Competitive, Constructible, Complete Specifying Total Envelope Solutions in a Low-Bid World  

A whopping 90% of construction litigation is driven by moisture intrusion. That intrusion occurs within just 5% of the total surface area of the envelope. The culprit is always the same: transitions and penetrations. The roof must transition to the wall, the wall must transition to the foundation, the punched openings must be tied into the air barrier, the insulation must be installed over the air barrier, and the cladding goes overtop that... and on and on. What’s the challenge? We need the envelope to perform as a unified whole, but we specify, design, bid, VE, install, and inspect it in phases, which always involves multiple manufacturers and multiple trades. The industry is clearly consolidating around “total envelope solutions” provided by three to five horizontally integrated conglomerates, but we have not yet reached the inflection point: integrated envelope specifications/warranties. What’s it going to take to do things better?

Photo courtesy of Henry, a Carlisle Company