A typical architect’s tool kit includes both old and new technology: a sketchbook and a laptop, a compass and a smartphone, a set square and – as of October 16, 2014 – the Building Envelope Thermal Bridging (BETB) Guide. Here’s why you need to know about it:
- In the past, resources that allow practitioners to accurately account for thermal bridging have been limited. The BETB Guide will help you more accurately design building envelopes to current energy standards.
- On January 1, 2015, the City of Vancouver will require that all envelope assembly details representing at least 1% of the total envelope area be analyzed, up from 5% in the old regulations. The BETB Guide provides a catalogue of the thermal performance of more than 230 envelope assembly details commonly used in this province for buildings of all types and provides ideas for how they can be enhanced to minimize thermal bridging.
- In the new year, the City of Vancouver will also require a building’s effective R-value before granting a building permit. The BETB Guide will help you determine the R-value more easily (saving both time and money) than ever before.
- As building energy codes and standards become more stringent, new building owners expect more energy efficiency, comfort, air quality and durability for their buildings. More stringent standards may also expose architects to increased liability. The BETB Guide will help you deliver what building owners want, and help protect you from unnecessary risk.
Available online from BC Hydro, the BETB Guide is the result of more than four years of work by engineering firm Morrison Hershfield in collaboration with primary funding partners BC Hydro Power Smart and the Homeowner Protection Office of BC, a division of BC Housing. Other partners include the Canadian Wood Council, FortisBC and FPInnovations.