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Proceedings of the International Workshop on Full Scale Test Facilities for Energy
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Field exposure of walls facility
Maref, W.; Armstrong, M. M.; Saber, H. H.; Swinton, M. C.; Ganapathy, G.;
Nicholls, M.; Abdulghani, K.; Rousseau, M.
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Field Exposure of Walls Facility
N R C C - 5 4 0 2 0
M a r e f , W . ; A r m s t r o n g , M . M . ; S a b e r , H . H . ;
S w i n t o n , M . C . ; G a n a p a t h y , G . ; N i c h o l l s , M . ;
A b d u l g h a n i , K . ; R o u s s e a u , M .
A p r i l 2 0 1 1
A version of this document is published in / Une version de ce document se trouve dans:
International Workshop on Full Scale Test Facilities for Energy and
Hygrothermal Performance, Brussels, Belgium, March 30-31, 2011, pp. 1-8
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FIELD EXPOSURE OF WALLS FACILITY
Institute/ organisation:
Nat ional Research Council Canada Inst it ut e f or Research in Const ruct ion
Contact person:
Dr. Wahid Maref
1200 Mont real Road, Bldg M24 Ot t awa, Canada Tel: 613-993-5709
e-mail: wahid.maref @nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Exact location:
Ot t awa, Canada 45° 26’ N, 75° 37’ W
G
ENERAL DESCRIPTION
NRC- I RC's Field Exposur e of Walls Facilit y ( FEWF) is locat ed in Resear ch House no. 3 at t he NRC Mont real Road cam pus in Ot t awa. The facilit y is used t o assist t he building indust ry in dev eloping int egrat ed solut ions by providing opport unit ies for t he charact erizat ion of t he hygrot herm al perform ance of innovat ive w all syst em s and ret rofit st r at egies. Researchers can exam ine t he com parat ive perform ance of different side- by- side wall assem blies exposed t o nat urally fluct uat ing out door clim at e and cont rolled indoor condit ions of relat ive hum idit y, t em perat ur e and pr essure. The dat a is used t o benchm ar k hygrot herm al m odeling sim ulat ions using hygI RC 1D, and hygI RC- C ( 3D) for opaque walls. hygI RC- C is also used t o assist t he design, com m issioning and analysis t he experim ent s and result s from t he FEWF.
Overal l l ay-out
Three t est bays in preparat ion.
Test bays nearing complet ion.
Slit s in air barrier and wood sheat hing allow exfilt rat ion and infilt rat ion.
Enclosure for cont rol of int erior Temperat ure, RH, and pressure.
The first floor of t he West facade of t he research house includes a t est bay m easur ing 7.5 m wide by 3.2 m high t est . I t can accom m odat e one lar ge specim en or sev eral nar row specim ens – t y pically 3 t est bay s per ex perim ent – see Figur e 1. Each bay is separat ed t herm ally w it h an insulat ed inst r um ent at ion cavit y. Each experim ent requir es t he full rem oval of t he t est bay and com plet e reconst ruct ion, and re-inst rum ent at ion. Ex perim ent s t y pically last a full y ear. Wall specim en dim ensions are not rest rict ed t o one size. Light weight w ood fram e w alls and m assiv e wall specim ens ( e.g. insulat ing concr et e for m walls) hav e been st udied. 7.5m 3.2m Test frame designed to provide the largest possible free bay for placement of several test specimens
Stack casing location
Figure 1. Schem at ic of t he Field Ex posure of Walls Facilit y ( FEWF) .
Inside boundary condit ions
To inv est igat e t he effect s of an increase of indoor hum idit y lev els on m oist ure cont ent of w ood- based m at er ials, an indoor clim at ic cham ber was const ruct ed t o int r oduce high hum idit y and increased air pressur e levels on t he int erior side of Walls 2 and 3. Wall 1 w as kept as a cont rol wall, and exposed t o uncont rolled indoor room condit ions ( i.e. low RH in wint er) . Pr essure, hum idit y and t em perat ure condit ions were regulat ed and m onit or ed t hroughout t he field t rial in t he indoor clim at ic cham ber . As ex am ple t he differ ent walls wer e subj ect ed t o v ary ing indoor condit ions of relat iv e hum idit y and pressure during t he w int er season. Four periods wer e select ed for int ensive analysis ( labeled A t o D respect iv ely ) , as descr ibed in Table 1. To explore t he pot ent ial for wet t ing and dry ing when v ary ing t he degree of air leakage across t he w all assem bly, t he specim en air leak age charact er ist ics w er e m odified dur ing t est ing t o r epresent t w o levels of incr eased leak iness as com par ed t o a perfect ly airt ight assem bly.
