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Moisture transport in walls: Canadian experience

White, J.
1996
Water Vapor Transmission Through Building Materials and System: Mechanisms and Measurement, ASTM STP 1039, H. R. Trechsel and M. Bomberg, Eds., American Society for Testing and Materials, Phila-delphia, pp. 35-50
moisture, theory, laboratory tests, field tests, test huts, surveys, computer model, material properties, system performance, furring strips, research needs, water vapor transmission, testing


White, J., (1996), "Moisture transport in walls: Canadian experience", Water Vapor Transmission Through Building Materials and System: Mechanisms and Measurement, ASTM STP 1039, H. R. Trechsel and M. Bomberg, Eds., American Society for Testing and Materials, Phila-delphia, pp. 35-50.
Abstract:
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the Canadian federal crown cor-poration responsible for federal housing policy, has been studying moisture problems in houses for several years. That study has usually been at the system level, that is, looking at the interaction between subsystems, components, and materials. It has spanned a wide range of regimes, from development of theory and a computer model, to laboratory tests on materials and walls, through test hut design and monitoring, to field surveys.

The published theory has been found wanting, in many cases. Designers, builders, inspectors, and material suppliers or manufacturers seem unaware of much that is known. More must be learned about the interactions that take place between energy, air, and moisture flows-over the full range of material moisture contents and air relative humidities and temperatures.

A systems model of the movement of heat energy, air, and moisture, in wood frame walls, is being developed and executed on a microcomputer. That program, named WALLDRY, will be made "user friendly," then compared with field and laboratory data, but is primarily a research tool, and will likely remain too slow to be used as a regular design aid.

Appears in Trechsel, H. R. and Bomberg, M., (Eds), 1996, Water vapor transmission through building materials and system: mechanisms and measurement


Related Resources:
  • This link has not been checked.ASTM
    "provides a global forum for the development and publication of voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services"
  • This link has not been checked.CMHC- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation
    "the federal government's housing agency, is responsible for administering the National Housing", formerly the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation
  • HAM: WALLDRY


Related Concepts


Author Information and Other Publications Notes
White, J.
  1. A toxic mold cleanup guide
  2. The influence of house characteristics in a Canadian community on microbiological contamination  



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