The building envelope is the single most crucial element of any commercial building. A building envelope includes all components of a building that enclose conditioned space. Building envelopes create a separation between the interior and the exterior environments. The building envelope also serves as the outer shell to protect the indoor environment from outdoor weather conditions.

A building envelope design must include a solid, well formed structure, a drainage plane, an air barrier and a thermal barrier. If any one of these building envelope components fail, is damaged or is not constructed properly, minor to serious building damage can occur. Should these problems occur, this situation will degrade the structural integrity of the commercial building and may even pose a risk to its occupants.

Leakage to the interior of a building enclosure is referred to as air infiltration, while leakage to the exterior is known as air exfiltration. If there are any openings or junctions, there is potential for air leakage and consequently heat loss. With any extreme air movements, a significant reduction in the thermal integrity of a building envelope occurs and can remain the major contributor to energy over-consumption within your commercial building.

Many professional commercial building inspectors and energy auditors use infrared imaging technology to assess the performance of this "thermal envelope" in the process of calculating energy efficiency of commercial buildings. An infrared building envelope survey provides information on air infiltration, air exfiltration, moisture laden insulation, insulation voids and moisture problems within the wall assembly.


Common problems found in building envelopes using an IR scan are:

• Excessive building energy use due to missing or damaged insulation and excessive air-leakage across the thermal perimeter
• Moisture problems due to leaks or wall condensation
• Ice damage to low sloped roofs
• Poor HVAC distribution or performance
• Insufficient verification of construction details or structural performance
• Delamination of façade materials
• "Sick Building Syndrome" and other health related issues caused by mold growth

The infrared building envelope performance survey--or building envelope analysis--detects and records the thermal performance of the wall and window assemblies. Building owners use infrared building envelope testing to identify heating and cooling loss due to poor construction, missing or inadequate insulation, moisture intrusions, conduction through walls, air leakages, and many other faults. A building envelope inspection can help you:

• Locate, document and prioritize air leaks and thermal conduction losses
• Identify missing, damaged and wet insulation
• Establish causes of frozen pipes, ice dams, and mold infestation
• Reveal cost-effective options for green retrofits & LEED® credits
• Pinpoint cold air infiltration, moisture buildup, and more
• Reduce heating and cooling costs, increase energy efficiency and personal comfort

An infrared building structure performance survey or inspection should be conducted before acquiring real property, before final payment to the contractor for new building construction and as part of your building's energy management program.

Infrared Consulting Services offers nationwide professional thermal envelope inspections that provide the in-depth, unbiased data that owners and property managers need to protect their costly commercial building systems. To learn more about our services and to receive a quote, please call us at 1-888-925-4404.

Regardless of the building type involved, infrared thermography can provide remarkable nondestructive information about construction details and building performance. Because infrared thermography testing is non-contact and nondestructive testing (NDT), there is no need to interrupt the normal activities occurring in your commercial building. Our experienced ICS Thermographers inspect your building under normal activity and operating conditions. By performing an infrared scan of your building envelope in 'real time' our infrared building envelope performance survey or inspection can help you understand the practical impacts of emerging or existing building envelope problems.

The ICS infrared building envelope performance survey provides you with the necessary information and documentation to make accurate decisions regarding your commercial building system. You can also click here to learn about different types of Infrared Testing Services.


Thank you for your interest in ICS Infrared Consulting Services, Inc. We welcome your quote inquiry about infrared building envelope survey, infrared building envelope inspections or infrared building envelope testing services. Please contact us directly by clicking here. We serve customers nationwide.