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Building Performance Architecture

Name: Building Performance Architecture
Address: 7800 Susquehanna Street, Suite 306, Pittsburgh, PA, 15208, US
Telephone: +14124411075
Price range: Not applicable

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Building Performance Architecture

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Building Performance Architecture is a professional services firm that integrates the practices of building energy efficiency, green building, and architecture. For clients with residential, commercial and institutional buildings, we provide energy diagnostics, financial-grade energy assessments, green building consulting, and comprehensive architectural services.

05/21/2026

Hello, friends! Happy !

What on Earth is going on in these thermograms?!?

Here's a story about them: One late spring day, Joe Thermo, a friendly Level III Master Thermographer, was taking advantage of one of the last cool mornings of the season, gathering outdoor images of some buildings at dawn, while there was still a good ±22°F indoor-outdoor temperature difference.

After finishing the buildings he was working on, just out of curiosity, Joe decided to check out a building that he had heard of but not worked on.

The first image is what the camera showed first thing after Joe got out of his car. "Whaaaaat?" he said. This was possibly the weirdest pattern of thermal anomalies Joe had ever seen.

Joe Thermo couldn't resist looking closer, and he grabbed the 2nd & 3rd images here to try and make heads or tails of this. But he still doesn't know what is going on!

A casual observer without an IR camera would never suspect the frenzied patterns of thermal anomalies when looking at this plain brown wall.

The wall is made of precast concrete insulated sandwich panels, with a thick core of foam insulation between two thinner shells of concrete. Presumably, the idea of this wall system is to provide a good thermal barrier of continuous insulation, while achieving durability with water-resistant coated concrete faces.

Only, apparently, the insulation isn't exactly continuous.

What do you see in these photos that could help to explain the IR patterns, and what other interesting things do you see? Are you experienced with concrete sandwich panels and able to explain what is happening here?

Please share your thoughts!

TruTech Tools, LTD Kentucky Thermal Institute Teledyne FLIR Air Barrier Association of America

05/14/2026

Hey, friends! Happy !

Here are some super-dynamic indoor thermograms from a large building, showing a number of things:

A. Stratification of temperature between lower and upper parts of the walls. What do you think is causing this? Maybe this is an HVAC question...

B. Air leakage through the closed and locked aluminum slider window. What are the possible air leakage paths?

C. The little cold spots at the top corners of the room are actually exposed structural steel plates sticking out past the indoor wall/ceiling finishes. No insulation between outdoors and the steel surface indoors. What are the possible consequences of this condition?

It's also interesting to see how this scene looks with different color palettes. The rainbow high contrast and arctic palettes really emphasize the temperature stratification on the wall. They also make the depth of different surfaces "pop." The ironbow and grayscale color palettes make the air leakage from the window look more like streaks, the classic IR signature of air leakage.

What are your thoughts on this, and what other interesting things do you see in these images?

Teledyne FLIR The Energy Conservatory Air Barrier Association of America TruTech Tools, LTD

05/07/2026

Hey Everybody! Happy !

Hmm, why does that one roof support beam look so much colder than the others?

In this project, part of the building envelope commissioning scope of services was to provide an infrared scan of the whole building enclosure. One knowledgeable member of the construction management team asked the BECx provider, "When do you plan on doing the IR scan?"

The answer was that the scan would be done as early in the construction process as feasible, to pick up air leakage issues, insulation gaps, water leaks, loss of gas fill at glazing units, etc. Because, what good is it to wait until the end of construction to do the IR scan, when you're less likely to see problems due to things being covered up, and if you do see a problem through the interior finishes, those finishes will likely have to be removed to resolve the problem? Contractors are generally not happy when that happens.

In the case of this photo, the beam in question was a rectangular hollow steel tube, penetrating the exterior wall, and the outdoor end of the beam was not sealed from the outdoor air. If this hadn't been found, there could have been condensation on the roof support beam, and maybe even rain inside the building.

