Danforth Energy – Building Envelope Upgrades

As part of Energy Performance Contracts, Danforth provides a variety of building envelope upgrades to aid in the reduction of energy costs and increase in facility efficiency. The envelope of a building is designed to maintain the indoor environment by isolating it from the exterior environment. It is important to seal any breaches in the envelope that may compromise building performance.

Every client has a unique situation that deserves a unique solution. Danforth’s expertise in the energy field offers a personalized approach to all of our clients. Our Team looks at the whole picture when assessing energy usage by analyzing the outside perimeter of the building and not just the energy-consuming items within it. These measures, coupled with our other facility improvement measures maximize energy savings and building efficiency.

Control of airflow is important to ensure indoor air quality, control energy consumption, avoid condensation, and to provide comfort. Control of air movement includes flow through the enclosure or through components of the building envelope itself, as well as into and out of the interior space. The physical components of the envelope include the foundation, roof, walls, doors and windows. The dimensions, performance and compatibility of materials, fabrication process and details, their connections and interactions are the main factors that determine the effectiveness and durability of the building enclosure system.

Common measures of the effectiveness of a building envelope include physical protection from weather and climate, indoor air quality, durability and energy efficiency. In order to achieve these objectives, all building enclosure systems must include a solid structure, a drainage plane, an air barrier, a thermal barrier, and may include a vapor barrier. Moisture control is essential in all climates, but cold climates and hot-humid climates are especially demanding.

Danforth provides custom tailored solutions to save our clients money. However, many of the same processes remain constant from project to project. We take pride in our ability to self-perform many of the facility improvement measures which translates into a broader, more cost effective scope. We can provide Building Envelope improvements such as:

• Air-sealing all wire, conduit, water spouts, electrical boxes, & pipe penetrations to exterior of building
• Seal lighting fixtures at electrical penetrations
• Seal around vents to exterior at sleeve and mortar connections
• Seal around doors and overhead door trims at cracks and mortar joints
• Seal interior framing connections at Cantilevers between different building unions and connections
• Replace outside doors/door mullions and sweeps along with upgrade of weatherstripping
• Replace caulking around any exposed areas of building and around all windows