Purpose

Because heating and cooling represents the largest energy load in a typical building focusing on passive strategies to reduce heat transfer through the building’s envelope can offer significant energy savings. Existing buildings are often poorly insulated and drafty so envelope upgrades can offer additional benefits including comfort, durability, better indoor air quality, and noise reduction. Envelope upgrades can also help maintain safe indoor temperatures in an extended power outage so they offer additional resiliency. Envelope upgrades require significantly less maintenance and replacement costs in contrast to mechanical system or appliance upgrades.