Fortunately, thanks to the thermographer looking at the whole building envelope and finding this (and some other things), the Contractor was able to seal off the open end outdoors, so cold winter air no longer had a nice rectangular corridor to get inside.

What do you think about this scenario? And what other interesting things do you see in this thermogram?

Air Barrier Association of America Kentucky Thermal Institute Teledyne FLIR

05/01/2026

Hi Friends! Happy !

The building where these photos were taken has a good shot at Thermal Chic, and at excellent air-tightness, believe it or not.

Why, you may ask?

Because the project team did this blower door test and infrared scan! By finding the leaks before other building materials cover the surfaces that should be air-sealed, quality control professionals can show the Contractor where to apply air sealing measures, while there is still time to do it properly.

Pre-insulation blower door tests can enable buildings reduce air leakage so much that the building's mechanical system will have full control over ventilation, rather than getting uncontrolled ventilation via envelope air leakage. So, the building envelope consultant who does their job properly is helping the mechanical contractor achieve the objectives of the mechanical engineer and the owner, to the benefit of all parties to the construction contract, and to the benefit of building occupants.

What are your thoughts on this topic? And what do you see in these two formats of the same thermal image?

The Energy Conservatory Kentucky Thermal Institute Air Barrier Association of America

04/23/2026

Hey there, folks! Happy ! Thermal Earth Day?

Reflection on life on Earth: While we don't always like the look of it, we're still pretty lucky to be here. So much life! Sometimes you get a stately hardwood tree, and other times you get a bracket fungus whose mycelium has invaded the tree, consuming it and weakening it over time.

The bracket fungus in this thermogram is not emitting as much infrared radiation as the tree trunk, but it is still very much alive. In fact, the fungal fruiting body shown here has a reason to be cooler than surrounding objects: to induce gentle convective airflows that can carry spores off to new locations.

While not good for the individual living tree, fungi like this can be very beneficial to forest ecosystems, breaking down dead or dying wood and enriching the soil for future plants.

Thanks to this fertile speck in the vast universe, we get to exist and be fascinated by the amazing complexity of what we encounter. Let's be grateful!

What are your thoughts? And what else do you see in these images?

Extinction Rebellion NRDC House Committee on Natural Resources: Democrats 350.org

04/15/2026

Hello friends! Happy !

Here are 2 grades of small home, in a thermogram taken before sunrise on a below-freezing morning. On the right: a 100-year-old 2-story building, built before energy codes existed, with a chimney heated by combustion exhaust gases, and no garage. On the left: New Zero Energy Ready certified homes with integral garages, better-than-code insulation and windows, high-efficiency all-electric HVAC, and PV panels to chop the top off the electric bills. Verified by Building Performance Architecture, of course.

Sometimes the verifiers get a little jealous of the people who get to live in the Zero Energy Ready Homes. While not perfect for everyone, these homes are pretty nice.

What would you think about living in a home like this in the urban core? What are your other thoughts or observations on the thermogram?

U.S. Department of Energy Teledyne FLIR Building Efficiency Resources Kentucky Thermal Institute

04/10/2026

Hello everyone - Happy !

5:00am on what may be the last sub-freezing morning of the spring is the perfect time to squeeze in one more outdoor building IR walk...isn't it?

A recurring theme during this walk was all these blotches on the outdoor face of brick walls. The blotches that appear to be warmer than the brick on the rest of the flat surfaces. Does anyone know what these blotches are?

Also of interest in this photo are the two hot spots directly above and below each other, where exhaust ventilation exits the building. And the warm spots at the bottom right of the thermogram, which most likely correspond to mechanical or electrical equipment in the basement.

This building happens to be certified as highly energy-efficient, so why do the walls have these warmer blotchy patterns on them? Well, for those of you who have taken the time to read this far down, here's the more revealing question, which takes some thermographic insight to ask:

"In infrared thermograms, why does frost on brick sometimes look warmer than adjacent brick with no frost on it?"

Also, why does the frost form? What does your AI tell you? 😄 Or, for those old-schoolers, what are your own personal thoughts on this?

