Big humidity data from smart ventilation systems (original) (raw)

Building moisture diagnosis: Processing, assessing and representation of environmental data for root cause analysis of mould growth

Building Simulation

The occurrence of surface condensation and mould can lead to concerns of poor indoor air quality and adverse health implications of occupants. Remedial actions require identification of the root causes, but this can be challenging even for experts. The focus of the research is the development of a diagnostic tool that helps to streamline root cause analysis. The diagnostic method comprises a protocol with guidelines for installation of sensors, easy data collection, and a set of calculations to process environmental information. Environmental parameters collected and calculated from an environmental monitoring exercise of dwellings with and without mould, include physical properties associated with the indoor surface of external walls and surrounding air conditions. The methodology relies on linking specific surface and air environmental parameters together with critical thresholds proposed for the control and avoidance of surface condensation and mould growth in dwellings. These pa...

Indoor air quality : combining air humidity with construction moisture

2005

The project aims to improve the modelling of moisture transfers at internal surfaces by linking the finite volumes representing the Heat, Air and Moisture (HAM) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) domains. Conflation of both models facilitates the detailed study of moisture flow as it impacts on indoor air quality and occupant health. The thesis lays down the conceptual framework for the subsequent development of an indoor air quality analytical tool. The work thus improves the modelling of construction feature risk assessment, for example, moisture absorption and desorption at the internal fabric surfaces in as much as it relates to indoor air quality. Through such an improvement, an indoor air quality analytical tool for the prediction of time-varying temperature/humidity conditions at specific locations within the building is enabled and subsequently these conditions may be related to the likely occurrence of mould. Humidity in indoor spaces is one of the most important factor...

Simulation of moisture and microbial problems in building

Clean indoor air is one of the most important factors for the welfare of the society. To understand and study the complex causality of different factors affecting indoor air quality, a databank and an IAQ-simulator have been developed. Databases have been developed to connect knowledge of material emissions to the indoor air measurement results. This allows screening of possible indoor air contaminant sources, provides reference data for both indoor air and material emission measurements and enables statistical evaluations of measured indoor air data when connected with diagnosed health effects. IAQ Simulator offers a new testing tool for building product manufacturers to develop and test materials in multilayer structures. The developed simulator can be incorporated to the "Indoor Climate" classification and CEN when drafting emission measurement standards for structures. The simulator offers also a new tool to study the complicated causal connections of building structur...

Indoor relative humidity: relevance for health, comfort, and choice of ventilation system

Proceedings - 3rd Valencia International Biennial of Research in Architecture, VIBRArch, 2022

It is generally recommended to keep the values of relative humidity (RH) indoors between 40 and 60% for comfort and health. However, the environment in our homes and offices is a lot dryer in the winter, going down to 20% or less in cold climates. We can be in such dry environments for short periods, but in the long term we might get physiological impairments such as dry or irritated eyes, nose, throat and skin, and even an increase on headaches and respiratory or skin diseases and allergies. On the other hand, too high values of relative humidity can promote growth of fungi and mites, and create moisture problems in building materials. Those problems could be solved by finding a balance between ventilation rate and indoor humidity production, in combination with moisture absorbing materials. However, these strategies work better with lower air speed and ventilation rate, which may in turn conflict with the need for fresh air to compensate for the production of CO2 and other pollutants. Typically, mechanically ventilated spaces tend to have a lower RH than those with natural ventilation, independently of the season and indoor temperature, since their main focus is providing enough fresh air to keep CO2 levels below 1000ppm. Recently, it has gained acceptance to monitor temperature, humidity and CO2 for indoor air quality and health, which has the potential to show their interactions and help find an optimal balance between them. We carried a building performance simulation (BPS)analysis of an office building with an optimized design for passive strategies and automation in cold climate. Instead of focusing on high air changes, this building uses extra high floors for stratification of temperature and pollutants, to reduce the need for ventilation in winter. Then we compared indoor RH under natural and mechanical ventilation, to reflect on the effect of the ventilation system.