Green Building Envelope Defined, Energy Efficient Enclosure

The Building Envelope or Enclosure
A Physical System

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The building envelope or building enclosure/shell is that part of the building which physically separates the exterior environment from the interior environment or environments. It prevents air, moisture and heat/cool from flowing freely in or out and is crucialto the performance of buildings. See thermal envelope

There are three parts to the building envelope which, although quite different from each other, interact and comprise a physical system::

1. Exterior Environments

2. Interior Environments

3. The Envelope System Itself

The primary function of the building envelope is to separate the interior environment from exposure to the exterior environment. The envelope is an assemblage made up of all the adjacent enclosures. It is three-dimensional and starts with with the inside face of the innermost interior layer, such as the interior paint, and extends to the face of the outermost layer such as the exterior paint.

The components of the building envelope are:

The base floor systems
The above-grade wall systems
The windows and doors
The roof systems

Borders defining where the exterior environment ends and the building envelope begins might be confusing, particularly when buffer spaces such as attics, garages, and crawlspaces are considered.

For a high-performing building, the envelope controls heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter. It should be equal in importance to the structural frame in terms of design consideration while taking properties of the envelope into account such as the function, position, dimensions and orientation.

More about the Building Envelope.

Back to Building Envelope Directory.

Please contact Terry Jensen at 972 251-1532 or 817 545-0140.

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