The effect of brick properties on hygrothermal performance of solid walls

Tsang, Christopher; Thomas, Felix; Hardy, Adam; Glew, David

Abstract

To construct buildings of the future that are both energy-efficient and moisture-resilient, it is critical to have an in-depth understanding of the varying characteristics of brick properties. This study sampled eight brick-cores taken from solid walled homes across the UK, to investigate the impact of thermal conductivity and hygrothermal parameters on U-values and moisture accumulation. Modelled U-values of uninsulated solid walls, in this sample, ranged between 1.6 and 2.6 W/m2K, with 6 of 8 the homes having surface condensation risks. There was even greater variability found in the moisture content in inner brickwork when simulated in WUFI, between 0.1 to 5.8 %, indicating some bricks are at significantly higher risk of moisture accumulation.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (published)
• Conference Name: 2nd International Conference on Moisture in Buildings 2023 (ICMB23)
• Start Date: Jul 3, 2023
• End Date: Jul 4, 2023
• Acceptance Date: Jun 1, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jun 27, 2023
• Publication Date: Jun 27, 2023
• Deposit Date: Oct 25, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 30, 2023
• Publisher: ScienceOpen
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.14293/icmb230018
• Keywords: Hygrothermal modelling, Brick properties, Building Regulations, Moisture accumulation, U-values
• Publisher URL: https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14293/ICMB230018