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Understanding Envelope Tradeoffs: Navigating the Component Performance Alternative Pathway in the Commercial Washington State Energy Code (WSEC-C)

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Registration Link:

https://washington.zoom.us/meeting/register/2ad2XZM8RReTc2GyKrVLrQ#/registration

Sponsors: 

The Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA)

Moderator:

Heather Burpee, UW Integrated Design Lab

Presenters: 

Teresa Moroseos, UW Integrated Design Lab

Pia Westen, SHKS Architects

Andi Burnham, Delta E Consulting

Date: Sep 30, 2026 from 12-1 via webinar

CEUs: 1.0 AIA HSW or Certificates of Completion

Description:

Architects make many design decisions that shape envelope performance, yet UA trade-off analysis is often viewed as outside their scope. This webinar introduces the UA trade-off pathway as a practical design and compliance tool for commercial buildings under WSEC 2021. Participants will learn the fundamentals of U-factor and total UA analysis, how the trade-off pathway differs from prescriptive compliance, when it can provide useful design flexibility, and how envelope design strategies can be evaluated using the WSEC Webtool.

Topics will include:

  • Why architects should care about UA trade-off analysis
  • UA basics: a building science overview and what UA means
  • Prescriptive compliance versus the UA trade-off pathway
  • When UA trade-off analysis is useful, including examples from practice
  • Where U-factors come from
  • Demonstration of using the WSEC Webtool to conduct a UA trade-off analysis

The webinar will also briefly discuss when the Total Building Performance (C407) pathway may be appropriate for projects requiring additional flexibility, as well as upcoming code considerations, such as thermal bridging calculations.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Explain the basic concepts of U-factor, envelope area, and total UA, and describe how they relate to building envelope performance.
  2. Distinguish between the prescriptive envelope compliance pathway and the UA trade-off pathway under WSEC 2021.
  3. Recognize common sources of U-factor information, including code lookup tables, manufacturer data, and calculated assembly values.
  4. Understand the basic workflow for using a UA trade-off tool to evaluate envelope design options and support energy code compliance documentation.