Influence of hygroscopic interior finishing on indoor comfort conditions

Indoor humidity level is important for building performance and occupants. The durability of building components is directly related to the humidity condition and materials inside buildings can get damaged if they are persistently under high levels of moisture concentration. The indoor humidity level is related to the room factors including moisture gains and ventilation conditions and to the moisture ab/desorption capacity of hygroscopic materials for interior finishing or furnishing of the building. The phenomenon of the indoor humidity level being dampened by the dynamic moisture interactive process between hygroscopic materials and indoor air is recognized as moisture buering effect. The buffering effect and the moisture ab/desorption performance of hygroscopic materials under different room factors were studied in this thesis by means of numerical simulation. The transient state indoor environment influenced by room factors, taking into account the moisture interactive process between indoor air and enclosure, was investigated numerically in this thesis. The CFD technique was employed in the numerical investigation.