10:30 am - 11:50 am | Room: Pretium Room | Session Chair: Andrea Mucciarone

Hygrothermal Performance Evaluation

Hygrothermal Performance Of The Modified Hempcrete In The Canadian Climate

Alternative products in architecture and construction, such as green materials, are critical for a sustainable world's economic growth and people's lives improvement. Research into sustainable building materials and their performance is required to minimize construction's environmental impact. The new sustainable block material, which is the objective of this research, is a modified hempcrete bio-composite building material. In this study, 16 cases for the wall assembly were analyzed in four distinct climates zones in Canada (climate zone 4, 5, 6, and 7) without any additional vapour retarders, having different geographic orientations and exterior finishing. WUFI software was used to assess the hygrothermal performance of the modified hempcrete. Two main criteria were considered in this study, the moisture content over time in different layers of the wall system and the improved model to predict mould growth proposed by Viitanen and Ojanen (2007), revised and adopted by ASHRAE standard 160-2016. The moisture criteria for all 16 cases were satisfied over time; however, wind-driven rain oriented accumulated moisture on the modified hempcrete in Montreal's cases. The mould growth index for the same city confirmed the mould growth potential. Besides that, cases in Victoria, BC, north oriented with the bright exterior colour; Toronto, ON; and Montreal, QC should have additional attention, such as the moisture content analysis.

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