Condit ion
I ndoor Clim a t ic
Cham ber Opening in t he air barrier syst em and dryw a ll Test period ( 2 0 0 7 ) Range of Out door T ( ° C) Pressure ( rela t ive t o room a ir) RH A 0 Pa 70% None 11 Feb – 18 Feb - 24.5 t o - 3.3 B 5 Pa 50% 6 X 400 m m 22 Feb – 24 Feb - 14.3 t o - 4.6 C 5 Pa ~ 30% 3 X 400 m m 16 Mar – 17 Mar - 10.0 t o - 4.4 D 0 Pa 50% 3 X 400 m m 8 Apr – 15 Apr - 6.4 t o 6.3
Table 1. Exam ple of t est schedule of different indoor and out door condit ions.
Out side boundary condit ions
A rain gauge m easuring t he quant it y of rainwat er deposit ion in one area of t he ext erior face of t he ext erior siding is in place as w ell. Am bient out door par am et ers including t em perat ure, relat ive hum idit y, wind speed and direct ion are m easured by m eans of a w eat her st at ion locat ed 30 m from t he research house.
Special l imit at ions / possibilit ies
This f lexible st at e-of -art research house enables not only evaluat e t he in-sit u hygrot hermal perf ormance of ext erior wall assemblies t hat have dif f erent wall assembly t echniques, insulat ion syst ems and air and vapour barrier approaches, but enables as well comparison of various heat ing and vent ilat ion st rat egies while evaluat ing energy usage and t he qualit y of t he result ing indoor environment . It also allows side-by-side rooms comparison in t erm of energy concept ion and t hermal comf ort . Aut omat ed 3-D indoor environment measurement syst ems (robot s) are used t o sample spat ially dist ribut ed indoor environment paramet ers. The walls are exposed t o t he indoor condit ions of t he house and t heref ore will of f er an opport unit y t o invest igat e int eract ions bet ween wall moist ure perf ormance and indoor condit ions produced by t he various heat ing and vent ilat ion syst ems.
D
ATA ANALYSIS
Typical equipment wit hin t est wall
Several monit oring inst rument s were used t o charact erize hygrot hermal response in t he dif f erent layers of t he wall assembly. The middle st ud cavit y was designed t o be t he f ocus of t he st udy, wit h t he st ud cavit ies on eit her side act ing as a buf f er zone. For t his reason t he maj orit y of inst rument at ion was locat ed in t he middle st ud of each wall, as shown in Figure 2. The inst rument at ion was deployed at f our height s (Figure 3), wit h most sensors concent rat ed in t he large area below t he gap in t he ext erior sheat hing - where it was assumed moist air exf i lt rat ion would lead t o wet t ing.
Pressure sensors inst alled in t he t est specimens measured t he dif f erent ial air pressure bet ween t he pressure t aps, at locat ions shown in Figure 2, and t he ambient room pressure. Pressure t aps were locat ed in t he t op half of t he middle st ud cavit y, 254 mm (10 in. ) above t he gap in t he ext erior sheat hing.
Figure 2. Plan view of w all cross sect ion
Instrumentation - Plan View
Interior
Drywall Air/Vapour Barrier Stud Cavity with Glass Fibre Insulation Vinyl Siding Sheathing Membrane
OSB Air Pressure sensor
Moisture Pins
Figure 3. Liquid m oist ur e det ect ion st rips.
Addit ionally , researcher s deploy sensors of m oist ure cont ent of w ood-based m at er ials and liquid m oist ure det ect ors on t he surface of building m at er ials in differ ent int ernal layer s of t he wall specim ens.
