Exterior Building Envelope Design Guide

Scope Building envelopes shall effectively control moisture migration, heat transfer and air leakage. This Design Guideline highlights areas requiring special attention and consideration with respect to building envelope design. This guideline also includes the U-M Building Envelope design review process and requirements.

Building Envelope Performance Measures The building envelope is a primary element of architectural expression, and as stated above, it is also the main barrier between the interior conditioned spaces and the exterior environment. Because the envelope controls the variation between environments, the envelope performance can significantly impact how much energy may be required to maintain the ...

This paper will review the basic concepts of the four barriers in the exterior envelope, discuss moisture migration and conden sation, provide design recommen dations for common exterior enve lope systems, and briefly discuss recommendations to assess new exterior envelope technologies.

The building envelope must successfully perform for the design service life (DSL) with a general expectation that the building envelope will not require major repairs or rehabilitation for 20-years after completion of construction.

The structures that separate the interior and exterior of a building are collectively known as the building envelope, sometimes also called the building enclosure. Essentially, this concept defines the distinction between interior, environmentallyBuilding Envelope Design Guide."