Building Envelope Research Paper

Words: 793
Pages: 4

Building envelope is a physical barrier between conditioned and unconditioned environment in a building, this includes resistance to water, noise, air, light and heat. This means the buildings foundation, roof, windows, doors and walls are a part of the building envelope. Different climates have different criteria for building envelope. Cold climates require a building envelope that favors keeping cold air out of the building and warm air to stay in. In warm climates, the envelope needs to keep cool air in and warm air out. A proper envelope for the climate will more the build more energy efficient and lower heating and cooling costs.
Heat always flows from warm to cold so in a cold climate warm air from the inside of the building is drawn
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After living in New York which is a cold climate and now living in Florida I got to witness first hand the differences in building envelopes. There are many different aspects that differ in different climates. This includes location of insulation, R-value of materials, use of vapor barrier, placement of windows and doors. Delta T which is the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures is lower in Florida compared to New York. For example, high temperatures in Florida reach 95 degrees and indoor temperature is 65 degrees which is a difference of 30 degrees. In New York low temperatures in winter are around 15 degrees and indoor temperature are constant at 65 degrees which is a difference of 50 degrees. This means that structures in New York would need a great deal more insulation to keep the constant 65 degree indoor temperature. In New York the average recommendation for R-value of roof insulation is R55 and in Florida the average R-value is R30. This means colder climates must be more resistant to heat loss. Another difference between building envelopes in different climates is placement of windows and doors. In colder norther climates windows facing east and west would be beneficial to heating cost because sun light will provide natural heat. North and south facing windows are beneficial in warm climates because the windows will receive little to no sun all year