I have been practicing Architecture for +/- 23 years and have a lot of experience in construction and learned alot of my understanding of building systems 'the hard way' - by making mistakes, asking questions even when I felt nervous and dumb asking them, seeing a lot of issues and how they were corrected. I have had the benefit of working all over the country, on a wide variety of project types and sizes, with various sustainability requirements (or lack thereof) and I would say experience is the best teacher but it took every bit of 23 years to get where I am and I still feel like there's always more to learn and topics I dont quite understand. 

I certainly didnt learn about air barriers and thermal bridging and reservoir cladding in grad school. I learned it from watching a 100 webinars trying to figure things out and taking courses and reading white papers and joining organizations where I could hopefully learn from experts. So Im curious.. where did the BPKC members gain their expertise? Was it in school or elsewhere? Do architecture schools teach building science? Ill add some links below to resources and do my best to add them to our 'online resources' link on our main page as well but Id love to hear the community's thoughts on the future of architecture and building performance. Will we let engineers and specialty designers take over building enclosure details and design or will architects keep this in our realm of expertise?

Joe Lsitburek's Building Science Fundamentals Class is a blast. Everyone should take it if you have the time and the means. 

Basically all of BuildingScience.com is a treasure trove of white papers by Joe and John Straube and others on every topic you can imagine. 

Also John Straube's book Building Science for Building Enclosures. 

Getting involved with my local Building Enclosure Council chapter

Reading William Rose's blog and his book 'Water in Buildings'

Participating here in our amazing BPKC community

Building Science Fight Club's fantastic instagram account also has a class series that is available on demand 

I have been practicing Architecture for +/- 23 years and have a lot of experience in construction and learned alot of my understanding of building systems 'the hard way' - by making mistakes, asking questions even when I felt nervous and dumb asking them, seeing a lot of issues and how they were corrected. I have had the benefit of working all over the country, on a wide variety of project types and sizes, with various sustainability requirements (or lack thereof) and I would say experience is the best teacher but it took every bit of 23 years to get where I am and I still feel like there's always more to learn and topics I dont quite understand. 

I certainly didnt learn about air barriers and thermal bridging and reservoir cladding in grad school. I learned it from watching a 100 webinars trying to figure things out and taking courses and reading white papers and joining organizations where I could hopefully learn from experts. So Im curious.. where did the BPKC members gain their expertise? Was it in school or elsewhere? Do architecture schools teach building science? Ill add some links below to resources and do my best to add them to our 'online resources' link on our main page as well but Id love to hear the community's thoughts on the future of architecture and building performance. Will we let engineers and specialty designers take over building enclosure details and design or will architects keep this in our realm of expertise?

Joe Lsitburek's Building Science Fundamentals Class is a blast. Everyone should take it if you have the time and the means. 

Basically all of BuildingScience.com is a treasure trove of white papers by Joe and John Straube and others on every topic you can imagine. 

Also John Straube's book Building Science for Building Enclosures. 

Getting involved with my local Building Enclosure Council chapter

Reading William Rose's blog and his book 'Water in Buildings'

Participating here in our amazing BPKC community

Building Science Fight Club's fantastic instagram account also has a class series that is available on demand 

I have been practicing Architecture for +/- 23 years and have a lot of experience in construction and learned alot of my understanding of building systems 'the hard way' - by making mistakes, asking questions even when I felt nervous and dumb asking them, seeing a lot of issues and how they were corrected. I have had the benefit of working all over the country, on a wide variety of project types and sizes, with various sustainability requirements (or lack thereof) and I would say experience is the best teacher but it took every bit of 23 years to get where I am and I still feel like there's always more to learn and topics I dont quite understand. 

I certainly didnt learn about air barriers and thermal bridging and reservoir cladding in grad school. I learned it from watching a 100 webinars trying to figure things out and taking courses and reading white papers and joining organizations where I could hopefully learn from experts. So Im curious.. where did the BPKC members gain their expertise? Was it in school or elsewhere? Do architecture schools teach building science? Ill add some links below to resources and do my best to add them to our 'online resources' link on our main page as well but Id love to hear the community's thoughts on the future of architecture and building performance. Will we let engineers and specialty designers take over building enclosure details and design or will architects keep this in our realm of expertise?

Joe Lsitburek's Building Science Fundamentals Class is a blast. Everyone should take it if you have the time and the means. 

Basically all of BuildingScience.com is a treasure trove of white papers by Joe and John Straube and others on every topic you can imagine. 

Also John Straube's book Building Science for Building Enclosures. 

Getting involved with my local Building Enclosure Council chapter

Reading William Rose's blog and his book 'Water in Buildings'

Participating here in our amazing BPKC community

Building Science Fight Club's fantastic instagram account also has a class series that is available on demand 

I have been practicing Architecture for +/- 23 years and have a lot of experience in construction and learned alot of my understanding of building systems 'the hard way' - by making mistakes, asking questions even when I felt nervous and dumb asking them, seeing a lot of issues and how they were corrected. I have had the benefit of working all over the country, on a wide variety of project types and sizes, with various sustainability requirements (or lack thereof) and I would say experience is the best teacher but it took every bit of 23 years to get where I am and I still feel like there's always more to learn and topics I dont quite understand. 

I certainly didnt learn about air barriers and thermal bridging and reservoir cladding in grad school. I learned it from watching a 100 webinars trying to figure things out and taking courses and reading white papers and joining organizations where I could hopefully learn from experts. So Im curious.. where did the BPKC members gain their expertise? Was it in school or elsewhere? Do architecture schools teach building science? Ill add some links below to resources and do my best to add them to our 'online resources' link on our main page as well but Id love to hear the community's thoughts on the future of architecture and building performance. Will we let engineers and specialty designers take over building enclosure details and design or will architects keep this in our realm of expertise?

