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Stochastic modelling of hygrothermal performance of highly insulated wood framed walls

Title:

Stochastic modelling of hygrothermal performance of highly insulated wood framed walls

Ge, Hua and Wang, Lin (2018) Stochastic modelling of hygrothermal performance of highly insulated wood framed walls. Building and Environment, 146 . pp. 12-28. ISSN 03601323 (In Press)

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.09.032

Abstract

As energy consumption has become an important issue in building design, most building codes require a higher insulation level for building envelopes to improve the building's energy efficiency. However, the highly insulated walls may lead to a higher risk of moisture problems. Although hygrothermal simulation has been widely used to investigate the moisture performance of wood framed walls, the uncertainties of input parameters such as material properties, boundary conditions and moisture loads, may lead to discrepancies between simulation results and actual performance of the envelope. This paper investigates the hygrothermal performance of highly insulated wood framed walls using a stochastic approach, which combines the Latin Hypercube Sampling method and Factorial Design to take into account the uncertainties of material properties, boundary conditions and moisture loads (air leakage and rain leakage). The investigated walls include an I-joist deep cavity wall, two exterior insulated walls, and a conventional 2 × 6 stud wall as the baseline. It is found that under the moisture loads introduced (i.e. air leakage and rain leakage), the exterior insulated walls have a lower mold growth risk than the deep cavity wall and the 2 × 6 stud baseline wall. The uncertainties of material properties do not result in significant variations in simulation results such as moisture content and mold growth index as uncertainties of moisture loads do. The hygrothermal performance of these highly insulated walls is more sensitive to moisture loads and the significance of the moisture loads (air leakage and rain leakage) depends on climatic conditions.

Divisions:Concordia University > Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science > Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Authors:Ge, Hua and Wang, Lin
Journal or Publication:Building and Environment
Date:2018
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):10.1016/j.buildenv.2018.09.032
Keywords:Stochastic modelling; HAM simulations; Hygrothermal performance; Highly insulated wood framed walls; Mold growth risk; Durability
ID Code:984523
Deposited By: ALINE SOREL
Deposited On:04 Oct 2018 15:52
Last Modified:21 Sep 2020 00:00

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