Lecturers

• prof. dr. Hans Janssen - Catholic University of Leuven, Department of Civil Engineering, Leuven, Belgium (Lecture 2-3)
• dr. Daniel Zirkelbach, Fraunhofer-Institut für Bauphysik, Hygrothermics department
• dr. Riccardo Paolini, Polimi - dept. ABC

Objectives of the course

• To introduce to dynamic heat and moisture transport in building envelope materials and hygrothermal simulation
• To provide with numerical modelling skills for assessing the 1-D, 2-D and whole building heat and moisture balance
• To help to achieve proficiency and awareness for a performance based design of the building envelope (as a whole)
• To provide with elements and skills for hygrothermal risk assessment: mould growth, impact of water penetration on thermal performance
• To suitably define the boundary conditions for hygrothermal simulations

Target

This course is organized for doctoral students dealing with building envelope design (new buidings, existing buildings and heritage), building envelope materials, durability of building materials and components and building pathology.
The course is open to anyone willing to attend (including post-docs).

DETAILED PROGRAM

Lecture 1 - Introduction. Lecturer: Riccardo Paolini
[09/03/2015 09:00 - 13:00]

1. Overview of the course
2. Motivation of the course: impact of moisture and mould growth on building energy performance, service of the building envelope, and building pathology. Practical examples and scientific introduction.

Lecture 2 - Heat and moisture transport basics. Lecturer: Hans Janssen
[09/03/2015 14:00 - 18:00]

• Recall of the basics of building physics and focus on the different existing mathematical approaches and formalisms for heat and moisture transport modelling (including discontinuities) in building envelopes. Moisture potentials and numerical modelling approaches. Overview of the outcomes of IEA Annex 41 (Whole-Building Hygrothermal Modeling).

Lecture 3 - Material properties and definition of boundary conditions for HMT simulations. Lecturer: Hans Janssen
[10/03/2015 09:00 - 13:00]

1. Material properties: hygrothermal properties and their measurement methods; moisture transport through joints and interfaces;
2. Definition of boundary conditions for hygrothermal simulations
3. Exterior boundary conditions: wind driven rain (empirical and numerical approaches); weather data (data series, and time steps);
4. Interior boundary conditions: air flows; moisture inertia/buffering (special cases of museums and libraries); indoor moisture production.

Lecture 4 – Weather data and HMT. Lecturer: Riccardo Paolini
[10/03/2015 14:00 - 16:00]

• Urban microclimates and heat and moisture transport simulation

Workshop 1 – Weather data sets. Riccardo Paolini
[10/03/2015 16:00 - 18:00]

• Weather data analysis, selection and completion of weather data sets

Workshop 2 – 1-D heat and moisture transport modelling. Riccardo Paolini
[11/03/2015 09:00 - 13:00]

1. Introduction to software modelling tools for hygrothermal simulations: 1-D
2. Simulation strategies and data analysis
3. Sensitivity analysis and first parametric simulations

Lecture 6 – Special cases in HMT modelling. Lecturer: Daniel Zirkelbach
[11/03/2015 14:00 - 18:00]

1. Available databases for HMT simulations
2. Air and moisture infiltrations through building envelopes, and heat/moisture sinks/sources
3. Simulation of innovative materials: PCM, VIP, aerogel, and smart vapour retarders/barriers
4. Special cases in hygrothermal simulation: gravel roofs and green roofs (i.e., ecoroofs, or vegetated roofs).

Lecture 7 –HMT in 2-D. Lecturer: Daniel Zirkelbach
[12/03/2015 09:00 - 13:00]

• 2-D hygrothermal modelling tools: presentation and workshop

Lecture 8 – HMT properties over time. Riccardo Paolini
[12/03/2015 14:00 - 16:00]

1. Impact of weathering and soiling on optical and radiative properties of building envelope materials
2. Impact of ageing on water absorption
3. Defects in construction and heat and moisture fluxes

Workshop 3 – HMT over time. Riccardo Paolini
[12/03/2015 16:00 - 18:00]

• Hygrothermal performance over time: basic elements and some tricks

Workshop 4 – Laboratory activity. Riccardo Paolini
[13/03/2015 09:00 - 13:00]

1. Capillary water absorption tests.
2. Measurement of optical properties.

Workshop 5 – Final workshop. Riccardo Paolini
[13/03/2015 14:00 - 18:00]

• Case study definition.

Prerequisite

• Strong building physics basics
• Basic statistics and basic computational skills (e.g. Matlab, R, or other data-analysis/computational environment)

Final examination
10 pages report delivering a parametric analysis of a selected case study