Vicente Montes-Amoros, LEED AP BD+C, is a
structural and façade engineer at Curtain Wall Design and Consulting in Dallas,
which specializes on the design, engineering, and consulting of every aspect of
building envelopes. For more information, visit www.cdc-usa.com/ or e-mail him at vmontes@cdc-usa.com.
The building envelope’s main function is to act as a filter between the exterior environment and the building indoors, but as technologies have evolved and the urgent need to reduce buildings emissions and overall energy consumption has grown, the role of the envelope has now become more complex.