Conference Editor

Jianshun Zhang; Edward Bogucz; Cliff Davidson; Elizabeth Krietmeyer

Keywords:

moisture performance, hygrothermal performance, continuous insulation, building envelope, durability

Location

Syracuse, NY

Event Website

http://ibpc2018.org/

Start Date

24-9-2018 1:30 PM

End Date

24-9-2018 3:00 PM

Description

Continuous exterior insulation is becoming more common in North American above-grade walls in both retrofit applications and new construction, as a means to improve the thermal performance of wall assemblies. Although moisture performance of wood-frame wall assemblies has been studied extensively, the drying capability of wall assemblies with exterior insulation and an interior vapor retarder in cold climates is not well characterized. This study monitored the hygrothermal performance of wall assemblies with and without exterior insulation under high and low interior humidity conditions and with intentional wetting of the wood structural panel sheathing. Moisture content and temperature of standard 38 mm × 140 mm wood framing and 11 mm thick oriented strand board (OSB) sheathing were measured over a two-year period in eight different wall assemblies, each with north or south orientation, in a conditioned test structure in Madison, Wisconsin. Wall configurations differed primarily in the interior vapor retarder (kraft paper or polyethylene film) and the exterior insulation (none, expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, or mineral wool). OSB sheathing was wetted in a controlled manner at three different times of year to investigate drying response. Wintertime moisture accumulation in OSB in the tested climate zone was not a concern except in the wall with no exterior insulation and interior kraft vapor retarder, though rapid drying occurred in springtime. Drying of OSB after controlled wetting events was generally faster during warm weather than cold weather; faster with exterior insulation than without during cold weather; faster with vapor-open exterior insulation than low-permeance exterior insulation during cold weather; and faster with interior kraft vapor retarder than polyethylene.

Comments

If you are experiencing accessibility issues with this item, please contact the Accessibility and Inclusion Librarian through lib-accessibility@syr.edu with your name, SU NetID, the SURFACE link, title of record, and author & and reason for request.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.14305/ibpc.2018.be-4.04

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

COinS
 
Sep 24th, 1:30 PM Sep 24th, 3:00 PM

Moisture monitoring of wood-frame walls with and without exterior insulation in a Midwestern U.S. cold climate

Syracuse, NY

Continuous exterior insulation is becoming more common in North American above-grade walls in both retrofit applications and new construction, as a means to improve the thermal performance of wall assemblies. Although moisture performance of wood-frame wall assemblies has been studied extensively, the drying capability of wall assemblies with exterior insulation and an interior vapor retarder in cold climates is not well characterized. This study monitored the hygrothermal performance of wall assemblies with and without exterior insulation under high and low interior humidity conditions and with intentional wetting of the wood structural panel sheathing. Moisture content and temperature of standard 38 mm × 140 mm wood framing and 11 mm thick oriented strand board (OSB) sheathing were measured over a two-year period in eight different wall assemblies, each with north or south orientation, in a conditioned test structure in Madison, Wisconsin. Wall configurations differed primarily in the interior vapor retarder (kraft paper or polyethylene film) and the exterior insulation (none, expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, or mineral wool). OSB sheathing was wetted in a controlled manner at three different times of year to investigate drying response. Wintertime moisture accumulation in OSB in the tested climate zone was not a concern except in the wall with no exterior insulation and interior kraft vapor retarder, though rapid drying occurred in springtime. Drying of OSB after controlled wetting events was generally faster during warm weather than cold weather; faster with exterior insulation than without during cold weather; faster with vapor-open exterior insulation than low-permeance exterior insulation during cold weather; and faster with interior kraft vapor retarder than polyethylene.

https://surface.syr.edu/ibpc/2018/BE4/4

 

To view the content in your browser, please download Adobe Reader or, alternately,
you may Download the file to your hard drive.

NOTE: The latest versions of Adobe Reader do not support viewing PDF files within Firefox on Mac OS and if you are using a modern (Intel) Mac, there is no official plugin for viewing PDF files within the browser window.