Generation of moisture reference years for interstitial condensation risk assessment: influence of the meteorological record length

Heat, air and moisture (HAM) transfer simulations used in moisture accumulation risk assessment of building envelopes require adequate weather files. The common approach is to use weather data of reference years constructed from meteorological records. The length of the records affects the capability of representing the real weather of the resulting reference years. In this paper the problem of the influence of the length of the records on the representativeness of the reference years is addressed and an evaluation of the effect on the moisture accumulation risk analysis with the Glaser Method and with Delphin is presented confirming that records shorter than 10 years could lead to less representative reference years. An alternative reference year (Moisture Reference Year) for moisture related simulations is presented and, the results for the considered weather stations show that it is possible to use it as a representative year for the moisture accumulation risk evaluation.