Workshop: Calculating Building Envelope Thermal Performance

Neil Norris, Building Science Engineer, will be presenting a half-day workshop entitled Calculating Building Envelope Thermal Performance: What You Need To Know. The workshop is presented in partnership with Owens Corning and 3M.

Overview:

This 3-hour interactive session is intended to inform building designers, architects and consultants on how to accurately determine building envelope performance in order to comply with current and upcoming energy codes, such as NECB, ASHRAE 90.1, SB10, and Toronto Green Building Standard.

The presentation will cover how common thermal bridges through assemblies impact the overall envelope performance and how to include these impacts in U-value/effective R-value calculations. This includes the impact of not just studs and joists, but also other major thermal bridges such as balcony slabs, parapets and window transitions that are often mistakenly overlooked. The calculation methodology, based on the approach in the Building Envelope Thermal Bridging Guide, will be demonstrated through step by step example questions for a variety of assembly constructions. The end of the session will be dedicated to a whole building example (low-rise multiunit residential building) to be completed collectively by the group.

In order to fully participate in the session questions, it is recommended that attendees bring a laptop or tablet with Excel. A limited number of USB keys will be available at the session, however it is recommended to pre-download the Building Envelope Thermal Bridging Guide V1.1 (Guide and Appendices) as well as the Enhanced Thermal Performance Spreadsheet for Excel for free from the BC Hydro website here: www.bchydro.com/thermalguide