Properly designing, installing, and maintaining sealant joints will prolong the life of any structure. When exterior sealants fail, the integrity of the entire building is at risk. Yet, when selecting and specifying joint sealants for their projects, architects and specifiers are faced with a myriad of options. This program will aid design professionals in making sense of the many considerations.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, building enclosures have received closer scrutiny, with everyone from consumers to building professionals to local and federal government, wanting to know more about their technologies and performance.

The BESTfest seminar brings together industry leaders and experts to discuss how the Building Enclosure Science & Technology field has changed since COVID-19 shook the world.

An introduction to the LBNL software THERM will be presented. Six wall assemblies commonly used from 2000-2020 are analyzed and described. Each assembly has performance positives and negatives and these can be shown by using the software.

We will discuss total R value of wall assemblies and dew point locations. There will be discussion of how to avoid mold and condensation in walls by proper analysis. Keeping the building warm and dry prevents mold, saves energy, and keeps occupants safe and healthy.

Drawing on his experience working on the rehabilitation of major institutional buildings and focusing on early-to-mid 20th century masonry construction, the speaker will discuss technical approaches to masonry whole-façade replacement while keeping a building fully operational. The presentation will cover structural engineering, building enclosure design, energy efficiency improvement, constructability, logistical, and economic aspects of overcladding projects. In particular attendees/readers will learn about:

One of the many challenges of innovation in building enclosure design is the risk of using technologies and materials that have limited track records. Especially when a premium is paid to attain expected performance benefits and energy savings, failure can be both counter-productive and costly. However, using only time-tested strategies and materials may not be desirable in an environment of rapidly evolving technology and accelerated construction schedules.

Windspeed and wind pressures are concepts that often causes confusion and anxiety for many building professions when it comes to component and cladding design and specifications. In this course, the speaker will break down the differences between Strength Design and Allowable Stress Design approaches and discuss when each design methodology is appropriate for component and cladding design. Wind load maps for Oregon have changed in the recent iteration of the 2019 OSSC resulting in lower wind pressures in many local areas potentially lowering the cost for components and cladding systems.