RH and T sensor Thermocouple Exterior
Wireless RH&T Sensor Heat Flux Transducer (for W2 only)
381 mm (15 in.) 406 mm (16 in.) TAPE D1/D2 TAPE C 508 mm (20 in.) TAPE B1/B2 TAPE A 432 mm (17 in.) (W2 only) 1778 mm (70 in.) 406 mm (16 in.) opening in air/vapour barrier gap in sheathing 267 mm (10.5 in.)
Moist ure det ect ion st rips t o t rack t he pat h of condensat ion at t he inner surface of t he wood sheat hing.
Surface moist ure det ect ion dest ect ion st rips and moist ure pins.
Accuracy and logging resol ut ion
All sensor dat a is recorded at a 15-minut e int erval. Temperat ure was measured wit h an accuracy of ±0. 1° C, while relat ive humidit y measurement s were accurat e t o ±0. 5%. The uncert aint y of t he heat f lux measurement s was ± 5%.
I nst rum ent Manufact urer Model Measurem ent Range
Accuracy
Therm ocouple ( Type T)
Om ega TT- T- 24- SLE Max 200°C ± 0.1° C Relat ive Hum dit y HoneyWell HI H 3602C 0- 100% ± 0.5%
Heat Flux HuksefluxUSA Therm al Sensors
PU11- T & PU32- T - 2000 t o 2000 w / m2
± 5% of readings Pressure Sensors Set ra 0.25” WC and
2.5” WC
Max 0.25” WC and 2.5” WC
± 1% full scale
Table 2. I nst rum ent at ion accuracy .
Analysis of the data
The experiment al met hodology and inst rument at ion provided subst ant ial insight int o t he hygrot hermal perf ormance of wall assemblies under varying condit ions. The deployment of wat er det ect ion t ape proved valuable in conf irming or not t he presence of surf ace wat er at dif f erent layers t hrough t he wall when t emperat ure and humidit y condit ions were f avorable f or condensat ion. The result ing wealt h of dat a will aid in benchmarking numerical models, and in charact erizing t he response of t he ext erior walls t o heat , air and moist ure t ransf er.
E
XAMPLES OF PREVIOUS STUDIES
Since 2006 t he FEWF has been used t o st udy side-by-side hygrot hermal perf ormance of wall assemblies. The most of t he st udy f ocused on t he ef f ect s of t he dif f erent envelope charact erist ics on int erst it ial moist ure accumulat ion. Examples of previous st udies are:
1. Year 1 (2006-2007) Commission t he f acilit y by monit oring t hree ident ical t est specimens of t radit ional const ruct ion (2x6) t hrough Fall, Wint er and Spring.
2. Year 2 (2007-2008) Part nership wit h Canada Mort gage and Housing Corporat ion (CMHC) and Nat ural Resources Canada (NRCan) t o invest igat e t he ef f ect s of t wo energy ret rof it st rat egies on t he wet t ing and drying pot ent ial of wall assemblies.
3. Year 3 (2008-2009) Part nership wit h FPInnovat ion (Forint ek) t o invest igat e t he ef f ect s of t he int erior air/ vapour barrier polyet hylene membrane on t he wet t ing and drying pot ent ial of wall assemblies and ext ending t he proj ect wit h CMHC & NRCan f or one ret rof it st rat egy.
4. Year 4 (2009-2010) Part nership wit h CMHC & NRCan t o invest igat e t he dynamic heat t ransmission charact erist ics t hrough Insulat ed Concret e Form (ICF) wall assemblies over a f ull year cycle of weat her exposure. 5. Year 5 (201
Envelope Environment al Exposure Facilit y (EEEF)
Twin Houses at t he Canadian Cent re for Housing Technology
0-2011) Proj ect t o Test t he Next Generat ion Envelope
6. Year 6 and beyond Invest igat e t he performance of wall specimens of Syst ems (i. e. Vacuum Insulat ed Panel) in part nership wit h CMHC and NRCan.
dif f erent innovat ive designs based on indust rial collaborat ion/ part nership.
