Evaluation of the Dependence of the Parameters of Internal Environment of Wooden Truss on the Orientation of the Building

Abstract

Historical wooden trusses carry a lot of information about used tools, technologies or construction processes. Unfortunately they are generally threatened by many dangers, which could cause irreparable damage and loss of the carried information. Protection of historical roof trusses is an important part of efforts to protect our cultural heritage. Wood destroying insects and fungi are the most serious threats to historical roof trusses in our climatic conditions. Their spreading depends on several specific (interior) conditions. These include critical moisture content in the wood, relative humidity, temperature, etc. In addition to these commonly monitored parameters (and their critical levels) we also must not forget the influence of local geography, biotope or orientation to the cardinal. This paper describes temporal fluctuations of some of the mentioned physical parameters in a historical roof truss (in Brno, Czech Republic) with regard to external climatic conditions and orientation to the cardinal.