Very informative site with endless links in all directions.
Building Science
Building science is the study of the interaction between the various materials, products and systems used in building construction, the occupants of these buildings, and the environment in which they are located.
Many of us in the building industry share the view that the construction of a building should be designed as a system, using building science as our guide.
I wish that I could fully agree with you on the “many”, Marcel. What I find is that you start meeting others at seminars/conferences and start communicating with them due to “like” concerns and knowledge levels. It creates a little circle of people “in the know” that you regularly consult/talk to and then much-to-most of your contact is with these folks. Then you get out to the larger world and find out, it hasn’t moved in step with you.
In Canada during the mid 1980’s, The “House-as-a-System” was being offered/taught to insulators/airsealers and any one else who could affect airflows in housing (ventilation/kitchen, siding/window, heating equipment, and central vacuum installers). The architects/engineers, in general, up here were about 10-15-20 years behind on this concept. At a special one day session here in 1999-2000, where Joe Lstiburek spoke all day, I heard the senior arch/partner of a firm say he would never build an airtight building!!!
I quoted this on another thread recently; maybe you saw it:
"Here’s another opinion of the state of the field of architecture in North America regarding building science. From the front page lead article of the June 2005 issue of Energy Design Update “Teaching Architects Building Science”:
"In his recently published book, Water in Buildings, (Bill) Rose quotes Max Abramovitz, the architect of the United Nations headquarters in NY, who lamented in 1949, “Actually. I am very concerned that the science of building is going to disappear. I wonder if you realize how very few men are left today who are expert in building science. They are very rare and they are passed around among the large architectural offices. You have to dig them out of their holes and revive them”
My comment after teaching a couple of terms (building science) at the architectural faculty of a university:
*No wonder that about 50% of lawsuits against architects today are for water leakage; If you’re not taught the basics, you can’t build good buildings. Design and the fine art sensibility run through most architectural schools today. Another comment from the article when talking about building science at the likes of MIT and U. of California at Berkeley, " But at both schools the curriculum has not been extended, so the number of building technology courses is still relatively small!" *
The comment about MIT is a bit humorous to myself as the reason I was hired to teach for only 2 terms is that the regular professor was on leave and at MIT doing his Phd. in building science.
To learn more about building science, visit these informative websites
Building Science Corporation
First met the principal, Joe Lstiburek, at a 1985 conference titled “Avoiding Failures; Learning from Experience”. The bulk of the conference dealt with airtightening of buildings, energy efficiency, air quality and how to do it all without problems.
Energy Efficient Building Association
Energy Federation Inc.
Marcel:)
