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Moisture Buffering in the Indoor Environment

Svennberg, Kaisa LU (2006) In Report TVBH 1016.
Abstract
Moisture buffering in the indoor environment is the ability, through absorption and desorption, of surface materials to attenuate the moisture variations of the indoor air. Moisture buffering plays an important role in understanding the risks for biological growth in surface materials in the indoor environment, e.g., mold growth on walls and house dust mites in beds, and thereby also have an impact on the health of the inhabitants. Apart from the health aspects, moisture buffering is also important to take into account in hygrothermal calculations as well as for design of indoor climate systems.



The interaction between surface materials and the humidity of the indoor air is the scope of this Ph.D.-project reported in... (More)
Moisture buffering in the indoor environment is the ability, through absorption and desorption, of surface materials to attenuate the moisture variations of the indoor air. Moisture buffering plays an important role in understanding the risks for biological growth in surface materials in the indoor environment, e.g., mold growth on walls and house dust mites in beds, and thereby also have an impact on the health of the inhabitants. Apart from the health aspects, moisture buffering is also important to take into account in hygrothermal calculations as well as for design of indoor climate systems.



The interaction between surface materials and the humidity of the indoor air is the scope of this Ph.D.-project reported in this thesis. The main objective is to enhance the understanding of the moisture buffering of surface materials in the indoor environment. The focus has been on moisture buffering in textile materials and upholstered furniture, common to Scandinavia.



The moisture buffering has been investigated through experimental work, field measurements and modeling. The experimental work covers development of laboratory methods and determination of basic material properties to full scale climatic chamber measurements.



A definition scheme regarding the moisture buffering in the indoor environment, at three spatial levels ?material, component and room level, is proposed. Within the project, a method, to determine sorption isotherms has been developed. The moisture sorption properties for textile materials, common in the indoor environment, have been determined. The moisture conditions in a chair seat and in two bed systems have been investigated through climatic chamber measurements and field measurements, respectively. Both types of upholstery have also been studied through mathematical models. The impact of furniture and furnishing, on moisture buffering performance, was studied in a full scale climatic chamber study.



The main conclusion from the project is that moisture buffering in furniture and furnishing will be important in the moderation of indoor humidity variations with short time scales (hours and days). (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Fuktbuffring i inomhusmiljön är ytmaterialens förmåga att, genom absorption och desorption, dämpa luftens fuktighetsvariationer. Fuktbuffring spelar en viktig roll i förståelsen av risker för biologisk tillväxt i ytmaterial, t.ex. mögel på väggar och husdammskvalster i sängar. Därigenom är fuktbuffring viktig ur hälsosynpunkt. Förutom hälsoaspekterna är kunskap om fuktbuffring också viktig vid fukt- och energiberäkningar i byggnader och vid dimensionering och utformning av klimatanläggningar



Detta doktorandprojekt som rapporteras i denna avhandling omfattar samverkan mellan ytmaterial och luftens fuktighet inomhus och målet är att öka förståelsen av och kunskapen om... (More)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

Fuktbuffring i inomhusmiljön är ytmaterialens förmåga att, genom absorption och desorption, dämpa luftens fuktighetsvariationer. Fuktbuffring spelar en viktig roll i förståelsen av risker för biologisk tillväxt i ytmaterial, t.ex. mögel på väggar och husdammskvalster i sängar. Därigenom är fuktbuffring viktig ur hälsosynpunkt. Förutom hälsoaspekterna är kunskap om fuktbuffring också viktig vid fukt- och energiberäkningar i byggnader och vid dimensionering och utformning av klimatanläggningar



Detta doktorandprojekt som rapporteras i denna avhandling omfattar samverkan mellan ytmaterial och luftens fuktighet inomhus och målet är att öka förståelsen av och kunskapen om fuktbuffring i inomhusmiljön. Ett särskilt fokus har varit fuktbuffring i textila material och stoppade möbler.



