Synopsis

This text is intended for the building professions: the engineer, architect or technical specialist involved in the design, construction, operation, maintenance, repair, and renovation of buildings. The focus is on the building enclosure, i.e., walls, windows, roofs, below-grade construction, and the relevant building science. The control of heat , air, and moisture is emphasized because of their critical importance.

That a textbook for building science is needed is an understatement. Authors John Straube and Eric Burnett came to building science from structural engineering. In fact, most people come to building science from somewhere else: civil engineering, mechanical engineering, occasionally from architecture. That this is so highlights a problem. Building science is not a mature discipline, and it rarely exists in university departments; indeed, most universities don't quite know what to do with it. Is it the technical side of architecture? Is it the architectural side of engineering? There is clearly a need to educate current and future practitioners, especially building enclosure professionals, in the relevant building science. But who is responsible for doing so?

Structural engineering was once an immature profession. It was raucous, undisciplined, filled with great questions-there were many unknowns and few consistent approaches to solving problems. But it was first and foremost engineering. It was not science, although science was used. Structural engineering was a world of coefficients, safety factors, experience and judgment: imprecise and messy rather than precise and neat like physics. Out of this came limit states design, the concept of loads and load resistance, analysis methods and tools-and maturity.

Building enclosure engineering is destined to undergo a similar evolution. Instead of a limiting state such as deflection, we have decay or corrosion. Instead of a wind load, we have a hygrothermal load. We have analysis methods such as hygrothermal models, and we have safety factors. To make sense of all of this, we need a sound foundation. This textbook fills that need. The structural engineering background and insights of Professor Straube and Professor Burnett provide a rational and welcome underpinning to this textbook on building science.