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BUILDING SCIENCE
and High Performance Homes
Construction technology is evolving and changing daily. Building Science is based on a wealth of data from field work and scientific experiments gathered over recent decades. The goal of building science is to understand how buildings "actually" work. Conventional wisdom must be tested, suppositions must be supported by facts. Many assumptions about building technology have been proven wrong over the past 10 years. In fact some building standards that exist in city codes have been proven wrong, but they continue to be enforced. Despite the best intentions of many people, confusion about how building systems actually work persists. Unfortunately, the carpentry apprentice systems of the past have ceased to exist. Knowledge has not been passed on or shared effectively. The educational system has not valued building science despite the fact that construction is one of the largest, if not the largest, sectors in the American economy. It is assumed that people become carpenters because they didn't do well in science. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Experience and common sense show that simple carpentry misunderstandings can add up to very expensive problems in the future. What may seem like a quick cost cutting option can have brutal long term consequences. Many common problems are caused by bad building science and cheap construction techniques. Mold problems are continuing to rise as the homes of the past 30 years begin to age. Improperly flashed and sided houses, leaky basements, and improper insulation techniques have contributed to this problem. Poor indoor air quality has increased as houses become more airtight without proper consideration being given to the re-introduction of fresh air into the HVAC system. These are just some of the problems we are encountering daily.
