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BUILDING ENVELOPE
ROLE OF ENVELOPE IN BUILDING DESIGN FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

INTRODUCTION
• The building envelope is physical separator
between the exterior and the interior of the
building and fenestration systems.Opaque
components include walls, roofs, slabs
basement walls, and opaque doors.
• Fenestration systems include windows,
skylights, ventilators, and doors that are more
than one half glazed. The envelope protects
the building’s interior and occupants from the
weather conditions and shields them from
other external factor e.g. noise, air pollution,
etc.
• Envelope design strongly affects the visual
and thermal comfort of the occupants, as well
as energy consumption in the building.

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COMPOMENT OF BUILDING ENVELOPE

• WALL
• ROOF
• FLOOR
• DOOR & WINDOW
• SKYLIGHT

HEAT TRANSFER IN BUILDINGS

Heat transfer takes place through walls,
windows, and roofs in buildings from higher
temperature to lower temperature in the
following three ways:
1. Conduction:- it is the transfer of heat by
direct contact of particles of matter within
a material or materials in physical contact.
2. Convection:- it is the transfer of heat by
the movement of a fluid (air or gas or
liquid).
3. Radiation:- it is the movement of
energy/heat through space without relying
on conduction through the air or by the
movement of air.

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Three fenestration performance characteristics are

significant in the ECBC:
1. Heat Transfer Coefficient (U-factor),
2. Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC)
3. Air Leakage

HEAT TRANSFER COEFFICIENT (U-FACTOR)

• The U-factor (thermal conductance), must
account for the entire fenestration system
including the effects of the frame, the
spacers in double glazed assemblies, and
the glazing.
• There are a wide variety of materials,
systems, and techniques used to manufacture
fenestration products, and accurately
accounting for these factors is of most
importance when meeting the fenestration
requirements.
• ECBC has used W/m2·C OR W/m2·K as the
unit for U-factor.

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SOLAR HEAT GAIN COEFFICIENT (SHGC)

• SHGC is the ratio of the solar heat gain that passes through the
fenestration to the total incident solar radiation that falls on the
fenestration.
• The solar heat gain includes directly transmitted solar heat and
absorbed solar radiation, which is then re-radiated, converted,
or conducted into the interior space.
• SHGC indicates how well the glazing/glass and fenestration
products insulate heat caused by sun falling directly on the glass.
• In hot climates, SHGC is more important than the U-factor of the
glazing.
• A lower SHGC means that lesser heat can pass through the
glazing.
• The SHGC is based on the properties of the glazing material,
whether the window has single, double, or triple glazing, and the
window operation (either operable or fixed). Glazing units with
a low SHGC will help reduce the air conditioning energy use
during the cooling season.

AIR LEAKAGE
• Air leakage is the passage of air through a building envelope, wall, window, joint, etc.
• Leakage to the interior is referred to as infiltration and leakage to the exterior is referred to
as ex-filtration.
• Excessive air movement significantly reduces the thermal integrity and performance of the
envelope and is, therefore, a major contributor to energy consumption in a building.
BUILDING ENVELOPE SEALING
• Air leakage can also occur through opaque construction.
• Apart from adding cooling or heating load in the building, air leakage can cause
condensation within walls and roof can damage insulation material and degrade
other building materials.
• Air leakage for glazed swinging entrance doors and revolving doors shall not
exceed 5.0 L/s·m2.
• Air leakage for other fenestration and doors shall not exceed 2.0 L/s·m2.
• The first set of air leakage requirements deals with inadvertent leaks.

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AREAS IN THE BUILDING ENVELOPE WHERE ATTENTION

SHOULD BE PAID TO INFILTRATION CONTROL.
These include:
1. Joints around fenestration and doorframes.
2. Openings at penetrations of utility services through roofs, walls, and floors.
3. Site-built fenestration and doors.
4. Building assemblies used as ducts or plenums.
5. Joints, seams, and penetrations of vapor retarders.
6. All other openings in the building envelope.
It is also recommended that junctions between walls and foundations,
between walls at building corners, between walls and structural floors or
roofs, and between walls and roof or wall panels.

PRESCRIPTIVE REQUIREMENTS FOR THERMALLY EFFICIENT

ENVELOPE
1. Exterior roofs and ceilings
2. Cool roofs
3. Opaque walls
4. Vertical fenestration
5. Skylights
The National Building Code of India, 2005 has divided the country in five climate zones:
(Hot-Dry; Warm-Humid; Composite; Temperate/Moderate; and Cold), the air temperature
and humidity variations that exist need to be considered while designing the building
envelope.

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ROLE OF CLIMATE ZONE

Based on the characteristics of climate, the thermal comfort requirements in buildings and
their physical manifestation in architectural form are also different for each climate zone.

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BUILDING ENVELOPE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

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INSOLATION
• Insolation is the amount of solar radiation
which is received on the building surface.
• Here building orientation plays very
important part , as proper orientation of
the building can improve the surface to
volume ratio and also the exposed
surface area, because all these surfaces
are exposed to the solar radiation.
• Different plan-forms will require or will
have different optimized orientations
based upon their climate.

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BUILDING INSULATION • The first set of

mandatory requirements
addresses the proper
installation and
protection of insulation
materials.
• It is recommended that
insulation materials be
installed according to the
manufacturer’s
recommendations and in
a manner that will
achieve the rated
insulation R-value.
Compressing the
insulation reduces the
effective R-value and the
thermal performance of
the construction assembly.

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SIGNIFICANCE OF COOL ROOFS

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SKY LIGHTS
• A skylight is a fenestration surface having a slope of
less than 60 degrees from the horizontal plane.
• Other fenestration, even if mounted on the roof of a
building, is considered vertical fenestration.
• Skylights can be installed into a roof system either
flush-mounted or curb-mounted
• In order to create a positive water flow around them,
skylights are often mounted on “curbs” set above the
roof plane. However, these curbs, rising 6 to 12 inches
(15 to 30 centimeters) above the roof, create
additional heat loss surfaces right where the warmest
air of the building tends to collect.
• Portions of roof that serve as curbs that mount the
skylight above the level of the roof are part of the
opaque building envelope.

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