Building Envelope Integrity

—the Key Consideration in Evaluating Your Next Home

The building envelope includes all the components that separate the interior of the house from the exterior environment, such as walls, roofs, windows, doors, and foundations. Every decision is critical as it significantly impacts the energy efficiency, comfort, and durability of the home. 

If you’re thinking of buying a new home, conducting thorough research and considering both new and older homes can help you make an informed choice.  Indeed, newly built homes offer numerous benefits primarily due to advancements in building technology, materials, and adherence to modern building codes and standards.  But if you’re considering purchasing an existing home, a comprehensive evaluation of the home’s structural integrity is especially important.  And a professional remodeler can help you evaluate the cost/added home value of any needed or desired upgrades to reduce long-term utility costs and create a healthier and more comfortable living environment. 

Which type of insulation is preferable?  And what is the appropriate method for sealing openings and panel joints? What about HVAC choices? Before you can answer these questions, it’s first important to have an understanding that true performance is evaluated on how all the various materials in the assembly work together. 

Beware when manufacturer’s reps tell you that their product has a certain R-value

“When that product reaches the stated R-value only in a properly detailed assembly, those claims can be misleading,” says Allison A. Bailes III, PhD and author of the book “A House Needs to Beathe…Or Does It?”

Second, you must know that not all products are the right product for any application and/or climate zone.  Fort Worth Texas-based Armando Cobo, a Zero Energy Homes Designer, Consultant & Instructor explains, “How I design a house in the South may have 80% or 90% of the same products as products used in other climate zones, but that 10%-20% difference in products is what makes or breaks a job, or bring you back for repair trips, if not lawsuits.”

Read Building Savvy’s Building Envelope series about this critical aspect of construction.

Goal #1 Airtightness and Goal #2 Keeping it Dry

Making Houses Less Prone to Damage in a Natural Disaster is Goal #3

Fewer Components, Less Waste is Goal #4

Right-Sizing the HVAC is Goal #5

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