Award

University of the Fraser Valley Building A retrofit, Abbotsford, B.C. S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 | 9 Building Envelope P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E S Y EN G I N EER ED A SS EM B L I E S; R J C EN G I N EER S Experts in the building envelope sector are the answer to preserving Canada's existing building stock by ROBIN BRUNET F ocus on building envelopes is increasing in 2022 in Canada, for a very simple reason. "Buildings in many cities are hitting their sweet spot of 40-50 years old, and while their structures may be in good work- ing order, many of the envelopes are original and starting to fail," explains Fred Edwards, principal at RJC Engineers. "This typically manifests itself in phenomena such as fogging insulated glass, which sounds mundane, but if you have 2,000 win- dows in an office tower it becomes a serious issue." Fortunately, Edwards reports that building owners for the main are "very responsive to enve- lope issues and understand the importance of replacement. So it's up to companies such as us to determine the best solutions." And in that regard, Edwards believes that retrofit- ting will be the prevailing option in the medium- to long-term, "because new builds are more difficult to develop due to new energy code requirements and rising costs. We're comfortable with this trend because we've been retrofitting buildings for decades, using tools such as Whole-Building Energy Modeling as a way to determine exactly what is going on with the clients' properties and to help them take advantage of potential energy savings." Edwards is referring to RJC's energy experts, who deploy pow- erful energy modelling software that is also used as an aid in design-build decision-making, to show code compliance, to achieve green building certification, and to help inform policy and code development. Unsurprisingly there is no end of innovation when it comes to envelope products, and Alberta- based FORM innovations INC is an example of a company offering a product that is highly insulated, significantly decreases energy costs post-construc- tion, is fire and water resistant, very simple and fast to install, and is over three times stronger than ICF and cost comparable. That product is a polyurethane concrete form block (PCF), whose strength also removes the need for extensive (and time consuming) bracing and labour practices, thus significantly decreasing Failure Is Not An Option

• Cover