Estimating Values for the Moisture Source Load and Buffering Capacities from Indoor Climate Measurements

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the potential for estimating values for the total size of human induced moisture source load and the total buffering (moisture storage) capacity of the interior objects with the use of relatively simple measurements and the use of heat, air, and moisture (HAM) models. The study presents the related modeling approaches, the implementation in the MatLab/ SimuLink environment, and a verification study of the models using indoor climate measurements of a Dutch museum. It is concluded that the modeling approach may be useful for estimating the magnitude of the human induced heat and moisture source loads. The case study is not usable for estimating the buffering capacity of the interior objects due to the weak dependency on the quantity of moisture storage material (there is almost no hygroscopic material present). However, the present approach has the side effect that it may be usable to indicate the effect of wet clothing. This study shows that the moisture source load of wet clothing per person can be of the same order as the moisture produced per person. Further research is needed if one wants to quantify the effect of wet clothing on the moisture load more accurately. More case studies are required to evaluate the approach for the determination of such moisture capacities.