A Rapid Review of Hygrothermal Performance Metrics for Innovative Materials in Building Envelope Retrofits

Robin Hilbrecht, Cynthia A. Cruickshank (), Christopher Baldwin and Nicholas Scharf
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Robin Hilbrecht: Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
Cynthia A. Cruickshank: Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
Christopher Baldwin: Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
Nicholas Scharf: Faculty of Engineering and Design, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada

Energies, 2025, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-28

Abstract: With government, industry, and public pressure to decarbonize the building sector through reducing embodied and operational emissions, there have been a wide range of innovative materials used in building envelope retrofits. Although these innovative materials, such as super insulating materials, bio-based insulation, and many others, are assessed on thermal performance and code requirements before use in retrofits, there is no unified standard assessment metric for hygrothermal performance of innovative materials in building envelope retrofits. This paper performs a rapid review of the available literature from January 2013 to March 2025 on hygrothermal performance assessment metrics used in retrofits. Using rapid review methods to search for records in Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, fifty-nine publications were selected for bibliometric and qualitative analysis. Most selected publications include discussions and analysis of relative humidity in the wall assembly post retrofit, moisture content, and mould index within the envelope. There is a research gap in publications considering hygrothermal damage functions such as freeze–thaw index, relative humidity and temperature (RHT) index, or condensation prediction. There is also a research gap in country and climate studies and analyses of in situ retrofits with innovative materials, and occupant comfort post retrofit.

Keywords: rapid review; hygrothermal performance; building envelope; innovative material; retrofit; assessment criteria; in situ; hygrothermal simulation; renovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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