Vancouver Luncheon Seminar – Combustible Window Frames: A New Energy Efficiency Option for Noncombustible Buildings

COMBUSTIBLE WINDOW FRAMES: A NEW ENERGY EFFICIENCY OPTION FOR NONCOMBUSTIBLE BUILDINGS

Wednesday, September 27, 2023
11:30am – 2:35pm
The Italian Cultural Centre Society
Vancouver, BC

Agenda

11:30 – 12:00   Registration & Housekeeping
12:00 –    1:00   Lunch
   1:00 –    1:50   Important change to the restrictions on combustible window frames in the 2020 NBC
   1:55 –    2:35   Net-Zero-Ready Towers with Combustible Glazing

Please join us for our in-person September luncheon at the Italian Cultural Centre.
This event was planned in conjunction with the EGBC Building Enclosure Committee and will have industry experts discuss the upcoming changes and impacts of designing with Combustible windows in noncombustible construction.

The 2020 National Building Code removed long-standing restrictions on the spacing and overall area of combustible window frames from Sentence 3.1.5.4.5, making non-metal frames a cost-effective energy efficiency option for designers of noncombustible buildings.

Presenters and Presentations
Combustible Window Frames: A New Energy Efficiency Option for Noncombustible Buildings

Al Jaugelis, BSc Arch
Fenestration Canada

Al Jaugelis is the former Director of Regulatory Affairs at Fenestration Canada where he provided education as well as technical and code compliance support to Fenestration Canada member companies. He continues to support the organization as a Technical Consultant. Al has shared his knowledge as a conference speaker and host of the Fenestration Canada Tech Talks podcast, and by actively participating in industry associations and committees: he was the chair of the Windows Experts Team for the Natural Resources Canada “Market Transformation Roadmap” initiative, has been an active member of CSA Committee A119 on Performance Standards for Windows, and continues to be an active member of the Fenestration Canada Technical Services Committee. Prior to joining Fenestration Canada, Al was a Senior Fenestration Specialist at RDH Building Science.

While working as a consultant at RDH Building Science, Al represented the consortium of Canadian fenestration suppliers who submitted the code change request and funded the test program that resulted in the removal of longstanding restrictions on combustible window frames in the 2020 NBC.

Presentation: Important change to the restrictions on combustible window frames in the 2020 NBC

The 2020 National Building Code removed restrictions on combustible window frames in noncombustible buildings that had been in place, in one form or another, since Canada’s first building code was published in 1941. In recent decades these restrictions were unique to Canada and did not exist in contemporary U.S. or European building codes.

This presentation will review the historical context that made these restrictions necessary and discuss why they became unnecessary over time. It will also describe the interesting origin of the initiative to amend the NBC, and the industry-funded fire testing conducted by the NRC to support it.

Al Jaugelis led the industry consortium that funded the code change process from its inception to its successful completion, and addresses this subject from this unique vantage point.

Ali Mohammadzadeh, Ph.D., P.Eng., LEED GA Principal, Team Lead, Building Energy Engineer
Morrison Hershfield

Ali Mohammadzadeh is a Team Lead with Building Performance Analysis group with over five years of experience specifically in energy modelling and energy analysis in buildings. Prior to this, Ali worked as a researcher in the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) and developed a deep understanding of thermodynamics and energy systems. Dr. Mohammadzadeh has published several articles on energy transfer and micro/macro flows in prestigious journals. Ali’s background in mechanical engineering and his understanding of how envelope systems perform, integrates energy consulting smoothly into the design process.
Ali has worked on more than 100 energy models ranging from hospital, institutional, recreational, commercial, multi-unit residential and office projects across Canada and USA. His focus is to guide the design team towards a sustainable yet affordable solution that meets the client’s needs. Ali has extensive experience with sustainability standards including BC Energy Step Code, Toronto Green Standard, LEED, CMHC, BC Housing, CaGBC Zero Carbon Building Program and Living Building Challenge (ILFI). Ali is an approved energy modeller by BC Hydro and is experienced in helping clients visualize the energy results using the MH Performance Mapping tool.

Presentation: Net-Zero-Ready Towers with Combustible Glazing

Energy Codes in BC are evolving to enforce net-zero-ready designs by 2032. To achieve compliance with the stringent thermal energy demand intensity (TEDI) target for a net zero design, significant attention shall be paid to thermal bridges, opaque and glazing performance. Glazing is usually the lowest performing element in the building’s envelope system. Particularly, the non-combustible glazing systems with average thermal performance of U-0.38 BTU/ft2.F are responsible for losing a sizeable portion of the heat in a high rise tower. To lower the TEDI in a non-combustible tower, two common solutions are switching to triple glazed non-combustible glazing or lowering the glazing ratio (i.e., amount of natural light) in the building. In this presentation, an alternative solution to lower TEDI by utilizing combustible glazing systems is investigated. We will use energy modeling to investigate Step 3 and Net-Zero-Ready non-combustible towers and study the impacts of combustible glazing systems on building’s performance.

REGISTRATION

$75 BCBEC Members
$90 Non-Members and Walk-Ins
$30 Students