Matthew C. Carlton, AIA, LEED AP, is a
registered architect in the Building Technology department in the Waltham, Mass.,
office of national engineering firm Simpson Gumpertz & Heger.
Water sustains all life on earth. But it is also nature’s universal solvent. Water causes more building enclosure failures than any other agent. Whether a failure results from excessive metal corrosion, or the spalling or displacement of masonry or concrete elements, water is often the prime catalyst.