Joe Lsitburek's Building Science Fundamentals Class is a blast. Everyone should take it if you have the time and the means. 

Basically all of BuildingScience.com is a treasure trove of white papers by Joe and John Straube and others on every topic you can imagine. 

Also John Straube's book Building Science for Building Enclosures. 

Getting involved with my local Building Enclosure Council chapter

Reading William Rose's blog and his book 'Water in Buildings'

Participating here in our amazing BPKC community

Building Science Fight Club's fantastic instagram account also has a class series that is available on demand 

I have been practicing Architecture for +/- 23 years and have a lot of experience in construction and learned alot of my understanding of building systems 'the hard way' - by making mistakes, asking questions even when I felt nervous and dumb asking them, seeing a lot of issues and how they were corrected. I have had the benefit of working all over the country, on a wide variety of project types and sizes, with various sustainability requirements (or lack thereof) and I would say experience is the best teacher but it took every bit of 23 years to get where I am and I still feel like there's always more to learn and topics I dont quite understand. 

I certainly didnt learn about air barriers and thermal bridging and reservoir cladding in grad school. I learned it from watching a 100 webinars trying to figure things out and taking courses and reading white papers and joining organizations where I could hopefully learn from experts. So Im curious.. where did the BPKC members gain their expertise? Was it in school or elsewhere? Do architecture schools teach building science? Ill add some links below to resources and do my best to add them to our 'online resources' link on our main page as well but Id love to hear the community's thoughts on the future of architecture and building performance. Will we let engineers and specialty designers take over building enclosure details and design or will architects keep this in our realm of expertise?

Joe Lsitburek's Building Science Fundamentals Class is a blast. Everyone should take it if you have the time and the means. 

Basically all of BuildingScience.com is a treasure trove of white papers by Joe and John Straube and others on every topic you can imagine. 

Also John Straube's book Building Science for Building Enclosures. 

Getting involved with my local Building Enclosure Council chapter

Reading William Rose's blog and his book 'Water in Buildings'

Participating here in our amazing BPKC community

Building Science Fight Club's fantastic instagram account also has a class series that is available on demand 

I'm glad this thread is elevating building science and enclosure performance. I'm an architect and have been an AIA member for about 30 years, and I'm also an active member of IIBEC (International Institute of Building Enclosure Consultants), for over 15 years. IIBEC is an association of professionals who specialize in building enclosure consulting. As a former past president of the association, I may be a little biased and realize one may not want to toot one associations website on another association's forum, but IIBEC would be arguably the best place for education on building enclosure performance. I know both associations can benefit greatly from the support of each other, have partnered together on various initiatives and advocacy efforts, and I would encourage the partnership to continue.

As noted by others there are a many other websites and resources one can look at as well. IIBEC offers a large annual convention and a more technical annual symposium, as well as numerous local chapter events where the local enclosure community can get together and discuss. They have several online resources, technical advisories, position statements, and a huge article database members can research just about any topic. They also offer a wide range of respected credentials for enclosure professionals.

I would also recommend that an enclosure consultant be included as part of every project team. What you're describing - continuity across the "six-sided box" and the control layers (air, water, thermal, vapor/moisture) - is exactly the core of what IIBEC members work on every day. Many IIBEC professionals are architects and engineers, and our role is not to replace the architect-of-record. It's to bring focused, independent enclosure expertise that helps project teams deliver durable, buildable details and then verify performance in the field (mockups, testing, site observations, troubleshooting). Ultimately to build better buildings for our clients. The best teams I've worked with set enclosure performance requirements early, detail continuity with discipline, and back it up with mockups/testing and field verification.

The website is www.iibec.org

Christopher W. Giffin, F-IIBEC, RRC, AIA, NCARB
Principal

Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.
Engineers | Architects | Material Scientists

2055 Sugarloaf Circle, Suite 250

Duluth, Georgia 30097

mailto:cgiffin@wje.com | www.wje.com

I have been practicing Architecture for +/- 23 years and have a lot of experience in construction and learned alot of my understanding of building systems 'the hard way' - by making mistakes, asking questions even when I felt nervous and dumb asking them, seeing a lot of issues and how they were corrected. I have had the benefit of working all over the country, on a wide variety of project types and sizes, with various sustainability requirements (or lack thereof) and I would say experience is the best teacher but it took every bit of 23 years to get where I am and I still feel like there's always more to learn and topics I dont quite understand. 

I certainly didnt learn about air barriers and thermal bridging and reservoir cladding in grad school. I learned it from watching a 100 webinars trying to figure things out and taking courses and reading white papers and joining organizations where I could hopefully learn from experts. So Im curious.. where did the BPKC members gain their expertise? Was it in school or elsewhere? Do architecture schools teach building science? Ill add some links below to resources and do my best to add them to our 'online resources' link on our main page as well but Id love to hear the community's thoughts on the future of architecture and building performance. Will we let engineers and specialty designers take over building enclosure details and design or will architects keep this in our realm of expertise?

Joe Lsitburek's Building Science Fundamentals Class is a blast. Everyone should take it if you have the time and the means. 

Basically all of BuildingScience.com is a treasure trove of white papers by Joe and John Straube and others on every topic you can imagine. 

Also John Straube's book Building Science for Building Enclosures. 

Getting involved with my local Building Enclosure Council chapter

Reading William Rose's blog and his book 'Water in Buildings'

Participating here in our amazing BPKC community

Building Science Fight Club's fantastic instagram account also has a class series that is available on demand