M
AINTENANCE
/
COLLABORATION
Personnel involved
The Research House is maint ained by Technical st af f and Managed by
Int ernat ional collaborat ion
There is current ly no specif ic int ernat ional collaborat ion. The f acilit y is
Link wit h ot her devices
The st udy of hygrot hermal behaviour of building envelopes under real Research Of f icers of t he Nat ional Research Council Canada’ s Inst it ut e f or Research in Const ruct ion (NRC-IRC) f rom t wo programs: Indoor Environment (IE) and Building Envelope and St ruct ures (BES).
current ly used in part nership wit h indust ry and wit h ot her Canadian Government Agencies.
climat ic condit ions as perf ormed in t he FEWF is one of t he f acilit ies of t he Heat , air and Moist ure Perf ormance of Envelope (HMPE) group. In addit ion t o t he f ield measurement s HMPE invest igat es specif ic aspect s of t hermal behaviour of wall syst ems in t he Guarded Hot Box apparat us as well at t he Environment al Exposure Envelope Facilit y (EEEF) climat ic chamber and Dynamic Wall Test Facilit y (DWTF) f or wat er penet rat ions. In t hese f acilit ies, t he building envelope is subj ect ed t o cont rolled boundary condit ions (Int erior and Ext erior). This will give bet t er insight of t he int erst it ial condensat ion and hygrot hermal perf ormance. The measurement s are used t o benchmark t he St at e-of -The-Art hygrot hermal CFD package t ool hygIRC-C developed by NRC-IRC. For whole-house energy and moist ure assessment st udies, t he t eam also collaborat es wit h t he Canadian Cent re f or Housing Technology (CCHT), operat ed as a part nership bet ween Nat ional Research Council Canada, Canada Mort gage and Housing Corporat ion and Nat ural Resources Canada.
R
ELEVANT LITERATURE
General l it erat ure about t he t est f acil it y:
• Client Report “ Evaluat ing The ef f ect s of Two Energy Ret rof it St rat egies For Housing on The Wet t ing and Drying Pot ent ial of Wall Assemblies” , W. Maref , M. Rousseau, M. A. Armst rong, W. Lei, M. Leroux and M. Nicholls, Nov 2009, PP 1-118.
• Client Report “ The dynamic heat t ransmission charact erist ics t hrough Insulat ed Concret e Form (ICF) wall assemblies over a f ull year cycle of weat her exposure” , W. Maref , H. Saber, M. A. Armst rong, M. Z. Rousseau, C. Thivierge, G. Ganapat hy, M. Nicholls, F. Lalumiere and K. Abdulghani, 2011.
• Client report “ Ef f ect s of t he Int erior Air/ Vapour Barrier Polyet hylene Membrane on t he Wet t ing and Drying Pot ent ial of Wall Assemblies” , W. Maref , M. Z. Rousseau, M. A. Armst rong, C. Thivierge, G. Ganapat hy, M. Nicholls, F. Lalumiere and K. Abdulghani, 2011, PP 1-100
Lit erat ure on previous measuring campaigns:
• Field Monitoring of Wetting and Drying in Wood-Frame Walls of Different Interior and Exterior Heat, Air and Vapour Transmission Characteristics for a Cold Climate Windows, W. Maref , M.
Armst rong, M. Z. Rousseau, C. Thivierge, M. Nicholls, G. Ganapat hy and W. Lei, Submit t ed t o ASTM Journal, 2010.
• Hygrothermal Response of Different Wall Assemblies to Water Ingress, C. Thivierge, W. Maref , M. Armst rong, G. Ganapat hy, M.
Nicholls and M. Z. Rousseau, Submit t ed t o 13t h Canadian Conf erence of Building Science and Technology, May 2011, Winnipeg, Canada.
• Field Monitoring of Wetting and Drying in Wood Frame Wall Assemblies in Cold Climate, W. Maref , M. Armst rong, M.Z. Rousseau,
C. Thivierge, M. Nicholls and W. Lei, Submit t ed t o 13t h Canadian Conf erence of Building Science and Technology, May 2011, Winnipeg, Canada.
• Field Energy Performance of an Insulating Concrete Form (ICF) Wall, M. Armst rong, H. Saber, W. Maref , M.Z. Rousseau, G. Ganapat hy
and M. C. Swint on, Submit t ed t o 13t h Canadian Conf erence of Building Science and Technology, May 2011, Winnipeg, Canada.
