Building Science Symposium

At Clockwork our staff is constantly engaged in professional development looking to learn more personally and professionally. We encourage our staff to pursue these opportunities by providing professional development hours and reimbursement for attending industry events. One of our staff recently attended the Building Science Symposium, an event that got its start in Kansas City and has quickly spread nationwide. This event brings together a wide audience across the AEC (architecture, engineering, and construction) industry to learn about the fundamentals of building science and learn new methods and techniques to further building performance.

Started by a local group of contractors, the Building Science Symposium is now a nationwide event.

Water is the enemy

As technical and complicated as the concept of “building science” may sound, there is an age-old adage that still holds true: “water is the enemy”. Water is the root of all kinds of building failures and issues. From crumbling masonry, to molding drywall, we’ve all seen the effects of water damage; and felt the cost of not only building repair, but opportunity costs of ruined merchandise, closed businesses, displaced employees, etc. One of the presenters at the symposium quipped that: “there are only two types of windows: ones that have leaked, and ones that will leak.”. While it may seem inevitable for water to enter a building over time, one of our roles as architects is to manage water to prevent entry and control its path away from the building. One simple strategy to achieve this is through basic design principles. Providing overhangs above windows and doors, recessing entry points, and otherwise creating protection for openings in walls greatly reduces the chance of water intrusion. Another critical piece of water management is careful detailing of exterior materials. Flashing, drainage planes, and vented assemblies all contribute to the reduction of water damage, both interior and

exterior.

Continuity

Similarly as straightforward an idea as removing water from the building is the concept of continuity. Building science uses the term “control layers” to describe four key components of a wall: water control, air control, vapor control, and thermal control. As important as the function of each of these layers are, none of their purposes are effective without the presence of continuity. Continuity describes the concept that for any given section of a building, you should be able to trace a continuous line showing the control layer being studied. In the case of thermal control, you should be able to see the continuous nature of the insulation, with minimal to no gaps between insulation types. For air control, this concept can be reduced to the idea that “you should know if you are inside or outside of the building” if you can see light through a gap in the wall, roof, or floor, you don’t have a continuous air barrier!

Section cut showing a continuous air barrier. Joints between different materials and at openings need to be carefully

While building science is a wide-ranging field of study, like the examples above, many of its main principles are straightforward common-sense solutions to old challenges. Learning more through events like the Building Science Symposium helps us stay up to date with new means, methods, and materials, which helps us make every project better than the last.