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Building Envelope

June 4, 2008

Tridel brings Meridian Phase 2 to the brink of completion

Exterior work is moving along at the Meridian Residences Phase 2 condominiums at Yonge Street and Finch Avenue in North York, Ont. Tridel Corp.

May 29, 2008

Donald Doucet Youth Centre boasts energy-efficient design

The Donald Doucet Youth Centre in Sault Ste. Marie will boast the most recent energy-efficient features in its design.

May 26, 2008

IBI takes on unique challenge with downtown Toronto health centre

When the IBI Group was retained to design a community healthcare centre in Toronto’s downtown core, meeting the needs of the homeless and others who have “fallen through the cracks” was a top priority.

May 23, 2008

Roofs get attention they deserve — usually after a failure occurs

What should be the most visible element of a building is often the one receiving the least amount of attention, says a professional roofing consultant.

May 22, 2008

Downtown Markham transformation takes shape

After years of planning, the $3 billion mixed-use development that proposes to give Markham a heart is starting to take shape.

April 25, 2008

Getting the envelope wrong is just too costly

Over time, we have come to understand that without the practice of the discipline now known as building science, these buildings, and all others constructed without the benefit of a building science perspective, just don’t function properly, efficiently, effectively or with any degree of comfort for residents.

April 24, 2008

Contractors work in dead of night to complete make-over of Museum subway station

Re-cladding the track walls of the Toronto Transit Commission’s redesigned Museum subway station required tradesmen to work the graveyard shift. Jeviso Construction Corp. was the general contractor on the project.

April 18, 2008

California fire victims plan to rebuild for the second time, but this time they’re going underground

It will take more than two destroyed homes to get Skip and Linda Miller off the mountaintop property where they’ve lived for 30 years.

April 9, 2008

EllisDon builds on its strengths at Bay Adelaide Centre

Steel work moves upwards on the new Bay Adelaide Centre office tower at 333 Bay Street in Toronto, Ont.

April 8, 2008

ASHRAE develops tools to help designers create “net zero” energy buildings

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is intent on development of tools to help designers create "net zero" energy buildings by 2020.

April 27, 2007

Software models daylight, indoor air pollutants

The National Research Council (NRC) is promoting two electronic tools — Daylight 1-2-3 and IA-QUEST — developed to assist design practitioners in creating buildings that are comfortable, suitable for the Canadian climate and environment-friendly.

April 27, 2007

Indoor, outdoor environment meet at the flooring

More attention needs to be paid to the design, use and testing of slab-on-grade construction, according to a building envelope specialist.

April 27, 2007

Pushing the envelope requires consideration of challenges

For a generation now, our industry has been “pushing the envelope” and stressing the need for a science-based approach to the building envelope. Why? The cost of envelope failure is simply too high to ignore.

April 27, 2007

U.S. markets seeking air barrier expertise

While air barriers are a common feature of Canadian construction projects, only an estimated one per cent of commercial buildings in the U.S. are protected by the systems. Canada’s National Building Code (NBC) incorporates air barrier requirements for commercial buildings, while only a few U.S. states have any requirement at all.

April 27, 2007

Quantifying the effects of window choice on human comfort levels

An office worker sits at a desk beside a window designed to exacting specifications. It contains an inert gas that insulates it from the outside elements and uses a special coating to reduce the effects of ultraviolet radiation on building occupants.

April 27, 2007

Index assesses moisture rates

The increasingly globalized economy is presenting Canadian builders with a wider choice in building materials than ever before.

April 27, 2007

Challenging design places demands on installation

When architect Frank Gehry designs a building, such as the addition and renovation of Toronto’s Art Gallery, heads turn and tongues wag.

April 27, 2007

Roofers, roofing designers not always the same

Looking in the yellow pages for a roofer could be the worst business decision that a designer or contractor ever made, a roofing consultant told members of the building envelope profession recently.

April 27, 2007

Designs not popular in Canada's harsh climates

The University of Toronto’s Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research is among those buildings designed with a dual skin.

April 27, 2007

Checklists identify potential

Building code changes, evolving materials and technologies, and the challenges posed by an over-stretched construction industry are just some of the items required on a building envelope checklist.

April 27, 2007

Polymer spray protects building occupants

A polymer material that started life as a tough coating to protect truck-beds is now protecting soldiers and government buildings as well.

April 27, 2007

Manuals keep designers on top of developing issues

The American-based Gypsum Association’s 18th edition of the Fire Resistance Design Manual Sound Control, published last June, isn’t the only directory offered to designers and contractors with information on fire resistive and sound control systems. It is simply the best, say industry pundits.

April 27, 2007

Common sense approach reduces water infiltration

A Quebec-based building envelope consultant has a common sense approach for those whose aim it is to reduce water infiltration.

April 27, 2007

Masonry construction - sounds like the right choice

One important reason for building with masonry is that it provides superior sound control. Whether it’s concrete block, clay brick, or stone, masonry possesses an inherent resistance to the passage of airborne sound, which makes it a superior performer in attenuating low-frequency, airborne noise caused by building mechanical systems, elevators, amplified music, traffic and aircraft. Although some alternative systems may perform as well as masonry for frequencies in the speech range, these lower mass systems have difficulty insulating against low-frequency noise.