Why control water vapour transmission through the building enclosure?

to be able to control the humidity levels within the interior of the building, which in turn impacts the comfort of the occupants to minimize the possible negative eects of high moisture levels within the building enclosure itself, where the potential for deposit of liquid water exists if the temperature at any location drops below the dew point temperature

Water vapour transmission

Water vapour transmission
Water vapour moves through building assemblies by two distinct mechanisms: 1. Vapour diusion 2. Air movement

Water vapour transmission by diusion

Vapour diusion is the mechanism by which water vapour molecules actually move through the intervening materials. The driving force is the vapour pressure dierence from one side of an assembly to the other, and the resistance is the vapour resistance of the assembly.

vp Rvap

A l

Water vapour transmission by air movement

The movement of air actually transports water vapour with it through an assembly. The driving force is the air pressure dierence from one side of an assembly to the other, and the resistance is the air resistance of the assembly.

Water vapour transport mechanisms

Our primary concern in analyzing assemblies is to identify if and where condensation may occur.

p Rair

b tran y air spo rt

by v diuapour sion
interior conditions

A l

In typical building assemblies, there is potential for much more water vapour to be transferred by air movement than by diusion.

exterior conditions

Water vapour transmission by diusion

The rate at which water vapour movement occurs by diusion is dependent on several factors:

Water vapour transmission by diusion

The equation for water vapour transmission through an assembly by diusion is as follows:

The driving force or dierence in potential from one side of an

assembly to the other. In this case it is a dierence in vapour pressures water vapour moves by diusion from a location of high vapour pressure to one of low vapour pressure. of the intervening materials.

W p w = = A l

vp

Rvap

The vapour transmission properties, or vapour permeability The cross-sectional area of the assembly under consideration.

w = rate of transmission of vapour (ng/s) W = total mass of vapour transmitted (ng) = time during which transmission occurs (s) = permeability (ng/s m Pa) A = cross-sectional area of ow path (m2) p = vapour pressure dierence (Pa) l = length of ow path (m)

A l

Water vapour transmission by diusion

An alternate formula when the permeability and material thickness are combined, and presented as permeance coecient:

Water vapour transmission in series

When components are in series, note that the vapour resistances of each of the components are additive:

vp

Rvap

1 w = Ap = MAp = Ap l R
M = /l = vapour permeance (ng/s m2 Pa) R = 1/M = vapour resistance (Pa s m2/ng)

A l

1 w = Ap R1 + R2

A l1 l2

Water vapour transmission in parallel

When components are in parallel, note that the vapour permeances times their respective areas are additive:

Vapour diusion vs. conductive heat transfer

There is an obvious analogy between vapour transmission by diusion and heat transfer by conduction.

w = ( M1A1 + M2 A2 + ...)p A A = ( 1 + 2 + ...)p R1 R2

With heat transfer by conduction,

w1 w2

A1 A2 l

heat moves through materials dependent on their thermal conductivity and the dierence in temperatures from a location of high temperature to one of low temperature.

With vapour movement by

diusion, water vapour moves through materials at a rate dependent on their vapour permeability and the dierence in vapour pressures from a location of high vapour pressure to one of low vapour pressure.

Heat transmission
q= Q t = kA l
q = rate of heat ow (J/s or W) Q = total heat transmitted (J or W s) = time during which ow occurs (s) k = conductivity (W/C m) A = cross-sectional area of ow path (m2) t = temperature dierence (C) l = length of ow path (m) Alternate formula when conductivity and material thickness are combined, and presented as conductances:

Vapour transmission
w= W p = A l
w = rate of transmission of vapour (ng/s) W = total mass of vapour transmitted (ng) = time during which transmission occurs (s) = permeability (ng/s m Pa) A = cross-sectional area of ow path (m2) p = vapour pressure dierence (Pa) l = length of ow path (m) Alternate formula when permeability and material thickness are combined, and presented as permeance coecient:

Vapour diusion vs. conductive heat transfer

Although there are strong parallels between the mathematical relationships characterizing the two mechanisms, vapour diusion has the additional complication due to the possibility of phase change condensation of the vapour.

k 1 q = At = CAt = At l R
C = k/l = conductance (W/C m2) R = 1/C thermal resistance (C m2/W)

w=

1 Ap = MAp = Ap l R

Care must be taken in all calculations to ensure that the vapour pressure never exceeds the saturation vapour pressure at the given temperature, a situation which would indicate that condensation would occur, and the simple steady-state mathematical analysis breaks down. Another way of stating the same thing is that the relative humidity must never exceed 100% in the calculations.

