What Role Do Building Envelopes Play in Passive Cooling

A building envelope is a separator between the outdoor and the indoor environment of a building. It can also be defined as the boundary between the exterior and the interior of a structure.

Engineers have affirmed that building envelopes are one of the most useful components in a building design because of their roles in the protection and maintenance of a building.

The envelope encompasses numerous components including building doors, roofs, windows, and walls. Building envelopes improve the quality of a structure and have been noted to improve the thermal performance of a building.

A great building-envelope design is one of the straightforward ways to boost the performance of a building. The envelope controls the levels of heat flow, ventilation, and light.

INSULATION

The creativity in fixing thermal insulation to a building envelope has been confirmed to be an inexpensive way to lessen energy bills with refurbishments and new build projects. Insulation offers resistance to energy flow lessening the amount of energy needed to cool or heat a building.

VENTILATION

A high-quality building envelope allows ventilation for the fresh air and protects the building from air leakage. Some weather conditions such as storms and blizzards can increase the amount of air that goes out via the envelope if fenestration is not installed and sealed correctly.

FENESTRATION

The arrangement of doors and windows can have a unique effect on building envelope effectiveness. Increasing the amount of sunlight with glass and excellent sealed energy windows can be a remarkable design feature.

Westerly Restoration provides building envelope integrity inspections and restoration in Surrey, BC and the entire Greater Vancouver area. If you have any questions about this article or would like to talk to us about building envelopes or restoration, please call us at (778) 881-2877 or use the convenient form on our Contact page.