The influence of air on the heat and moisture transport through a light weight building wall

This paper discusses the influence of air transport on the heat and moisture transfer phenomena through a light weight test wall. The wall is a multilayered structure built up from outside to inside of external board, vented cavity, wind barrier, mineral wool between wooden studs and interior fmishing. The global wall has a surface area of (1.80 x 2.60) m(2) and is subdivided into three vertical parts. The parts differ from each other by the applied interior finishing. In the first year, the set up has been measured as it was originally built. Blower door and tracer gas tests demonstrated that all parts were rather air tight and that vapour diffusion was the main driving force for the moisture transfer through the wall. In the second year, the interior wooden finishing of the first part was drilled, consequently increasing the air permeability of the wall. The newly generated data after the wall is drilled together with the old ones are used to analyse and quantify the coupled heat, air and moisture (HAM) transport through the wall. The experimental data are confronted with the traditional Glaser method and a convection diffusion model for the analysis of coupled Heat Air and Moisture (HAM) transport.