Building Science

In 1998, Chatwin Engineering Ltd. launched its Building Science Division. We brought in well-trained, experienced personnel to meet the needs of clients caught up in the ‘leaky condo’ crisis in British Columbia. Since then, we have been involved in over 100 building envelope rehabilitation projects in BC.

Our experience with the repair of failed building envelopes has taught us how to mitigate problems. And we now work with architects, developers, and contractors at the beginning of a project to design and construct sound, durable building envelope assemblies for new construction projects.

We have refined ‘rain screen’ design and its interconnected system of cavities, flashings, air, moisture, and vapour barrier assemblies. Our designs exceed the specific climatic challenges of our west coast environment and our experience allows us to understand all of the variables affecting today’s envelope components and assemblies.

To support the recent Climate Action Plan initiated by the province of British Columbia, the Building Science Division now offers an air leakage assessment service. We inspect buildings to determine locations of excessive air leakage through the building envelope, then report on the estimated cost of repair, the payback period based on the predicted energy savings, and the associated Green House Gas (GHG) emissions reduction.

Chatwin’s two senior building envelope specialists have over 30 years combined experience in the field of building science. Our engineers and technologists frequently attend seminars and courses specifically to stay on top of the latest developments in building science performance for our west coast environment.  As a result, we are able to meet the challenges unique to the design of new buildings, including those achieving LEED Certification.

View our Building Science Projects to find out more about this sector.