Mockups: Construction's Crash Test Dummy

Contributed by ​Brian Stroik 

CRASH!

BANG!

WOW!

That was cool - the Crash Test Dummies have done their job again! The automotive industry found a way to ensure the safety performance for their deliverable for all manufacturers to owners (us), through testing and validation.  Yet when we approach the subject of performance mockups within the building community, people seemed shocked at the suggestion.   After all, it might cost something to make sure it gets done right the first time – heaven forbid! 

Now, consider this: buildings today utilize thousands of products, from hundreds of manufacturers, with thousands of different chemical compositions, being installed by a group with a known labor shortage, managed by groups with all different delivery methods.  Try and figure out that matrix of possible outcomes. Add in the fact that very few architectural schools teach building physics to students for the understanding of heat, air, and moisture transfer, and it is no wonder insurance claims and litigation from moisture and water issues in construction is a billion-dollar industry annually. 

Let’s also ask the question: how many architectural firms have chemists or research and development labs or full-scale testing facilities? Very few. But as an industry, we are asking the architect to provide product choices in specifications and properly designed and detailed projects, with the full knowledge that no single person or firm could possibly know or understand all the technologies available for all six sides of the enclosure.  So…how can the Owner be assured his building is being properly built?  Use the building industry’s “Crash Test Dummy” – the performance mockup.

The performance mockup is used to validate the design, product selection, and proper installation of materials, prior to the final installation on the building.  Would you build a car in your backyard for your 16-year-old to drive on the expressway at 70 MPH?  If you answered no, then why would you expect a unique combination of design, materials, and installers to be able to successfully provide an Owner with a leak-free building on their first try?  Remember…. every building is UNIQUE.  Even if you use the exact same design from project to project, you must add in the experience, or lack thereof, of the installers for each building.  So, consider even if you design and select the exact same materials for two identical buildings, there is no feasible way they could be built in the exact same weather conditions, with the exact same labor force. It is impossible!

The performance mockup can be built and tested in a myriad of configurations and at all levels of cost.  The most important part is that they are tested - for water leakage, air leakage, thermal concerns and durability.  Make sure people installing the mockup are also going to be working on the project. What good does it do the project if the knowledge gained by the mockup is not available for the actual construction of the project?  Let’s do it right on the building the first time and aim to get the lawyers and litigation out of construction.

This is the first in a four-part series on performance mockups. Stay tuned for more information.
• Types of Mockups
• Testing of Performance Mockups
• Transferring knowledge from the Performance Mockup