<p>In recent years, moisture damages have been noticed in rendered, undrained stud walls. The design is built on the principle one-stage tightening which means that there is no air gap in the construction. The damages have occurred when water has permeated through the rendering in leaking connections and fittings for windows, doors, canopies, balconies, terraces and awnings. Behind the plaster carrier, which consists of either polystyrene or rigid mineral wool, plasterboard has often been used as a wind protection barrier. In many cases the wind protection barrier and the underlying wooden studs have been exposed to mould and in some cases even rot. It has been shown that damp in the structure is difficult to dry out.</p><p>The aim of the thesis has been to examine how the energy consumption is affected when this type of construction is damp, partly because energy is required to dry up damp, partly because the insulation ability for a material decreases when it is affected by moisture.</p><p>Previous research and relevant literature has been used in this thesis, to provide: A comprehensive picture of the problem, an explanation for the calculations used and an understanding of the conclusions drawn.</p><p>The energy consumption has been calculated for 1 m²wall area on two types of wall designs. The calculations have been performed in both dry and damp condition. To calculate the energy consumption in damp condition, three different types of calculation models have been used in three different ways. Since no measurements have been made, the calculations are to some extent based on assumed values.</p><p>The amount of damp that have entered the structure has, according to the calculation models used, been shown to produce small differences in energy consumption compared to the dry structure. The main problem for these types of walls seems instead to be the growth of microorganisms. Nevertheless, the microorganisms seem not to have affected the indoor environment in any significant manner.</p>

In recent years, moisture damages have been noticed in rendered, undrained stud walls. The design is built on the principle one-stage tightening which means that there is no air gap in the construction. The damages have occurred when water has permeated through the rendering in leaking connections and fittings for windows, doors, canopies, balconies, terraces and awnings. Behind the plaster carrier, which consists of either polystyrene or rigid mineral wool, plasterboard has often been used as a wind protection barrier. In many cases the wind protection barrier and the underlying wooden studs have been exposed to mould and in some cases even rot. It has been shown that damp in the structure is difficult to dry out. The aim of the thesis has been to examine how the energy consumption is affected when this type of construction is damp, partly because energy is required to dry up damp, partly because the insulation ability for a material decreases when it is affected by moisture. Previous research and relevant literature has been used in this thesis, to provide: A comprehensive picture of the problem, an explanation for the calculations used and an understanding of the conclusions drawn. The energy consumption has been calculated for 1 m2 wall area on two types of wall designs. The calculations have been performed in both dry and damp condition. To calculate the energy consumption in damp condition, three different types of calculation models have been used in three different ways. Since no measurements have been made, the calculations are to some extent based on assumed values. The amount of damp that have entered the structure has, according to the calculation models used, been shown to produce small differences in energy consumption compared to the dry structure. The main problem for these types of walls seems instead to be the growth of microorganisms. Nevertheless, the microorganisms seem not to have affected the indoor environment in any significant manner.

Moisture induced damages to building envelopes can result in microbial growth possibly affecting the health and wellbeing of occupants. Recent failing structures and damaged buildings indicate a lack of tools to estimate risk of mould growth and moisture damage. In this work a so-called mould resistance design (MRD) model has been applied for mapping the risk for mould growth on a number of wood-containing wall structures. The MRD model introduces an engineering approach to moisture safety design in a similar way as for structural design, where load and resistance is compared. The MRD model introduces and quantifies the concepts of climatic exposure and material resistance and compares them through an MRD index. This MRD index incorporates a limit state, which gives the critical dose of exposure for a given resistance to initiate onset of mould growth.   Three conceptual wall structures were evaluated and analyzed in terms of MRD index: two wall systems with an air gap and one wall system without. A parametric study investigating the effect of parameter variation on MRD index was conducted. Evaluated parameters were: climate (geographic location), orientation, air changes per hour in the air gap, driving rain penetrating the facade layer, exterior plaster properties and wood type. The simulations were performed using the hygrothermal calculation software WUFI. The results indicate that the wall systems with a ventilated air gap performs better in terms of MRD index i.e. suggests a lower risk of initiation of mould growth than the wall system without air gap. The results of orientation variation show that wall systems perform differently dependent on layering structure. The inherent water sorption properties of the exterior plaster are shown to have a large effect on the results. In addition, uncertainties were found on how to accurately include hydrophobicity as a parameter in the model. The report concludes that geographical location and its specific climate is the most important parameter to consider when designing for moisture safety. The MRD model is recommended to be used in combination with traditional moisture safety evaluation.