Subject

Enclosures

A building's enclosure is everything between inside and out: walls, roof, floor, windows, and doors. A Passive House enclosure is well insulated, free of thermal bridges, and airtight. It does most of the work.

A winter coat works the same way: the down is the insulation, loft unbroken across the seams is freedom from thermal bridges, and a zipped, wind-tight shell is airtightness. Lose any one and the coat fails.

The result is warm interior surfaces. A room is comfortable when its walls, floor, and windows are close to the air temperature: no chill from a cold window, no draft along the floor. Warm surfaces also keep moisture from condensing, so there's no mold, and the enclosure lasts. The energy savings follow.

Topics
Airtightness · Insulation and assemblies · Thermal bridges · Vapor control · Windows
Related subjects
Climate and carbon · Energy modeling and tools · Mechanicals and ventilation · Certification and verification

Training on this subject

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35 courses and sessions

Certification courses 1

Specialized courses 6

Paid sessions 3

  • Session · Resilience

    Home Security

    Meredith McDaniel, MAAM Architects; Darin Dusan, Joubert Homes; Edie Dillman, B. Public Prefab; Jonah Stanford, B. Public Prefab; Anne Barrett, Yale University (moderator)

    1.25 AIA LU · 1 PHI credit

    $19

  • Session · Enclosures

    Material Thoughts

    Floris Keverling Buisman, 475 High Performance Building Supply; Mike Horgan, Cairn Collaborative; Caroline Dunn, Cairn Collaborative; Andrew Ruff, GOA Architecture (moderator)

    1.25 AIA LU · 1 PHI credit

    $19

  • Session · Climate and carbon

    More Optimization

    Steve Hessler, New Energy Works; Louis Koehl, Handel; Gabrielle Brainard, SOM (moderator)

    1.25 AIA LU · 1 PHI credit

    $19

Free sessions 25

Writing on Enclosures 5