Strategies for moisture modelling of historical buildings in order to control damage risks.

The aim of this project is to develop a simulation strategy that allows the analysis of the relation between indoor and outdoor climate, surface conditions of the building envelope and the design of the HVAC-system in historical buildings, while at the same time evaluating the damage risk of valuable cultural heritage in the indoor environment. This can only be achieved by taking account of the typical boundary conditions present in historical buildings such as the moisture accumulation in the massive building envelope, the occurrence of stratification and hygrothermal gradients in the often large building volume and the influence of the location of HVAC-components on the internal air flow patterns. A thorough analysis of these coupled heat- and moisture transport processes in historical buildings is essential for a more efficient design of HVAC-systems and an adequate control of the damage risk of the interior. To carry out the analysis, a zonal building model has to be implemented that allows simulation of the dynamic hygrothermal response of the historical indoor environment, taking the previously mentioned influence factors into account. The presented simulation strategy is evaluated by means of case-studies.

Keywords:Historical buildings

Disciplines:Architectural engineering, Architecture, Interior architecture, Architectural design, Art studies and sciences, Building engineering, Thermodynamics