Reliability of Existing Climate Indices in Assessing the Freeze-Thaw Damage Risk of Internally Insulated Masonry Walls

Sahar Sahyoun,Maurice Defo,Michael A Lacasse,Hua Ge

doi:10.3390/buildings11100482

Sahar Sahyoun, Maurice Defo + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11100482

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Journal: Buildings	Publication Date: Oct 17, 2021
Citations: 8	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: National Research Council Canada, Concordia University

Abstract

This paper evaluates the reliability of the currently used climate-based indices in selecting a moisture reference year (MRY) for the freeze-thaw (FT) damage risk assessment of internally insulated solid brick walls. The evaluation methodology compares the ranking of the years determined by the climate-based indices and response-based indices from simulations, regarded as actual performance. The hygrothermal response of an old brick masonry wall assembly, before and after retrofit, was investigated in two Canadian cities under historical and projected future climates. Results indicated that climate-based indices failed to represent the actual performance. However, among the response-based indices, the freeze-thaw damage risk index (FTDR) showed a better correlation with the climate-based indices. Additionally, results indicated a better correlation between the climatic index (CI), the moisture index (MI), and FTDR in Ottawa; however, in Vancouver, a better fit was found between MI and FTDR. Moreover, the risk of freeze-thaw increased considerably after interior insulation was added under both historical and projected future climates. The risk of FT damage would increase for Ottawa but decrease for Vancouver under a warming climate projected in the future, based on the climate scenario used in this study. Further research is needed to develop a more reliable method for the ranking and the selection of MRYs on the basis of climate-based indices that is suitable for freeze-thaw damage risk assessment.

Highlights

IntroductionWith the increased concern in respect to climate change, and following the Paris
With the increased concern in respect to climate change, and following the ParisAgreement, Canada has established the Vancouver Declaration on Clean Growth and Climate Change, a pan-Canadian framework to contribute to the growth of a clean economy and address the severity of climate change
The objective of this study was primarily to evaluate the reliability of commonly used approaches for the selection of a moisture reference year (MRY) to assess the freeze-thaw damage risk of solid brick masonry walls

Summary

Introduction

With the increased concern in respect to climate change, and following the Paris. The Canadian government has introduced the “Canadian Net-zero Emission Accountability Act” in November. 2020 to legislate Canada’s target of net-zero GHG emission by 2050. Previous research has shown that under a changing climate, greater rainfall intensity, more extreme winds, and more frequent storms are expected, which may increase wind-driven rain (WDR) loads on the façade and, heighten risks of rain penetration and moisture-related damage to buildings [4,5,6,7,8,9]. The growth in weather and climate extremes may significantly increase the risk of deterioration of existing infrastructure [10,11,12,13]

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