What else do you see in this photo?

Teledyne FLIR Kentucky Thermal Institute TruTech Tools, LTD

04/02/2026

Hello friends! Happy !

Last week, there was a suggestion to provide thermograms from a home, so here are thermograms from a home. A home that is targeted to achieve a high-performance certification. Only, these photos, taken during blower door testing, are not the kind of photos you want to see in a high-performance home.

Streaks are leaks. Air leaks, that is.

Many efforts have already been made to achieve the air tightness target. But the blower door test did not yield the desired result. Air was leaking out from around the windows during building pressurization, and leaking in from above the tongue and groove cathedral ceiling boards and into the conditioned space from gaps between ceiling and wall, during depressurization.

The project team did not understand how this air leakage could happen even after extensive air sealing measures. There is a temptation to blame the messenger who brings unwanted news: "There must be something wrong with the verifier's blower door equipment."

But the thermograms don't lie.

It isn't known why these air leaks have persisted (nothing more specific known than their leakage pathways weren't sealed during the test), but key project team members have listened to the verifier's comments and committed to keep trying, and do what is needed to meet the air tightness target at other program requirements.

The team, even with multiple experienced members, needs all the help it can get on this one. A more consistent verifier presence on site could be helpful but would require a significant increase in resources. Practical recommendations from colleagues near and far would be welcome.

What are your thoughts on these images and the story behind them?

Passive House Accelerator TruTech Tools, LTD The Energy Conservatory

03/26/2026

Hello, friends! Happy !

Today we have a science mystery.

On a low-slope membrane roof where an ASTM Standard C1153 survey was underway, there were shallow puddles that had frozen over with a thin layer of ice. One would expect the ice to appear at least as cold as the roof membrane. And it was, where the ice was frozen solid onto the roof membrane.

But where there was water trapped below the ice, the ice's apparent surface temperature was about 8°F warmer than the frozen-solid ice, and warmer than the roof membrane's apparent temperature. The resulting thermograms have fascinating patterns, and it is fascinating to consider how water below part of the ice can cause that part to be or appear to be warmer.

Maybe what is happening here is really simple: the water below the ice is not yet below water's freezing temperature, while the surface of the roof membrane is below water's freezing temperature. The temperatures of those other materials affect the ice's surface temperatures, but not enough to melt the ice.

Does that simple explanation sound correct? What other factors are influencing the apparent surface temperatures of the ice? What is missing from this analysis? Let's hear your thoughts!

Teledyne FLIR TruTech Tools, LTD GAF - Roofing

03/19/2026

Hello, friends around the world! Happy !

Sometimes, QA/QC professionals find problems that they weren't looking for. BPA took these thermograms during an ASTM Standard C1153 survey, looking for signs of moisture in the insulation below the roof membrane.

The thermographer didn't find any signs of moisture - a great result for the building owner - but instead found these hot spots on the roof, which turned out to be locations where the roof membrane, which is supposed to be water-tight and air-tight, was not sealed down to adjacent materials, allowing warmer indoor air to leak out at the roof level.

The thermographer was able to put his fingers into the unsealed roof membrane gap at a roof curb in one location, and to lift up the loose roof membrane and see exposed wood blocking behind the membrane at another location. These conditions both allow air leakage between indoors and outdoors, and the place with the exposed wood blocking would have a high likelihood of allowing water to enter the building. So, even though the ASTM C1153 infrared survey did not find the conditions it was designed to detect, it did identify some problems that could become emergencies later.

Building owners will benefit from the observations of astute building envelope commissioning providers!

What parts of this narrative do you find interesting? And what parts of the images do you find interesting?

ASTM International TruTech Tools, LTD Teledyne FLIR Air Barrier Association of America

Address

7800 Susquehanna Street, Suite 306
Pittsburgh, PA
15208

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 4pm
Tuesday	8am - 4pm
Wednesday	8am - 4pm
Thursday	8am - 4pm
Friday	8am - 4pm

Telephone

+14124411075

Website

http://www.buildperformarch.com/

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