PAYETTE People at BuildingEnergy 16

BuildingEnergy 16 is now just one month away! Held at the Seaport World Trade Center here in Boston, the conference is organized by members of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA). The three-day event engages building professionals in discussions about sustainable strategies and their successes, as well as their failures. A number of PAYETTE staff are scheduled to present at this year’s conference on some of our recent research projects.

Break it or Lose it: Thermal Bridging in Building Envelopes

While thermal bridging is widely acknowledged to exist in modern commercial building envelopes, little is known on the significance of its impact. Utilizing infrared images taken from targeted assemblies at 15 recently completed buildings; we have seen a range up to 70% less than the design intended R-value. This range shows the unintended impact that design details can have on thermal performance.

We identified 16 common areas of thermal bridging that were frequently observed in the buildings surveyed. Broken into two broad categories of façade systems and transitions / penetrations, they range from curtain wall systems, to existing wall renovations, to conditions such as parapets and transitions to foundation.

The outcome of this research is a better understanding of thermal performance of commercial façades in order to help architects and building professionals understand the real impact of common thermal bridges and present alternatives to the industry standards that enhance performance.

Details
Wednesday, March 9 | 10:30am – 12pm

Speakers
Andrea Love AIA, LEED Fellow, Director of Building Science, PAYETTE
Jeffrey Abramson AIA, LEED AP, Associate, PAYETTE

Room-side low-e coating, as good as it sounds?

The selection of a glazing type for a project is based on factors like thermal performance, impact on occupant thermal comfort and cost. Double pane glazing units with a room-side low-e coating are becoming popular, because their thermal properties and visual appearance are comparable to those of a triple pane unit, but at a lower cost. However, the impact of selecting one over the other can have significant impact on seasonal thermal comfort conditions, and the wrong choice could lead to a need for perimeter heating as a remedial measure. This session addresses the benefits and drawbacks of using double pane glass with a room-side low emissivity coating as a substitute to a more expensive and heavier triple pane unit. In order to ensure no perimeter heating is necessary with either unit, we introduce a method to quantify two factors affecting occupant thermal comfort: radiant temperatures and risk of downdraft.

Details
Thursday, March 10 | 3pm – 4pm

Speakers
Alejandra Menchaca, PhD, LEED AP, Senior Building Scientist / Associate, PAYETTE
Lynn Petermann, AIA, LEED AP, Architect, PAYETTE
Vera Baranova, Designer, PAYETTE