Abstract
Mold growth poses a high risk to a large number of existing buildings and their users. Air leakage through the air cavities of the building walls, herein gaps between walls and air conditioner pipes penetrating the walls, may increase the risks of interstitial condensation, mold growth and other moisture-related problems. In order to quantify the mold growth risks due to air leakage through air cavity, an office room in a historical masonry building in Nanjing, China, was selected, and its indoor environment has been studied. Fungi colonization can be seen on the surface of air conditioner pipes in the interior side near air cavity of the wall. Hygrothermometers and thermocouples logged interior and exterior temperature and relative humidity from June 2018 to January 2020. The measured data show that in summer the outdoor humidity remained much higher than that of the room, while the temperature near the air cavity stays lower than those of the other parts in the room. Hot and humid outdoor air may condense on the cold wall surface near an air cavity. A two-dimensional hygrothermal simulation was made. Air leakage through the air cavities of walls proved to be a crucial factor for mold growth.
Highlights
Dampness and mold growth are commonly observed in residences, offices and other buildings [1], resulting in economic [2] and environmental [3] problems
This paper investigated the effect of air leakage through the air cavity of building walls on mold growth risks
Hygrothermal measurements and a numerical simulation were implemented on a historical office building in Nanjing, China
Summary
Dampness and mold growth are commonly observed in residences, offices and other buildings [1], resulting in economic [2] and environmental [3] problems. Even emphasized that the priority of maintaining indoor air quality is to minimize persistent dampness and microbial growth on interior surfaces and in building structures. Accumulation and dispersion of fungi spores, cell fragments, allergens, and microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) lead to severe human health hazards [5]. Indoor mold will increase the risk of chronic rhinosinusitis hypersensitivity, pneumonitis/allergic alveolitis and allergic fungal sinusitis [6,7,8,9]. Chronical exposures to microbial contaminants can trigger sick building syndrome (SBS) [10,11,12], including asthma, rhinitis or bronchitis symptoms.
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