The Importance of Proper Building Envelope Installation & Maintenance

For those who don't know, the building envelope is the outer layer that helps to protect the inside or interior aspects of a building from the environment. This includes the outer walls, roof, foundation and windows of your building. The building envelope helps provide protection from heat and moisture, as well as serves as a buffer between the interior aspects of the building and the outside elements, such as weather. It is important that you understand how important it is to care for the building envelope on your Vancouver structure and why proper maintenance repair is as important as a properly installed building envelope.

One of the biggest threats to a building is water damage, meaning that the building takes on water when it should not be. Your building envelope is only working properly if it can effectively protect your building from exterior weather, provide good quality indoor air, and be energy and cost efficient. This all depends on the durability and quality of the materials used to create your building envelope.

In order for your building envelope to be in proper working order, you need to make sure that the materials used are high quality and that the installation is performed properly. Any failure in either of these two categories could result in a damaged interior building, thus creating a building envelope that is not up to par.

It is important that you building envelope have certain characteristics when it is installed. This includes a solid structure, such as brick and mortar, both of which need to be of high quality materials. Your building envelope must also contain a drainage plane, and barriers - air, thermal and vapor, in order to properly protect your building. It is also necessary for the building envelop to be able to control moisture and serve as protector against dampness. Lastly, when having a building envelope installed, you need to make sure there is proper insulation and ventilation put into place.

Furthermore, once your building envelope is installed, it is important that you keep up with maintenance and repairs. It is a good idea to have your building envelope inspected every few years to make sure it is working adequately, especially in a wet climate like we see in Greater Vancouver. Failure to keep up with maintenance and have repairs completed could result in damage to the interior of your building. This could include air leakage, heat loss and rain penetration, which can result in deterioration of the structure earlier than should be occurring, poor indoor air quality and increased energy costs as a result of energy inefficiency.

All of these reasons combined emphasize that proper building envelope installation, maintenance and repair are the key to saving the integrity of your Vancouver structure, as well as keeping money in your wallet in the long run!