Consultation for the Design Stage
FOAM-TECH’s founder and president, Henri Fennell,
was trained as an architect and has over thirty of experience
providing energy products and services. For the past ten years Mr. Fennell
has supported architects, engineers and building owners with consultations on thermal
envelope designs. Notable involvements include:
- Seventeen years of experience with infrared
diagnostics (currently diagnostic capabilities include: blower door
testing; fog testing; snow; frost, ice, and dew pattern analysis; and
remote temperature and humidity monitoring.
- Extensive work with residential, major
business, and government clients.
- Provider for American Institute of Architects/Continuing
Education Service (AIA/CES).
- Author of several white papers and
presentations for major industry conferences.
- Member of the State
of Vermont’s Advisory Committee for the Vermont Residential Energy
Building Standards.
- Participation in the development of models and
standards for NAVC/DARPA Projects related to the development of
Cold-Weather Specifications for electric vehicles.
Mr. Fennell’s extensive experience with thermal
envelopes enables FOAM-TECH to provide a wide variety of consulting services
for people in the process of designing and planning new building
construction.
Building Envelope Design Reviews
Building Envelope Failure Prevention
A significant portion of FOAM-TECH’s work
involves diagnosing and repairing building envelope failures; consequently,
we have learned that many of these failures are due to similar causes which
we can identify in advance during a review of the architectural layout and
detailing. Some building configurations are “red flags” for ice dam
formation and other building envelope problems. It is possible to identify
the critical areas that typically lead to failures and avoid them by working
with the architect or engineer to refine the details during the design
process.
The design review focuses on:
- Architectural plans
- Specification reviews
- Building envelope products
- Building envelope performance
Plan reviews are a win-win situation for everyone
involved as they can save the costs of callbacks and disputes over the
responsibility for building failures.
Clients can take advantage of our Thermal
Envelope Strategic Track Program (TEST), a progression of services
commencing with design and specifications reviews and ending with quality
assurance testing.
Project Feasibility: Building Envelope Budget
Pricing
A building is a major expense both during
construction and over the lifetime of the building. FOAM-TECH can review
your architectural plans and material specifications and suggest options
that can either save money during construction or reduce energy expenses
during the building's lifetime. Examples of design or material options
include:
- Alternative insulation systems.
- Stressed skin panels instead of sprayed or
injected insulation.
- The use of rigid foam sheets sealed with
polyurethane foam.
- Building Envelope Code and Regulatory Support
Increases in energy cost and a hightened
awareness in the need for conservation has driven many states to develop
improved building and energy codes. Vermont’s Act 250 energy guidelines is
an example of an energy code designed to increase energy conservation on a
statewide level. Mr. Fennell’s experience as an energy conservation
consultant and service on the State of Vermont’s Advisory Committee for the
Vermont Residential Energy Building Standards gives FOAM-TECH the knowledge
and ability to assist clients with code and regulatory support on their
building projects. FOAM-TECH can ensure the building envelope will meet or
exceed building and energy codes before the plans are submitted to
authorities and that the building envelope will perform as expected.
Heat Loss Projections
FOAM-TECH has the capability to perform heat loss
projections for buildings by working with architectural plans,
specifications, and software programs. A heat loss projection done while a
building is in the design stage can help with anticipating expenses, making
sure your heating system is optimized for the building, and that the thermal
envelope meets or exceeds all energy codes.
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