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Abstract
Office building envelopes are generally successful in meeting a range of structural, aesthetic and thermal requirements. However, poor thermal envelope performance does occur due to the existence of defects in the envelope insulation, air barrier and vapor retarder systems. These defects result from designs that do no adequately account for heat, air and moisture transmission, with many being associated with inappropriate or inadequate detailing of the connections of envelope components. Other defects result from designs that appear adeuate but can not be constructed in the field or will not maintain adequate performance over time. Despite the existence of these thermal envelope performance problems, information is available to design and construct envelopes that do nperform well. In order to bridge the gap between available knowledte and current practice, NIST has developed thermal envelope design guidelines for federal office buidings for the General Services Administration. The goal of this project is to transfer the knowledge on thermal envelope design and performance from the building research, design and construction communities into a form that will be used by building design professionals. These guidelines are organized by envelope construction system and contain practical information on the avoidance of thermal performance problems such as thermal bridging, insulation system defects, moisture migration and envelope air leakage.
Office building envelopes are generally successful in meeting a range of structural, aesthetic and thermal requirements. However, poor thermal envelope performance does occur due to the existence of defects in the envelope insulation, air barrier and vapor retarder systems. These defects result from designs that do no adequately account for heat, air and moisture transmission, with many being associated with inappropriate or inadequate detailing of the connections of envelope components. Other defects result from designs that appear adeuate but can not be constructed in the field or will not maintain adequate performance over time. Despite the existence of these thermal envelope performance problems, information is available to design and construct envelopes that do nperform well. In order to bridge the gap between available knowledte and current practice, NIST has developed thermal envelope design guidelines for federal office buidings for the General Services Administration. The goal of this project is to transfer the knowledge on thermal envelope design and performance from the building research, design and construction communities into a form that will be used by building design professionals. These guidelines are organized by envelope construction system and contain practical information on the avoidance of thermal performance problems such as thermal bridging, insulation system defects, moisture migration and envelope air leakage.
Date
3/1993
3/1993
Author(s)
Andrew Persily
Andrew Persily
Page(s)
234
234
Keyword(s)
building envelope; thermal intergrity; NISTIR 4821; envelope design guideline
building envelope; thermal intergrity; NISTIR 4821; envelope design guideline