#440 - CHRISTINE WILLIAMSON, AIA, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Virginia Tech
SUMMARY
This week David and Marina of FAME Architecture & Design are joined by Christine Williamson, AIA, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Virginia Tech. The three discussed Christine’s career in building science; what building science is; architecture consultant cases; identifying issues in buildings; fire-resilient roof design strategies; building code and fire-resistant design; retrofit fire prevention strategies; benefits of non-ventilated roof systems; Acelab & building materials; tradeoffs in design; and more. Enjoy!
ABOUT CHRISTINE
Christine Williamson’s professional experience includes building-science consulting for the restoration of Belvedere Castle in New York City’s Central Park, forensic investigations of building failures at the air-traffic control tower of LAX, and the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, among other projects. She offers new-construction risk-mitigation consulting for residential towers, mid-rise mixed-use buildings, and production homes, as well as some of the most extraordinary private residences in the world. She has worked across North America from the Canadian Arctic to the Caribbean.
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Christine's Early Career.
(04:56) What is building science?
“The less you know, the more conservative you have to be with your designs. The more you know about the building science and context for understanding risks, the bolder you can be with your designs and depart from what you did previously.” (11:20)
(12:31) Christine’s client types.
(16:13) Architecture consultant cases.
(31:02) Identifying issues in buildings.
(33:48) Fire-resilient home design.
“There's one big misconception that to make our homes and buildings more resilient to fires, we can't build with materials that can burn. That is not true. We're quite good at using materials that can burn by themselves in ways that are resistant to these types of weather events.” (37:07)
(38:00) Fire-resistant roof design strategies.
“To deal with condensation issues in unvented roofs, we can] add a diffusion port at the apex of the roof where the ridge vent would be. Instead of using wood sheathing for the whole part of the roof, we cut out the sheathing at the roof apex and replaced it with something that's vapor-open and permits moisture to escape. We'll cut out a small portion of the wood and wrap it with building paper, like Tyvek. Now, we can insulate using moisture-sensitive insulation and permit drying to happen just at the apex without venting the whole roof. This is unbelievably helpful without the added cost of other alternatives.” (49:40)
(54:32) Building code and fire-resistant design.
(59:36) Retrofit fire prevention strategies.
(01:01:20) Benefits to a non-vented roof system.
“When the mechanical system is in the attic and the ducts leak, what happens is a certain amount of air is taken from the house to convert into cool air, but we don't put all that air back into the house because we lose some of it to the attic. If we take out more than we put back, negative pressure will be created in the house. So, more air will have to come in from the outside through defects in the building enclosure to replace the air that’s leaked into the attic. The uncontrolled outside air brings things like dust, smoke, and moisture, which could cause mold and health issues.” (01:03:23)
“Typically, it’s way better to condition the attics because it allows us to control the interior environment better. Sometimes people think, “I don't need to control things, man, I'm cool.” But it means that you can have a healthier environment by bringing in fresh, filtered air from a location you know about, rather than allowing polluted air to come in from who the heck knows where.” (01:04:47)
(01:07:56) Acelab, building materials, and fire resiliency.
(01:14:35) Tradeoffs in design.
“I tell people to hire an architect because you don't know what you don't know. You can have somebody who understands buildings professionally to be your advocate and help you make the best use of your resources. Architects can help you determine if something is worth investing in and reducing the house size to compensate, or if something is not important to you, they can reallocate that resource somewhere else. I think the people who have this idea that they have to negotiate against the professionals they hire miss out on the most important thing their architect and contractor can do for them, which is to get them more of what they want for less.” (01:21:11)
