Enclosure Engineering
Building enclosure design for high-performance buildings, with support for assembly development, detailing, peer review, and construction-phase input focused on durable, climate-responsive, energy-conscious outcomes.
Engineering | Wildfire | Forensics
Enclosure Engineering for High Performance Buildings
Emberline provides building enclosure consulting, wildfire risk review, and expert advisory services with a focus on durability, constructability, and climate resilience.
Approach
Direct, flexible, and technically grounded.
Emberline was established to provide a more direct and efficient model for building enclosure consulting. Rather than large teams and layered delivery structures, work is completed at a senior level to support clear technical judgment, consistent quality, and timely input at the points in the project where it matters most.
The focus is on practical, well-reasoned solutions grounded in building science fundamentals. Recommendations are intended to support the design team in making informed decisions, with emphasis on durability, simplicity, and performance under real-world conditions.
Building enclosure design is fundamentally about managing risk. Successful projects clearly understand the environmental loads acting on the building, the vulnerabilities within the enclosure system, and the continuity of the strategies used to resist those loads. Emberline’s work is grounded in this systems-based approach, with particular focus on climate hazards, including wildfire, and the performance of buildings in northern and remote environments.
Services
Focused advisory services.
Emberline provides advisory services related to building enclosure performance, durability, and climate hazard resilience. Services may be engaged independently or in combination, depending on project needs.
Wildfire Engineering
Wildfire-resilient design for buildings and sites, including risk-informed enclosure strategies, mitigation planning, interface fire exposure review, and practical resilience measures for wildfire-prone areas.
Forensic Review and Expert Advisory
Failure investigation, technical review, and expert advisory support related to enclosure failures, moisture issues, performance deficiencies, litigation matters, and other complex or disputed conditions.
Research and Policy
Leader in applied research, cutting-edge technology, risk tools and screening methodology, development of practical guidance, standards and policy frameworks.
Team
Robin Urquhart
M.B.Sc., M.A. (NRES), P.L.Eng. (BC/YT), RSE, CWMS (NFPA)
Enclosure Engineering | Wildfire Resilience | Forensic Review
Robin Urquhart is an enclosure engineer specializing in high-performance building enclosure design, with a focus on northern climates, wildfire resilience, and climate hazard mitigation.
His work includes enclosure design, forensic investigation, and applied research, with experience across residential, commercial, and institutional projects throughout Northern Canada and Western North America.
Robin has led the development of national guidance on wildfire and climate hazard resilience in partnership with organizations including Natural Resources Canada, the National Research Council, the Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, and the Canadian Home Builders’ Association. His work includes forensic investigation of major wildfire events and development and testing of wildfire-resistant assemblies.
He is licensed as a Professional Licensee (Engineering) in British Columbia and Yukon, and is a Red Seal Endorsed Carpenter and Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist (National Fire Protection Association), bringing both technical and practical perspectives to enclosure design.