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Application of a new type of air and vapor retarder in a self-drying sloped roof with a cathedral ceiling

Hens, H. and Janssens, A.
1998
Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Buildings VII, Clearwater Beach, Florida
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Hens, H. and Janssens, A., (1998), "Application of a new type of air and vapor retarder in a self-drying sloped roof with a cathedral ceiling", Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Buildings VII, Clearwater Beach, Florida.
ABSTRACT

In cool and cold climates, sloped roofs with cathedral ceilings are quite sensitive to moisture damages caused by built-in moisture and prolonged concealed condensation of water vapor produced inside. Conventional solutions are to leave a cavity between the thermal insulation and the sheathing and vent it with outside air and(or to include a vapor barrier below the insulation layer

An alternative, however, is the self-drying roof This concept was evaluated experimentally. For that purpose, three well insulated roof sections, all covered with shingles and lined inside with a gypsum board, were tested in a hot box. The first had an airflow and vapor-tight polyethylene film between the glass fiber insulation and the gypsum board internal lining. The second had the gypsum board only as an airflow retarder, and the third had a new type of organic, glass-fiber, fabric reinforced felt as airflow and vapor retarder The wood deck under the shingles contained a lawn amount of built-in moisture. The sections were exposed to a sunny period first, followed by a steady-state cold period after wanis. Section I remained wet, with the moisture moving from the plywood to the polyethylene during the sunny period and back to the plywood during the cold period Section 2 dried during the sunny period but turned wet again during the cold period Section 3 finally dried during the sunny period and got some wetness during the cold period, however, it got less than roof 2. Apparently, roof 3 came closest to the concept of self drying.

In order to evaluate to what extent simple engineering tools and simplified models could predict the measured response, the tests were also simulated using three such models.


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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. Building envelopes in a holistic perspective
  3. Condensation risk assessment
  4. Determination of the liquid water diffusivity from transient moisture transfer experiments
  5. Evaluating the thermal performance of active envelopes
  6. Fungal defacement in buildings: a performance related approach
  7. Heat and moisture response of vented and compact cathedral ceilings: a test house evaluation
  8. Heat, air and moisture transfer in insulated envelope parts. Final Report, Volume 1, Modelling
  9. Heat-air-moisture design of masonry cavity walls: theoretical and experimental results and practice
  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  
Janssens, A.
Building Physics, Construction and Services http://aivwww.rug.ac.be/Onderzoeksbeleid/techno2002/EN/TW/I-TW01V02.htm
  1. Benchmark experiments for moisture transfer modelling in air and porous materials
  2. CFD modelling of HAM transport in buildings: The importance of local indoor climate
  3. Condensation risk assessment
  4. Coupled simulation of heat and moisture transport in air and porous materials for the assessment of moisture related damage
  5. Evaluation of the different definitions of the convective mass transfer coefficient for water evaporation into air
  6. Experimental validation and sensitivity analysis of a coupled BES-HAM model
  7. Heat and moisture response of vented and compact cathedral ceilings: a test house evaluation
  8. Impact of whole-building hygrothermal modelling on the assessment of indoor climate in a library building
  9. Inquiry on HAMCAT codes
  10. Modelling indoor air and hygrothermal wall interaction in building simulation: Comparison between CFD and a well-mixed zonal model
  11. On coupling 1D non-isothermal heat and mass transfer in porous materials with a multizone building energy simulation model
  12. On the applicability of the heat and mass transfer analogy in indoor air flows
  13. Reliable control of interstitial condensation in lightweight roof systems, calculation and assessment methods
  14. Sensitivity analysis of CFD coupled non-isothermal heat and moisture modelling  



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