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Increasing Building Envelope Resilience to Moisture Damage
Design and construction of resilient building envelopes
One in three Australian homes suffers from excessive dampness and mould proliferation, a phenomenon exacerbated by inadequate architectural strategies, poor construction practices and bad maintenance. It results from a lack of awareness and knowledge on the topic in construction.
The current Australian policy is unable to fully capture the indoor mould growth risk and offer a reliable assessment and design framework, failing to provide an adequate prevention agenda for architects and builders.
In response to mould and condensation issues, the Australian National Construction Code (NCC) introduced mandatory requirements in 2019. Its deem-to-satisfy provisions aim at minimising the risk of condensation but its performance verification method relies on standard assumptions that do not account for increased internal humidity or construction defects, making the research undertaken here all the more urgent and necessary.
Amidst the context of failure and knowledge gaps, the aim is to develop clear guidelines for the design and construction of resilient building envelopes. The work will include a catalogue of climate-specific build-ups, with quantified hygrothermal performance and examples of 2D detailing accompanied by a bi-dimensional analysis of moisture transport.
Project team
- Arianna Brambilla - Associate Professor, Lecturer in Architectural Technology
- Eugenia Gasparri - Lecturer in Architectural Technologies
- Aysu Kuru - Lecturer in Architectural Science