into buildings to improve energy-efficiency by harnessing a naturally-occurring physical reality, 'the melting point'. When looking for commerciall...

...Building Science Corporation has to say about this type of basement wall assembly - "The experience by the Building Science Consortium with these two approaches has been bad. The Building Science Consortium has concluded that these two approaches are unsuitable for use by the home building industry due to serious pro...

...building envelope is a potential recipe for disaster. The best pre-emptive strike against the possibility of a nightmare exterior wall renovation and insulation project is educating yourself - so you don’t get talked into the wrong wall system by a poorly-informed general contractor. Start by watching our ‘building s...

...Building codes and thermal bridges: It is not only sensible to address thermal bridging in construction, it is becoming law. Recent revisions to building codes have increased the thermal requirements of building enclosures in many regions, including requiring a thermal break. Contrary to common assumptions, t...