Condensation Risk Due to Variations in Airtightness and Thermal Insulation of an Office Building in Warm and Wet Climate

Wanghee Cho, Shizuo Iwamoto and Shinsuke Kato
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Wanghee Cho: Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan
Shizuo Iwamoto: Department of Architecture, Faculty of Engineering, Kanagawa University, 3-27-1 Rokkakubashi, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama 221-8686, Japan
Shinsuke Kato: Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 11, 1-25

Abstract: Condensation in a building encourages microbial growth, which can have an adverse effect on the health of occupants. Furthermore, it induces the deterioration of the building. To prevent problems caused by condensation, from the design step of a building, predictions of the spatial, temporal and causation for condensation occurrences are necessary. By using TRNSYS simulation coupled with TRNFLOW, condensation assessment of an entire office building in Tokyo, Japan, was conducted throughout the year, including when the air-conditioning system was not operated, by considering the absorption-desorption properties of the building materials and papers in the office and the airflow within the entire building. It was found that most of the condensation occurred during winter and was observed mainly in the non-air-conditioned core parts, especially the topmost floor. Additional analyses, which identified the effect of variations in the thermal insulation of the external walls, roof and windows and the airtightness of the windows on condensation, showed that the lower airtightness of windows resulted in decreased condensation risks, and condensation within the building was suppressed completely when the thermal insulation material thickness of the external walls was greater than 75 mm, that of the roof was greater than 105 mm and the windows had triple float glass.

Keywords: condensation risk ( CR ); microbial growth; airtightness; thermal insulation; office building; warm and wet climate (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: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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