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Heat-air-moisture design of masonry cavity walls: theoretical and experimental results and practice

Hens, H. and Fatin, A.M
1995
ASHRAE Trans., v 1, pp. 607-626
cavity wall


Hens, H. and Fatin, A.M, (1995), "Heat-air-moisture design of masonry cavity walls: theoretical and experimental results and practice", ASHRAE Trans., v 1, pp. 607-626.
Abstract:
Brick cavity walls are a traditional type of exterior wall construction in northwest Europe. A traditional section consists of a brick outer leaf, an air cavity, and a masonry inner leaf. Until the early 1970s, no thermal insulation was added. The first oil crisis and subsequent interest in energy conservation, however accelerated the inclusion of a partial or full cavity insulation fill.

During the 1970s and early 1980s, filled cavity walls were checked for three types of performance: U-factor, interstitial condensation, and rain tightness. However these three checks do not cover the whole heat, air, and moisture reality in the wall. One should, in fact, use an array of six performance characteristics: airtightness, U-factor, transient thermal response, hygric and thermal stress and strain, overall moisture balance, and thermal bridging. The subsequent use of these six characteristics shifted interest to air movement in the wall and the consequences for thermal effectiveness and moisture balance.

This paper analyzes experimental results on air perme-ability, the impact of air movement on U-factors and intersti-tial condensation, drying of the outside leaf in the case of partial and full cavity fill, and summer condensation. Ther-mal bridge effects of traditional features are also evaluated. As a conclusion, seven principles for good cavity wall design, deduced from the array of six performance characteristics, are formulated.


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Author Information and Other Publications Notes
Hens, H.
Department of Civil Engineering, Laboratory of Building Physics, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium http://www.bwk.kuleuven.ac.be/bwf/e_hugohens.htm
  1. A comparison of different techniques to quantify moisture content profiles in porous building materials
  2. Application of a new type of air and vapor retarder in a self-drying sloped roof with a cathedral ceiling
  3. Building envelopes in a holistic perspective
  4. Condensation risk assessment
  5. Determination of the liquid water diffusivity from transient moisture transfer experiments
  6. Evaluating the thermal performance of active envelopes
  7. Fungal defacement in buildings: a performance related approach
  8. Heat and moisture response of vented and compact cathedral ceilings: a test house evaluation
  9. Heat, air and moisture transfer in insulated envelope parts. Final Report, Volume 1, Modelling
  10. Hygric properties of a new humidity controlled vapor retarder
  11. IEA Annex 14: Condensation and Energy
  12. Inquiry on HAMCAT codes
  13. Interstitial condensation due to air leakage: a sensitivity analysis
  14. Microscopic analysis of imbibition processes in oolitic limestone
  15. Modeling. Final Report
  16. Performance prediction for masonry walls with EIFS using calculation procedures and laboratory testing
  17. Performance-based development of a thermally insulated pitched roof system
  18. Pitched roofs, heat-air-moisture transport in tiled and slated roofs with the thermal insulation at rafter level
  19. Simulating non-isothermal water vapour transfer: an experimental validation on multi-layered building components
  20. The influence of soil moisture in the unsaturated zone on the heat loss from buildings via the ground  
Fatin, A. M.
     



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