Past Meetings

This month our Portland BEC President, Dave Young, will present information on blistering in polyurethane membranes.

Water-filled blisters under cold-applied, asphalt-modified elastomeric polyurethane waterproofing membranes have been discovered on numerous buildings in the Pacific Northwest in recent years, often requiring replacement of the membrane. This presentation explains the phenomena of osmotic flow through polyurethane waterproofing membranes and presents strategies for addressing this problem through design.

Mr. Young has focused his career on building enclosure consulting over the past 21 years. His experience includes low to high-rise commercial, institutional, and multi-family residential buildings. Dave is a licensed professional engineer in Oregon and has a Bachelor degree in civil engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He is a principal of RDH Building Sciences, Inc.

This month Mark Campion will present information on the application of continuous insulation in walls per the 2010 Oregon Energy Code requirement.

The 2010 Oregon Energy Efficiency Specialty Code introduced a new prescriptive requirement for thermal envelope performance, continuous insulation. Continuous insulation requires special consideration in its installation. Designers and contractors in Oregon have little experience with the design and installation of continuous insulation. The intent of the presentation is to provide an overview of the code requirements and provide guidance on code compliance, including alternate methods, design considerations and resource assistance for the design community.

Mark Campion is a policy analyst for the Oregon Building Codes Division. He is the primary contact person for COMCheck compliance software and is well versed in the compliance requirements.

This month’s presentation is a summary of a research study conducted by Walsh Construction Company and Building Science Corporation to evaluate highly insulated wood-framed walls for the Pacific Northwest. With changing energy codes, the 2030 Challenge and the need to reduce energy consumption, design teams and owners are considering exterior wall assemblies with ever-increasing amounts of insulation. The study evaluated exterior wall assemblies that provide a high insulating value while acknowledging the hygrothermal implications of increasing the insulating value. A series of walls was examined for overall performance factors including cost, material use, insulating value, constructability and durability.

Martin Houston, AIA, is the Quality Director for Walsh Construction Co. (WCC) in Portland, Oregon. He has a B.Arch. degree from the University of Cincinnati, holds a California architect’s license, is a LEED Accredited Professional and is trained in Building Science Thermography. With WCC since 2006, Martin’s focus includes ensuring overall building quality while concentrating on high performance envelopes and emerging technologies for building envelope commissioning and diagnosis.

Chris Benedict, using examples of her own work, will talk about the evolution of the system approach to building design and the profound position that the building enclosure holds as a part of that system. She will lay out her perspective on building enclosure fundamentals, including the management of air, water, vapor, light and heat and discuss how mechanical systems and materials can be refined, reduced or eliminated, while building performance is enhanced, when the relationships within the system are clearly understood. Most of her discussion will be about innovations in the many apartment buildings she has designed and seen through construction, both retrofits and new construction. Some unusual aspects of her practice include: Inventing new construction techniques and building systems Changing code Stepping out of the traditional role of “Architect” and into Engineering and “means and methods” She will talk about the importance of thorough construction documents, active construction monitoring and crunching energy bills. Chris will end her talk with a presentation of her newest building, a 24 unit apartment building about to start construction that is planned to meet the strict German Passive House Standard.

Chris Benedict is an Architect, a Graduate of Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, and a professor of Architecture at Pratt Institute. Her office in New York City specializes in safe healthy durable energy efficient buildings built for the same price as typical construction. She is Chair of BEC New York.

An unbiased discussion and presentation of scenarios and criteria that are encountered when designing and installing roofing systems. The primary goal of this program is to introduce a way of thinking that will enable designers to select the proper system for the application and to become familiar with some of the more common roof system types used in the Northwest. This seminar is provided by Professional Roof Consultants, Inc. (PRC); a roofing, waterproofing and building envelope consulting firm located in Portland, Oregon.

The use of glass and fenestration as part of the building enclosure material/system has become a significant consideration and component in today’s building design. Glass in a building enclosure is used as the medium that breaks down the visual/psychological barrier between the interior and exterior of a building. Glass introduces natural daylight into a space and provides views of the outside while it simultaneously keeps the forces of nature to the exterior.

However, glass and fenestration technology has also rapidly evolved in recent years - predominantly to address energy conservation concerns. These advancements and product offerings range in aesthetics, performance and application. This meeting will explore and discuss current glass and glazing system technology and how the wide range of product availability can be more optimally incorporated into our projects with desired aesthetic and performance results.

Stanley Yee is a partner and building enclosure consultant for The Facade Group, a building enclosure consultancy based in Portland, OR. The Facade Group provides building enclosure design/construction expertise and support to building owners/developers and the architectural/engineering/contracting community.

The University of California San Diego is has commissioned the design of a new 177,000 square foot Health Science Research Laboratory on its main campus in La Jolla, CA. Based the on the experience and the mission of the institution, one initial goal for the project was to create as nearly as possible a daylight-autonomous laboratory building. The goal was subsequently refined to include the design and optimization of a façade system that yielded the maximum daylight benefit with minimal cooling penalty. John Breshears will present the design, simulation, and analysis findings relative to building envelope as well as a site-specific dynamic solar shading and glare control system. John will also give a brief description of the concept for an enthalpy recovery ventilated façade system. This project was recently awarded a research grant under the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E program for development by a team including Architectural Applications LLC, Membrane Technology Research Inc., and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.