Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or UAVs, are an important tool for many industries and sectors in today’s world. How to apply this technology to building enclosures requires understanding the advantages and disadvantages of this tool beyond the casual backyard drone operator. Hear from a UAV Pilot-in-Command and a Building Enclosure Consultant on their experiences using a drone to capture various types of building enclosure survey data to meet various building owner-driven goals.

Learning Objectives:

1. Know and evaluate the advantages of using UAV and when those advantages increase the proficiency and quality of building enclosure survey data.
2. Understand the disadvantages of using UAV around buildings and varying site conditions; and how to overcome those disadvantages.
3. Analyze building, site, and occupancy conditions to create a preflight plan.
4. Examine the UAV application in building enclosure surveys and the safety parameters dictated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the UAV Pilot-in-Charge.
5. Evaluate the five case studies for the advantages, overcoming the disadvantages, and pre-flight planning for UAV assisted building enclosure survey and data collection.

Brett Bertram

Braun Intertec

 Brett Bertram has 25 years’ experience at Braun Intertec working on environmental and geotechnical projects. He earned his Part 107 license in 2018, adding aerial data acquisition and analysis to his skillset. This combination of experience and technical expertise gives Brett a unique perspective on tackling the diverse needs of our clients.

Pam Jergenson

Braun Intertec

Pam Jergenson is a Principle Consultant and BECx Technical Manager for the Building Sciences Group at Braun Intertec Corporation. She is an accredited Building Enclosure Commissioning Agent and Process Provider who has worked in the construction industry focusing on building enclosures for over the last 30 years. Pam is a trained whole building airtightness technician, a licensed air barrier field auditor, and a certified air barrier specialist, construction document technologist, specification writer, and construction contract administrator. Her portfolio of work includes the sectors of commercial, hospitals, multi-family, higher education, K-12, federal, state, county, and city governments; and private businesses.