But there are also other materials, such as airgel, cork, straw, mycelium and hemp. Each of these options has different qualities and attributes that can inform your choice of materials for a particular location. The main insulating products currently on the market are glass wool, stone wool, polystyrene, polyurethane, cellulose and woodfibre. It is a property that describes how well building elements conduct heat per unit area across a temperature gradient. The U value, in turn, is the global heat transfer coefficient and can be found by taking the inverse of the R value. Using material with lower lambda value increases the R-value. Doubling the thickness of the insulation doubles the R-value. R-value of insulation is related to thickness and the Lambda value of the insulation (Lambda is the heat conductivity of the material in W/mK). To measure the values needed for each situation, there are some concepts to learn. Open-cell spray foam: This study looked at a variety of retrofit techniques, including open-cell spray foam, to see how walls managed moisture.Save this picture! Weekend House at Aalloa / Studio 4000. ![]() The walls not only reduced cost but also improved moisture performance. Vapor-open exterior retrofits: This project looked at vapor-permeable alternatives, such as cellulose, to using exterior foam for retrofits. The effect of the double vapor barrier: This study examined how adding various amounts of rigid foam to the exterior of the wall affected the wall’s ability to breathe and what the ideal amount of insulation would be to balance cost and durability. Learn about the Mobile Test Lab studies below: The Mobile Test Lab seeks out the most cost-effective ways to retrofit while protecting the durability of the wall.Ĭheck out our different wall designs here. With the push to make homes more energy efficient, it is important to understand how new construction and retrofit techniques affect the wall’s ability to handle moisture. ![]() Each one is outfitted with different combinations of interior insulation, vapor barriers, and exterior insulation and contains sensors recording temperature, wood moisture content, relative humidity, and heat flux through the wall. Used in over five tests since 2005, the Mobile Test Lab has nine wall bays that allow us to test various building techniques. These are tested with a combination of computer modeling and physical testing in the Mobile Test Lab, where we build a variety of wall systems and simulate typical home conditions to monitor their performance over the changing seasons. They also need to be tailored to the location, as different materials are available on the road system than in a remote, fly-in village.ĬCHRC continually engages with industry partners to develop the most cost-effective building envelopes possible. ![]() CCHRC tests and develops a wide variety of building systems for various regions, from the cold dry climate of Interior Alaska to the wet, windy communities of the Bering Sea coast.īuilding envelopes must be thermally efficient as well as moisture safe to hold up over time in the north. Building envelopes are the bread and butter of our research, with a major focus on developing enclosures that are cost-effective, durable, and highly energy efficient.
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