The comparative in situ hygrothermal performance of Hemp and Stone Wool insulations in vapour open timber frame wall panels

Latif, Eshrar ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3982-6929, Ciupala, Mihaela Anca and Wijeyesekera, Devapriya Chitral 2014. The comparative in situ hygrothermal performance of Hemp and Stone Wool insulations in vapour open timber frame wall panels. Construction and Building Materials 73 , pp. 205-213. 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.09.060

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Abstract

An in situ experiment in a full scale timber frame test building was carried out to compare the hygrothermal performance of Hemp and Stone Wool insulations of identical thermal conductivity. Hemp and Stone Wool insulations were installed in timber frame wall panels without vapour barrier. The comparison was made in terms of heat transfer properties, likelihood of mould growth and condensation. Step changes in internal relative humidity were performed to explore the effect of high and normal internal moisture load on the wall panels. No significant difference between the average equivalent thermal transmittance (U-values) of the panels incorporating Hemp and Stone Wool insulations was observed. The average equivalent U-values of the panels were closer to the calculated U-values of the panels based on the manufacturers’ declared thermal conductivity of Hemp and Stone Wool insulations. It was observed that the placement of heat flux sensor along the depth of the insulation had significant influence on the measured equivalent U-value of the panels during high internal moisture load. The frequency and likelihood of condensation was higher in the interface of Stone Wool and Oriented Strand Board (OSB). In terms of the parametric assessment of mould germination potential, relative humidity, temperature and exposure conditions in the insulation-OSB interfaces were found to be favourable to germination of mould spore. However, when the insulations were dismantled, no mould was visually detected.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Architecture
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > NA Architecture T Technology > TH Building construction
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Sustainable material; Hemp insulation; Stone Wool insulation; U-value; Mould spore germination; Condensation
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date of Acceptance:	24 September 2014
Last Modified:	01 Nov 2022 10:02
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/89963

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