Buildings must offer a healthy and comfortable working and living environment. This can be accomplished by attuning the architectonic design, the building engineering physical properties, and the installation engineering in a single building design.

A recent example is the Rabobank Westland in De Lier (see photo above), for which the client, the architect, and the consultants began working closely together in an early stage of the design in order to come up with an integral building and installation design.

Building engineering physics is the applied science used in engineering to investigate the effects of light, heat, air, moisture, and sound on a building’s internal climate. Steel as a construction material scores highly on points such as daylighting, air-tightness, and water-tightness, but lower on points such as heat insulation (thermal bridges) and sound insulation.

The following pages briefly discuss each aspect of building engineering physics. The main focus is the relation to steel as a construction material, flooring, or cladding. It is an attempt to explain this complex subject matter concisely and simply, while attempting to banish myths. Lastly, the interaction is discussed between the building and the installations.

Literature consulted:

• Praktijkboek Bouwfysica, Boot et al., SBR, 2008
• Verdiepingbouw met staal, Verburg et al., Bouwen met Staal, 2005
• Handboek staalframebouw, Pauw et al., Bouwen met Staal, 2003
• Rockwool Website