Moisture transfer and heat transfer are two critical and interrelated problems in building envelope design and optimization. Moisture can degrade the durability and thermal performance of the building envelope and can also introduce mold problems that endanger the health and safety of building occupants. Despite the interrelationship of heat and moisture transfer, moisture transfer is often evaluated separately from heat transfer, if at all. Integrating these two properties can help determine the optimal strategies for improving envelope design for new construction and retrofit applications.
This project enhances an existing heat transfer modeling software tool (THERM) and adds moisture and time-domain modeling capabilities. Integrating heat and moisture analysis capabilities to THERM will enable building professionals to design structures that will be durable and not be conducive to the formation of mold, which is a significant health hazard. THERM incorporated finite modeling and two-dimensional (2-D) steady-state heat transfer. The new modeling program engine incorporates a dynamic moisture transfer modeling capability into the existing model of heat transfer (THERMM). The new engine software is written in a modern programming language and has a new visualization tool. This new tool also offers a level of familiarity that thousands of building professionals are already accustomed to using, which should facilitate its rapid adoption and widespread use.
Author(s)
D. Charlie Curcija, D. Simon Vidanovic, Robin Mitchell, Stephen Czarnecki, Christian Kohler, Daniel McQuillen, Simon Palin3, Mikael Salonvaara, Florian Antretter, Tyler Pilet