Fuktbuffring har studerats genom praktiska försök, fältmätningar och modellering. De praktiska försöken har omfattat utveckling av försöksmetoder, bestämning av grundläggande material och egenskaper och klimatkammarförsök



Ett definitionsschema för fuktbuffring på tre nivåer i inomhusmiljön, material, komponent och rumsnivå, har utarbetats. Inom projektet har en metod för bestämning av sorptionsisotermer utvecklats. Sorptionsegenskaperna hos textila material, som är vanligt förekommande inomhus, har bestämts. Fukttillståndet i en stol och två olika typer av sängar har studerats genom klimatkammarmätningar och fältmätningar. Dessa stoppade möbler har också studerats genom matematisk modellering. Inredningens påverkan på fuktbuffring har studerats i ett klimatkammarförsök i full skala.



Den väsentligaste slutsatsen från projektet är att fuktbuffring i möbler och inredning är betydelsefulla inomhus för dämpningen av fuktighetsvariationer med korta tidsskalor (timmar och dagar). (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • professor de Freitas, Vasco Peixoto, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Porto
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Teknik, furniture, textiles, moisture buffering, beds, indoor air, indoor environment, sorption isotherms, field measurements, definition scheme, Technological sciences
in
Report TVBH
volume
1016
pages
210 pages
publisher
Byggnadsfysik LTH, Lunds Tekniska Högskola
defense location
Lecture hall V:B, V building, John Ericssons väg 1 Lund
defense date
2006-05-24 13:15:00
external identifiers
  • other:TVBH-1016
ISSN
0349-4950
ISBN
91-88722-36-8
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
9e04d1de-e597-463f-bf2e-a0ac9a83e46c (old id 546683)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:40:54
date last changed
2019-05-23 17:24:53
@phdthesis{9e04d1de-e597-463f-bf2e-a0ac9a83e46c,
  abstract     = {{Moisture buffering in the indoor environment is the ability, through absorption and desorption, of surface materials to attenuate the moisture variations of the indoor air. Moisture buffering plays an important role in understanding the risks for biological growth in surface materials in the indoor environment, e.g., mold growth on walls and house dust mites in beds, and thereby also have an impact on the health of the inhabitants. Apart from the health aspects, moisture buffering is also important to take into account in hygrothermal calculations as well as for design of indoor climate systems.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The interaction between surface materials and the humidity of the indoor air is the scope of this Ph.D.-project reported in this thesis. The main objective is to enhance the understanding of the moisture buffering of surface materials in the indoor environment. The focus has been on moisture buffering in textile materials and upholstered furniture, common to Scandinavia.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The moisture buffering has been investigated through experimental work, field measurements and modeling. The experimental work covers development of laboratory methods and determination of basic material properties to full scale climatic chamber measurements.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
A definition scheme regarding the moisture buffering in the indoor environment, at three spatial levels ?material, component and room level, is proposed. Within the project, a method, to determine sorption isotherms has been developed. The moisture sorption properties for textile materials, common in the indoor environment, have been determined. The moisture conditions in a chair seat and in two bed systems have been investigated through climatic chamber measurements and field measurements, respectively. Both types of upholstery have also been studied through mathematical models. The impact of furniture and furnishing, on moisture buffering performance, was studied in a full scale climatic chamber study.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The main conclusion from the project is that moisture buffering in furniture and furnishing will be important in the moderation of indoor humidity variations with short time scales (hours and days).}},
  author       = {{Svennberg, Kaisa}},
  isbn         = {{91-88722-36-8}},
  issn         = {{0349-4950}},
  keywords     = {{Teknik; furniture; textiles; moisture buffering; beds; indoor air; indoor environment; sorption isotherms; field measurements; definition scheme; Technological sciences}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Byggnadsfysik LTH, Lunds Tekniska Högskola}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  series       = {{Report TVBH}},
  title        = {{Moisture Buffering in the Indoor Environment}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/4748178/546684.pdf}},
  volume       = {{1016}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}