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Moisture buffering capacity of hygroscopic building materials: Experimental facilities and energy impact

Osanyintola, O. F. and Simonson, C. J.
2006
Energy and Buildings, 38(10): 1270-1282

Osanyintola, O. F. and Simonson, C. J., (2006), "Moisture buffering capacity of hygroscopic building materials: Experimental facilities and energy impact", Energy and Buildings, 38(10): 1270-1282 .
Abstract:
Research into dynamic moisture storage in hygroscopic building materials has renewed interest in the moisture buffering capacity of building materials and shown the potential for these materials to improve indoor humidity, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in buildings. This paper complements previous research by estimating the effect of hygroscopic materials on energy consumptions in buildings. The results show that it may be possible to reduce heating and cooling energy consumption by up to 5% and 30%, respectively, when applying hygroscopic materials with well-controlled HVAC systems. The paper also describes two different experimental facilities that can be used to measure accurately the moisture buffering capacity of hygroscopic building materials. These facilities provide different convective transfer coefficients between the hygroscopic material and ambient air, ranging from natural convection in small, sealed jars to fully developed laminar and turbulent forced convection. The paper presents a numerical model and property data for spruce plywood which will be used in a companion paper [O.F. Osanyintola, P. Talukdar, C.J. Simonson, Effect of initial conditions, boundary conditions and thickness on the moisture buffering capacity of spruce plywood, Energy and Buildings (2006), doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2006.03.024.] to provide additional insight into the design of an experiment to measure the moisture buffering capacity of hygroscopic materials.

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Author Information and Other Publications Notes
Osanyintola, O. F.
  1. An experimental data set for benchmarking 1-D, transient heat and moisture transfer models of hygroscopic building materials. Part II: Experimental, numerical and analytical data
  2. Effect of initial conditions, boundary conditions and thickness on the moisture buffering capacity of spruce plywood  
Simonson, C. J.
  1. An experimental data set for benchmarking 1-D, transient heat and moisture transfer models of hygroscopic building materials. Part II: Experimental, numerical and analytical data
  2. Effect of initial conditions, boundary conditions and thickness on the moisture buffering capacity of spruce plywood
  3. Heat and mass transfer between indoor air and a permeable and hygroscopic building envelope: part I -- field measurements
  4. Heat and mass transfer between indoor air and a permeable and hygroscopic building envelope: part II --verification and numerical studies
  5. Improving indoor climate and comfort with wooden structures
  6. Integration of simplified drying tests and numerical simulation in moisture performance analysis of the building envelope
  7. Measuring and modeling vapor boundary layer growth during transient diffusion heat and moisture transfer in cellulose insulation
  8. Moisture performance of an airtight, vapor-permeable building envelope in a cold climate
  9. Moisture, thermal and ventilation performance of Tapanila ecological house  


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