MEWS-NRC/IRC, Consortium for Moisture Management for Exterior Walls
Web site at
MEWS.
A good and brief description at Wood Durability web site (www.durable-wood.com/papers/research.pdf) (now discontinued), provided by the Canadian Wood Council and Forintek Canada Corp.:
"Consortium for Moisture Management for Exterior Walls (MEWS) MEWS is an Ottawa-based research effort headed by the National Research Council / Institute for Research in Construction. MEWS has a wide base of participation, with several individuals serving on both BERC and MEWS. The objective of this project is to develop guidelines for moisture management strategies for wall systems to meet user requirements of long-term performance and durability for the wide range of climate zones across North America. The research approach is three-fold: field characterization of assemblies, laboratory experimentation on materials and components and mathematical modeling for prediction of long-term performance under many sets of conditions."
Currently Available Reports:
More info of this article can be found on the web at:
http://www.nrc.ca/irc/bes/mews/index.htmlWeb Links:
- MEWS Publications at IRC
- Current publications on MEWS, downloadable .pdf files.
- CBD
- "240 of the 250 Canadian Building Digests published between 1960 and 1990 by NRC's Institute for Research in Construction. The topics reflect the diversity of the industry and cover virtually every aspect of design and construction in Canada."
- Construction Technology Updates
- "..Practical 4-6 page publications for architects, engineers, specification writers, property managers, builders and building officials. " by IRC/NRC
- IRC Publications
- "IRCPUBS includes references to all the publications of IRC and its predecessor, the NRC Division of Building Research, since our founding in 1947."
- IRC: Institute for Research in Construction
- "Canada's research, building code development, and materials evaluation services, .. issues that have a large economic impact, assisting industry to innovate and develop technologies that are safe, durable and cost-effective. "
Related References:
- Beaulieu, P., Bomberg, M. T., Cornick, S. M., Dalgliesh, W. A., Desmarais, G., Djebbar, R., Kumaran, M. K., Lacasse, M. A., et al, (2002), Report from Task 8 of MEWS Project - MEWS Methodology for Developing Moisture Management Strategies - Application to Stucco Clad Wood-Frame Walls in North America
- Beaulieu, P., Bomberg, M., Cornick, S., Dalgliesh, A., Desmarais, G., Djebbar, R., Kumaran, K., Lacasse, M., Lackey, J. Maref, W., et al., (2002), Final Report from Task 8 of MEWS Project (T8-03) - Hygrothermal Response of Exterior Wall Systems to Climate Loading: Methodology and Interpretation of Results for Stucco, EIFS, Masonry and Siding Clad Wood-Frame Walls
- overview
Beaulieu, P.; Cornick, S.M.; Dalgliesh, W.A.; Djebbar, R.; Kumaran, M.K.; Lacasse, M.A.; et al., (2001), MEWS methodology for developing moisture management strategies: application to stucco-clad wood-frame walls in North America - Bomberg, M., Rousseau, M., Desmarais, G., Nicholls, M. and Lacasse, M.K, (2002), Report from Task 2 of MEWS Project - Description of 17 Large Sale Wall Specimens Built for Water Entry Investigation in IRC Dynamic Wall Testing Facility
- Chown, G. A., Brown, W. C. and Poirier, G. F., (1997), Evolution of wall design for controlling rain penetration
- climate regions
Cornick, S. M., Chown, G. A., Dalgliesh, W. A., Djebbar, R., Lacasse, M. A., Nofal, M., Said, M. N., Swinton, M. C. and Tariku, F., (2001), Defining climate regions as a basis for specifying requirements for precipitation protection for walls - Cornick, S., Dalgliesh, A., Said, N., Djebbar, R., Tariku, F. and Kumaran, M. K., (2002), Report from Task 4 of MEWS Project - Environmental Conditions, Final Report
- Djebbar, R., Reenen, v. and Kumaran, M. K., (2001), Indoor and outdoor weather analysis tool for hygrothermal modelling
- weather reference year
Djebbar et al. , (2001), Environmental boundary conditions for long-term hygrothermal calculations - Kumaran, K., Lackey, J., Normandin, N., Reenen, v. and Tariku, F., (2002), Summary Report from Task 3 of MEWS Project at the Institute for Research in Construction - Hygrothermal Properties of Several Building Materials
- Kumaran, M.K.; Mukhopadhyaya, P.; Cornick, S.M.; Lacasse, M.A.; Maref, W.; Rousseau, M.Z.; Nofal, M.; Quirt, J.D.; Dalgliesh, W.A, (2002), A methodology to develop moisture management strategies for wood-frame walls in North America: application to stucco-clad walls
- Lacasse, M. A., O'connor, T. J., Nunes, S. and Beaulieu., P., (2003), Report from task 6 of MEWS project -- experimental assessment of water penetration and entry into wood-frame wall specimens, - final report
- validation scheme
Maref, W.M. Lacasse, M.A. and Krouglicof, N., (2001), A precision weighing system for helping assess the hygrotherma response of full-scale wall assemblies - Mukhopadhyaya, P., Kumaran, K., Tariku, F. and Reenen, D.V., (2003), Final report from task 7 of MEWS long-term performance: predict the moisture management performance of wall systems as a function of climate, material properties, etc. through mathematical modelling
- Rousseau, M. Z., (2002), Moisture management: prediction of response of exterior wall elements to climates