Awards: 2003 Institute Honor Awards for Architecture
Project:  American Folk Art Museum; New York, NY
Firm: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Client: The American Folk Art Museum
Photo: Michael Moran
 

   
 
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Building Enclosure Councils: What We Do

by Richard Keleher, AIA, CSI, LEED

The Boston Society of Architects’ Building Enclosure Council’s (BEC-Boston) activities center around the development of a community of people who are interested in and have expertise in the design and building of building enclosures.

BEC-Boston meetings occur once a month. Our meetings begin with a half-hour discussion of various projects on which we are working. Past projects have included development of air barriers (see www.mass.gov/bbrs/sample_details.htm), a new American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standard of air leakage testing, guidance of the ASTM standard through the approval process, a bibliography of recommended resources, and an article for ArchitectureBoston on the window-to-wall connection.

Our discussions also focus on some of our ongoing projects, including a residential/wood frame initiative that involves members who have particular interest in wood-framed cladding systems, daylighting benefits and purpose, methods of analyzing and designing with light, the avoidance of heat gain and glare, an education initiative to reach out to local architecture offices, and development of our Web site, www.bec-boston.org.

Our meetings feature an hour-long presentation on a subject of interest, followed by a question-and-answer session. The presentations are often given by a national technical representative from a manufacturer, but are also given by architects, professors, envelope and other consultants, installers, and subcontractors. Topics have included:
• Computerized heat-air-moisture analysis software demonstrations
• Overview of MIT’s Building Technology Group
• Vapor retarders and air barriers
• Masonry veneer anchors
• Double façades
• Use of spray polyurethane foam as an air barrier
• Aluminum window-to-wall connection
• Green roofing
• Cost of air barriers
• Plaza waterproofing
• Thermography as a diagnostic tool
• Staining from sealants.

The questions following the presentations are notoriously tough, but friendly—all in the spirit of discovery.