Building Envelope Commissioning

The building envelope is made up of all parts of a building that separate indoors from outdoors.  “Outdoors” usually includes both the air and the ground.  

Building envelope commissioning is a QA/QC process that helps buildings maintain continuity in their water barriers, air barriers, thermal barriers, and vapor barriers, leading to improved building comfort, durability, and energy efficiency.  This service ideally begins early in a project’s design phase, and continues through post-construction performance observations.  

Among other things, it includes design review of building envelope details, quality control observation during construction, and quality control testing of building envelope systems and assemblies.  Building Envelope Commissioning can qualify a project for points in various LEED rating systems, and can also meet requirements of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  BPA staff members have BECxP certification from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Engineering.