Grant: Engage Grants Program

The construction industry is currently working to meet the demand for higher performance buildings. Suchbuildings are necessary in order to reduce the burden that buildings place on the environment. In workingtowards designing a net zero building, the first step is developing thermal efficient and durable buildingenvelope system that give the highest chance of achieving the goal. However, determining the thermal and themoisture performance of building envelope details is a complex process. For example, due to two- and threedimensionalheat transfer through building envelope details, the highest performing assembly cannot easily bejudged by looking at the insulation R-value alone. In general, high performance envelope systems are highlyvulnerable to moisture damage. Their performance under real climatic exposure in the field are not known.Moreover, building a 'Net-Zero' energy buildings at optimal cost requires cost and performance optimization.To address these issues there is a need for a systematic and integrated analysis of building's thermal bridges,energy consumption, durability and construction and operational cost. In this project, the cost and performanceof 'Net-Zero' buildings in mild and cold climates will be optimized. After gathering, the building'sspecifications and construction cost data, both thermal bridge and hygrothermal analyses of various buildingenvelope designs will be carried out. Using the thermal analysis results, an energy model will be developed andthe 'Net-Zero' building design will be optimized for performance and cost. The hygrothermal analysis will beused to design and conduct a field experiment study on the durability of the selected high performance buildingenvelope systems. Based on the computation and experimental studies, an optimal building envelope systemwill be identified and recommended.