Environmental performance assessment using monitoring and DVS testing

Abstract

It is now widely accepted that the adverse effects of climate change have become more visible over recent last decades, and current climatic trends suggest that more severe conditions are to follow. In relation to extreme weather events due to climate change, various material degradation phenomena and loss of structural integrity, due mostly to moisture-related deteriorating agents, have been observed on the existing building stock, especially historic buildings. The identification and quantification of such adverse effects is therefore of utmost importance, and environmental monitoring is one of the strongest tools to achieve this aim. This paper provides detailed information regarding on-site environmental monitoring work carried out on a sixteenth century timber frame cottage in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England, along with hygroscopic characterisation using the dynamic vapour sorption (DVS) technique. The results obtained from monitoring and DVS testing are discussed to give detailed insight into hygrothermal damage mechanisms and the resulting loss of strength/physical integrity due to adverse environmental impacts on historic building envelopes.