RESOURCES
All of the listed resources may be downloaded by clicking on the title. There are no copyright restrictions unless indicated otherwise. These resources are intended to inform professional practice and education. Many of them feature extensive bibliographies and links to other digital documents and web sites.
Guides
Kesik, Ted and Rosemary Martin. Mass Timber Building Science Primer. Mass Timber Institute, University of Toronto, Canada. Funded by Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, March 2021.
Kesik, Ted, Liam O’Brien and Aylin Ozkan. Thermal Resilience Design Guide, Version 1.0. Funded by ROCKWOOL North America.
Kesik, Ted, Liam O’Brien and Terri Peters. MURB Design Guide, Version 2.0. Funded by BC Housing and Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, February 2019.
Kesik, Ted. Resilience Planning Guide, Version 1.0, funded by Rockwool North America, November 2017.
Gina Page and Amanda Chong, (T. Kesik, Advisor). Condo Buyers Guide. Revised January 2017.
Kesik, T. Best Practices Guide: Management of Inflow and Infiltration in New Urban Developments. Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, Toronto, Ontario, February 2015.
Kesik, Ted and Ivan Saleff. Tower Renewal Guidelines. University of Toronto Press, October 2009.
Swinton, M. C. and T. Kesik. Performance Guidelines for Basement Systems and Materials: Final Report. Institute for Research in Construction, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, October 2005.
Online Resources
The National Institute of Building Sciences in the USA maintains a web site that is known as the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG). Within this web site are a number of Resource Pages written by industry experts explaining strategies, technologies, applications, standards, and emerging issues relevant to the subject, along with links to related WBDG pages, external websites, publications, and points of contact. I had the privilege of developing a series of five related topics that focus on the fundamentals of building science within the context of enclosure design. It is recommended that readers access each of the pages in the sequence indicated below.
Whole Building Design Guide Resource Pages
This resource page is the first of a series of building science topics. It is aimed at explaining the key concepts involved in building science, as well as the relationship of this discipline to the architecture / engineering / construction (AEC) industry. It focuses on the systems approach to building technology and the utility of building science to advance the high-performance building agenda.
Building Enclosure Design Principles and Strategies
The innovative design of building enclosures relies less on successful past precedents than the application of building science. This is not because there is little to be learned from existing buildings, but is due to the changes in materials and methods that result from building technology innovation. Combined with growing expectations for high performance, building enclosure design is now required to satisfy a large number of performance parameters that were not given a great deal of consideration in the past. There is now a need to explicitly ensure these performance objectives are fully satisfied at the design stage.
The management of moisture migration is by far the most important control function to be addressed by the building enclosure designer. Moisture related problems in buildings are common and broadly vary in types and consequences. A brief listing of moisture related problems illustrates this point: frost heaving, adfreezing, water leakage, wood rot, mold growth, spalling, efflorescence, corrosion, and degradation and staining of finishes. Consequences range from structural failure to cosmetic flaws, and in some cases the health of the occupants can be adversely affected, as in the case of mold growth.This resource page explores moisture management in building enclosures and focuses on key concepts.
Moisture Management Strategies
This resource page builds upon the physics of moisture migration by addressing moisture management strategies that can be effectively deployed in the design of enclosures. Strictly speaking, design for moisture management must also be reinforced through proper construction, quality assurance, and commissioning of the building enclosure. After the completed building is delivered, there must also be ongoing inspection and maintenance to ensure acceptable performance is sustained over the design life of the enclosure.
While the control of moisture is practically a universal requirement for buildings, the importance of the control of heat transfer tends to become more critical as the severity of climate, either hot or cold, increases. Managing heat flows is critical to occupant thermal comfort, energy efficiency, durability, and increasingly, thermal resilience during periods of extended power outages. This is the last resource page in a series of related resource pages that present a framework for the application of building science principles to enclosure design. It is recommended that readers are familiar with the concepts and strategies outlined in the resource pages listed below, preferably accessed in the sequence indicated below, before reviewing concepts and strategies that deal with managing enclosure heat flows.
WBDG Continuing Education
Within the Continuing Education area of the WBDG web site, there are three online courses that are primarily based on these Resource Pages, and that qualify for AIA Learning Units. (Note that AIA Learning Units are accepted by Canada’s provincial architecture associations.) This free online continuing opportunity is available to anyone and readers simply have to register, complete the course and pass the test to be issued a certificate.