Mr. Karol Kazmierczak M.Sc. is a building science specialist with 15 years of façade engineering experience diversified among building enclosure technical design, consulting, construction inspections, and field investigations. Link to his company Building Enclosure Consulting.

He is a founding chairman of BEC Miami , a registered architect in New York and Florida, belongs to professional organizations such as: AIA, ASHRAE, and CSI, carries Construction Documentation Technologist (CDT) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED-AP) certificates, speaks publicly, and writes articles on the subject of building enclosures. He is also called as an expert witness in forensic disputes and serves on the Steering Committee for Florida’s Building Energy Rating System (BERS).

Kaz bridges the traditional gaps among the mechanical, structural, and architectural disciplines, and between the design and construction due to his specialized European façade engineering experience, architectural education, and a strong field presence.

He brings an organized, holistic, and an unbiased approach to the building enclosure design because his expertise covers many facets of building enclosure design, controlling: wind, air, moisture, heat, light, sound, impact, cost, wildlife, fire, smoke, aging, and access.

He designs, engineers, reviews, and investigates high-rises, analyzing failures and damages, monitoring construction in progress, and producing calculations, analyses, and computer simulations, and drafting systemic and interface details.

Kaz worked with façades of over 400 buildings located on two continents, in miscellaneous climates. His contributed to the technical design of innovative, cutting-edge, high-rise cladding projects, including unusual combinations of materials and systems, double curvatures, smart double skins, intelligent shading, and whole-glazing façades.

Below is the introductory video, used as a preface to his seminars:

If you cannot see the frame, click on the YouTube link.

Building Enclosures is the name given to the shells of buildings, separating and protecting their interior from the exterior. Often used interchangeably with the term Building Envelope, which is a mechanical term describing the shell separating the interior, controlled environment from the exterior. BEs typically consist of roofs, exterior walls with appurtenances, and below-grade walls and slabs. A specialized discipline of building enclosure consultants emerged to help the average construction professional deal with the increasingly complex sciences of building enclosures. Façade engineering is the name of the profession in rest of the world.

Calendar of public speaking Kaz will be speaking at the following events in 2011:

1. Principles of Building Enclosures - The CONSTRUCT 2011 in Chicago, IL on September 13, 2011. (Friday 9:30am)

2. Facade Engineering University - monthly - see the schedule.

Seminars Kaz gives lectures on the subject of building enclosures. The lectures are continually developed and updated as the author remains active in the field and adds new stories or replace the old ones in constant pursuit to better clarify the subject. The lectures are elementary in nature but  intended as a discussion as opposed to a monologue to optimally address the average professional audience.  Read more.

Press Technical articles and papers written by Kaz on subject of building enclosures are available here.

Suggested Reading Lists of books and online resources frequently requested by audience at lectures. Read more.

Diplomas and Certificates Kaz has enormous appetite for acronyms that would stretch the alphabet soup behind his name. Read more.

Professional Associations Lists and links of professional associations in which Kaz remains active. Under construction...

Other Associations lists of other (besides strictly professional) associations in which Kaz remains active.Under construction...

Experience List of projects in which Kaz hasparticipated .Read more.

Links. This part of the webpage was created back in 2003 and it may be out of date today.. Will be gradually sorted out. Read more.

Failures presents some failures observed in a field, following an old adage that it's best to learn on mistakes. Those who remember this webpage many years ago would probably recognize this section. This is the only original fragment remaining with bilingual descriptions. Read more. If time permits, two new sections will be added, showing most typical errors and omissions discovered during peer reviews of architectural documentation and most typical flags on submittals.

Design Services Kaz contributes his experience to peer reviews of construction documents. He reviews documentation for constructability, compliance with applicable codes and standards, and the current level of building science knowledge.  He also produces technical building enclosure design drawings and specifications that become part of architectural construction documentation. Read more.

Construction Services Mr. Kaźmierczak collects data in the field, conducts field observations, performs quality tests, reviews submittals, and monitors construction in progress. Read more.

Forensic Services Kaz also contributes his knowledge and experience to solve disputes among parties of construction process and serves as an expert witness. He assists in evaluation of property damage, construction defects, and failures. He investigates the field conditions, performs engineering simulations, and recommends remediation procedures and materials. Read more.

Contact. Karol Kazmierczak

Social Networks Karol Kazmierczak is present at Linkedin. Read more.

Testimonials

Karol works for us as a building enclosure consultant on the Veteran’s Administration Hospital project in New Orleans, LA . It’s a large project, encompassing 8 buildings connected by a central concourse. From the beginning of this assignment, Karol began to re-define our expectations of a building enclosure consultant. He started by delivering presentations on fundamental principles of façade design, described the performance characteristics of the building enclosures, and made suggestions for how these characteristics could be achieved. He helped us in the choice of building enclosure materials and systems to fit our project requirements, researched manufacturers, and sketched solutions to accommodate the desired proportions and alignments of the facades. He accommodated our consultation requests quickly and efficiently, even though he was on a deadline on other projects. His recommendations were well received and soon implemented by our architectural staff, appreciative of the value of his contribution and his unique skills in façade engineering. We look forward to working with him in the future.

Pam Holmes, RA, LEED® AP
Senior Associate
NBBJ

(...) your assistance with our LEED certified project, Claude Pepper Community Center was invaluable in resolving our complex issues related to the sloped windows and storefronts. When it comes to questions about facade engineering, energy conservation, curtain walls and sloped glazing, I would highly recommend your expertise.

I hope more professionals will take advantage of your experience as a building enclosure professional since your understanding of the facade construction market and building codes would provide them an edge on designing a workable assembly.

Matilde E. Reyes, AIA, LEED Accredited Professional
Associate/ Senior Architect
Corzo Castella Carballo Thompson Salman, P.A.