The building envelope refers to all external building materials, window and walls that enclose the internal living space. Homes are…

Building Envelope

The building envelope refers to all external building materials, windows and walls that enclose the internal living space. Today, homes are built tighter to control air leakage and improve energy use. But tighter construction of homes and building improvements limit the exchange of air–too tight and the air inside is stale; too many ways for air to escape and money is wasted on heating and cooling. If the envelope isn’t constructed of “breathable” materials, stale air and pollutants tend to be retained and re-circulated via the HVAC duct system.