The Building Science Symposium

Tuesday, November 18

The Boston Building Enclosure Council sponsors a series of workshops on critical building envelope issues.

A20 Six types of condensation
10:30 am – noon

Avoiding condensation is essential to creating a healthy indoor environment and a durable building. We examine the six most common dynamics that cause condensation on cold surfaces in buildings and offer solutions for each scenario. We describe how to design and construct buildings that have a lower risk for condensation.

A40 Introduction to building science: heat, air, and moisture transfer
1:00- 2:30 pm

In this session, we review theory of moisture migration in the building envelope and discuss the important and distinct roles of air barriers and vapor retarders – what they are, why they are needed, and how they differ. We review design principles that generate effective barriers for combined air, vapor, and heat flow through the building envelope and provide examples of how continuity of these barriers can be achieved in difficult wall/roof intersections. We discuss the technical and practical limitations of various building materials used as air and vapor barriers. We conclude with a discussion of the potential consequences of inadequate envelope detailing and construction, illustrated with case studies. The development and implementation of remedial designs are also examined.

A60 Building science: water intrusion
3:30 – 5:00 pm

The management of liquid water, including drainage planes, flashings, weeps, weep baffles, and waterproofing, is covered in this session. The continuity of the water barrier and its connections to various elements such as windows, louvers, and curtainwalls are also reviewed. We provide details that show how these elements can be put together to create successful watertight enclosures, and we review the appropriate use of testing to verify performance.

A80 Building science: specifications for the exterior enclosure
6:00 – 7:30 pm

Can specs make your building dry, airtight, and durable? Learn what language to include in your specs to help ensure that the exterior envelope is constructed correctly, and find out how to differentiate the work of different trades. Division One of your specs must include mock-ups, testing, and quality-control procedures. Technical sections should clearly address air and vapor barriers, sheathings, insulation, flashings, windows, curtainwall, roofing, and waterproofing. The language on the drawings and in the spec must match. Handouts in this session include electronic files with model language for your consideration.

The package cost for the symposium is $260 if you register before October 24 and $300 if you register after that date (this is a significant savings over the individual workshop costs). However, you may choose to register for one or more individual sessions by selecting the individual workshops in the a la carte section of the online registration site or under section 3 on the paper registration form.