Construction Term of the Month: Building Envelope

In construction, the physical enclosure of a building and environmental separator is referred to as the building envelope. It is the physical separator between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of a building including the resistance to air, water, heat, light, and noise transfer.

The building envelope of a usually consists of its roof, sub floor, exterior doors, windows and exterior walls.  A good building envelope involves using exterior wall materials and designs that are climate-appropriate, structurally sound and aesthetically pleasing.

Resources

• Autodesk Sustainability Workshop – Building Envelope
• Building Science Corporation – The Building Enclosure