Building envelope - Citizendia

A building envelope is the separation between the interior and the exterior environments of a building. In Architecture, Construction, Engineering and real estate development the word building may refer to one of the following Any man-made It serves as the outer shell to protect the indoor environment as well as to facilitate its climate control. HVAC (pronounced either "H-V-A-C" or occasionally " H-vak " is an Initialism or Acronym that stands for " Heating Building envelope design is a specialized area of architectural and engineering practice that draws from all areas of building science and indoor climate control. An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of Engineering. Building science is the collection of scientific knowledge that focuses on the analysis and control of the physical phenomena affecting buildings

Building envelope design includes four major performance objectives:

Structural integrity
Moisture control
Temperature control
Control of air pressure boundaries of sorts

Control of air includes air movement through the components of the building envelope (interstitial) itself, as well as into and out of the interior space, which affects building insulation greatly. Building insulation refers broadly to any object in a building used as Insulation for any purpose

The physical components of the envelope include the foundation, roof, walls, doors and windows. A foundation is a Structure that transfers loads to the earth Vietnam roofjpg|thumb|The roofs of Vietnam.]] A roof is the covering on the uppermost part of a Building. A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area A door is a panel or barrier usually hinged or sliding that is used to cover an opening in a Wall or partition going into a building or space GlassWindowjpg|thumb|right|190px|A stained glass panel depicting Biblical scenes at a historic church in Scotland]] A window is an opening The dimensions, performance and compatibility of materials, fabrication process and details, their connections and interactions are the main factors that determine the effectiveness and durability of the building enclosure system.

Common measures of the effectiveness of a building envelope include physical protection from weather and climate (comfort), indoor air quality (hygiene and public health), durability and energy efficiency. In order to achieve these objectives, all building enclosure systems must include a solid structure, a drainage plane, an air barrier, a thermal barrier, and may include a vapor barrier. Moisture control is essential in cold climates. See dew point, condensation, and toxic mold. The dew point (sometimes spelled dewpoint) is the Temperature to which a given parcel of Air must be cooled at constant Barometric pressure, Condensation is the change of the physical state of aggregation (or simply state of matter from gaseous phase into liquid phase Molds are ubiquitous in nature and mold Spores are a common component of household and workplace dust

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Architectural engineering, also known as Building Engineering, is the application of Engineering principles and Technology to Building Design The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation

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