• Benchmarking 3D thermal model against field measurement on the thermal response of an insulating concrete form (ICF) wall in cold climate Saber, H. H.; Maref , W.; Armst rong, M. M.; Swint on,
M. C.; Rousseau, M. Z.; Ganapat hy, G. Elevent h Int ernat ional
Conf erence on Thermal Perf ormance of t he Ext erior Envelopes of Whole Buildings XI (Clearwat er, (FL), USA 2010-12-05) pp. 1-21. . • Field monitoring of energy-retrofitted wall assembly in cold
climate: impact of the vapour permeance of exterior retrofit insulation on the flow of moisture in wood-frame wall Maref ,
"Solving Moist ure Problems Creat ed by Energy Ef f icient Design" (Albuquerque (NM) USA 2010-06-30) . 1-15. . 1-12. -01 n 01 08-01-21 • Effect of the air and vapor permeance of exterior insulation on the flow of moisture in wood frame walls in a cold climate Armst rong, M. M.; Maref , W; Rousseau, M.; Lei, W.; Nicholls, M.ICBEST 2010 - Int ernat ional Conf erence on Building Envelope Syst ems and Technologies (Vancouver, Canada 2010-06-27)
• A field monitoring investigation of the effect of adding different exterior thermal insulation materials on the hygrothermal response of wood-frame walls in a cold climate Maref , W.; Armst rong, M. M.; Rousseau, M. Z.; Lei, W. BEST2 Conf erence (Building Enclosure Science & Technology) (Port land, (OR), USA 2010-04-12) pp
• Workshop on Moisture Management and Energy Rating in Building
Envelopes / Part II : Effects of two energy retrofit strategies on the
wetting and drying potential of wall assemblies Maref ,
W.; Armst rong, M. M.; Rousseau, M. Z. 12t h Canadian Conf erence of Building Science and Technology (Mont real, QC 2009-05-06)
• A field monitoring study of interstitial condensation in wood-frame walls in cold climate Armst rong, M. M.; Maref , W.; Rousseau,
M. Z.; Lei, W.; Nicholls, M. 12t h Canadian Conf erence on Building
Science and Technology (Mont réal, Quebec 2009-05-06) pp
• Effects of exterior insulation retrofit on moisture accumulation in wood-frame exterior walls (Poster) Rousseau, M. Z.; Maref , W.; Leroux, P.; Armst rong, M. M. pp. 1. 2008-10
• Recent experiments conducted in NRC-IRC moisture management
facility Rousseau, M. Z.; Maref , W.; Armst rong, M. M.; Lei, W.; Nicholls, M. Const ruct ion Innovat ion, 13, (3), pp. 7. 2008-09-01 Complet e cit at io
• Étude sur la performance hygrométrique des murs menée dans une installation d'essais à l'IRC-CNRC Rousseau, M. Z.; Maref , W.; Armst rong, M. M.; Lei, W.; Nicholls, M. Innovat ion en const ruct ion,
13, (3), pp. 7.
2008-09-• Characterization of the hygrothermal performance of wall
systemsMaref , W.; Manning, M. M.; Rousseau, M. Z.; Lei, W. ASHRAE Seminar 29 - Moist ure Management Concerns in Commercial and Resident ial Buildings (New York, USA 2008-01-21) pp. 1-83. 20
• Ventilation and wall research houseMaref , W.; Ouazia, B.; Reardon,
J. T.; Rousseau, M. Z. Perf ormance of Ext erior Envelope of Whole
Buildings X Conf erence (Clearwat er, Florida 2007-12-01) pp. 1-8. 2007-12-01
• New field testing facility at NRC-IRC offers opportunities for wall performance assessment Maref , W.; Rousseau, M. Z. Solplan Review, ( 135) , pp. 18- 19. 2007- 07- 01
• Hygrothermal performance of wall assembliesMaref , W.; Rousseau, M. Z.; Lei, W.; Manning, M. M.; Nicholls, M.; Nunes, S. C. Const ruct ion Innovat ion, 11, (4), pp. 5. 2006-12-01
