BETEC symposium tackles retrofitting building enclosures

The Building Enclosure Technology & Environment Council Symposium addressed Retrofitting Building Enclosures for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability. The symposium took place Dec. 10, co-located with Ecobuild America at the Washington Convention Center.

Wagdy Anis, BETEC chairman, and principal, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Cambridge, Mass., moderated the symposium. BETEC proposes that addressing the energy efficiency of our existing building stock directly speaks to three crises facing the global community: climate change, energy security and financial crisis. The symposium discussed these issues in the context of the available stimulus funding.

Following are synopses of what a few of the speakers discussed:

Modernization and energy efficiency upgrades for wall systems

Designing commercial energy retrofit for curtain walls

Advanced glazing and window technologies

Building enclosure research at the Department of Energy