Building Enclosure: Modern Hygrothermal Performance Assessment by Simulation

Modern Hygrothermal Performance Assessment by Simulation – Motivation, Basics & Examples

Presented by:
     Manfred Kehrer - Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc 

     Andi Mele - Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc

Today’s building enclosures are more energy efficient than decades ago, mainly due to a higher level of insulation and air tightness. The downside is a higher risk of moisture accumulation with potential structural failure, decay, and unhealthy conditions as a consequence.

Modern hygrothermal engineering has already made its way from science to engineering and is an important tool today for modern building enclosure design and analysis. This presentation will describe the motivations for hygrothermal engineering, outline the basic principles, shows tools and examples.


Sessions: (Sessions will be similar presentations.)

Learning Objectives:

1. Learn the importance of hygrothermal performance assessment in today’s world of high performance building enclosures.
2. Understand the transport phenomena for heat and moisture.
3. Recognize the limitations of hygrothermal performance assessment by simulation.
4. Learn the remaining challenges for hygrothermal performance assessment by simulation

Manfred Kehrer joined WJE in 2017and has been involved in researching, testing, and analysis of exterior envelope and concrete systems. He has helped develop WJE’s hygrothermal laboratory and computational fluid dynamics initiative for analysis of building enclosures. Prior to joining WJE, he was involved in the research and investigation of building science issues and developed analytical methods to advance the industry. He worked for more than twenty years at Fraunhofer IBP, Germany, in the area of hygrothermal performance of building enclosures and has been group manager for software development where he was responsible for development, quality control and sales of WUFI®. Mr. Kehrer was a senior building scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where he was in charge of a variety of types of research in building science. Since 2011, Mr. Kehrer has been the Official WUFI® Collaboration Partner for USA/Canada.

Andi Mele joined WJE in 2015 and has since been involved in a variety of building enclosure investigation and repair projects. He has conducted and witnessed numerous exterior envelope mock-up and field tests, including water and air leakage testing of air and weather barriers and window systems. Mr. Mele has participated in peer reviews of exterior enclosures and assisted in the design of interface detailing with emphasis on constructability, waterproofing, and mitigating condensation potential. He has expertise in evaluating moisture related building enclosure issues through thermal and hygrothermal analysis of building assemblies. As an NFRC Certified Simulator, Mr. Mele is proficient in the use of THERM and WINDOW to analyze thermal performance and localized heat transfer effects in building enclosures.

---

CSI Chicago is a AIA CES Registered Provider (Provider Number S001).