M = /l = vapour permeance (ng/s m2 Pa) R = 1/M = vapour resistance (Pa s m2/ng)

Water vapour transmission coecients

material vapour permeance vapour resistance (ng/s m2 Pa) Pa m2 s/ng aluminum foil (1 mil) nil self-adhesive membrane (40 mil) 2.2 0.45 aluminum foil (0.35 mil) 2.9 0.34 polyethylene (6 mil) 3.3 0.30 polyethylene (2 mil) 9.1 0.11 paint, 1 coat sealer + 2 coats alkyd 14 0.071 asphalt Kraft paper 17 0.059 extruded polystyrene (50 mm) 35 0.029 polyvinyl chloride, PVC (2 mil) 39 0.026 plywood (12.7 mm) 50 0.020 building paper (30 min) 420 0.0024 spunbonded polyolen (Tyvec) 3,646 0.00027

Calculating water vapour transmission

Because of the parallels between vapour movement by diusion and heat ow by conduction, similar methods can be used to analyze onedimensional, steady-state ow for both processes.
Type I vapour barrier (<15)

Assuming an assembly comprised of multiple components in series, the temperature gradient can be calculated as before
Temperature (C)

Temperature variation through assembly

Temperature
25

Type II vapour barrier (15 - 45)

20

15

10

-5

-10

-15

10

11

Interface in assembly

Temperature variation through assembly

Temperature variation through assembly

Calculating water vapour transmission

Temperature (C)

Temperature
25

20

15

Calculating water vapour transmission

Temperature (C)

Temperature
25

20

15

Assuming an assembly comprised of multiple components in series, the temperature gradient can be calculated as before then, using a similar method, a vapour pressure gradient can also be determined. The method used is often referred to as the ASHRAE prole method or Glasers method after the rst person to document this technique.

10

-5

-10

Assuming an assembly comprised of multiple components in series, the temperature gradient can be calculated as before
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

10

-5

-10

-15

-15

10

11

Interface in assembly

Interface in assembly

Vapour Pressure variation through assembly

Vapour pressures

2500

then, using a similar method, a vapour pressure gradient can also be determined. To verify that 100% relative humidity is not exceeded anywhere in the assembly, we also plot the saturated vapour pressure on the same graph.
Vapour pressure (Pa)

Vapour Pressure variation through assembly

Vapour pressures Vapour pressures Saturated vapour pressures

2500

2000

2000

Vapour pressure (Pa)

1500

1500

1000

1000

500

500

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Interface in assembly

Interface in assembly

Calculating water vapour transmission

Vapour pressure gradients tend to be less accurate than temperature gradients for several reasons:

Requirements of the vapour retarder

1) The vapour retarder must have a suciently low vapour permeance (or high vapour resistance). This would typically include the following materials:
Type 1 vapour permeance < 15 ng/s m2 Pa 2, 4, or 6 mil polyethylene sheet aluminum foil self-adhesive membrane (peel & stick) built-up roong membrane PVC or EPDM roong membrane vapour permeance from 15 45 ng/s m2 Pa 3 coats alkyd paint plywood > 50mm polyurethane foam

Vapour permeability values are diculty to ascertain precisely,

varying widely depending on the source and the method used, and often varying with the moisture level. very large, so that steady state conditions seldom exist for very long.

The moisture storage capacity of many construction materials is Condensation (and evaporation), which may take place at
Type 2

intermediate locations within an assembly, has no direct mathematical counterpart in heat ow calculations, and interferes with any steady-state analysis because of the change in state.

Requirements of the vapour retarder

According to the BC Building Code (2006): The vapour barrier shall have suciently low permeance and shall be positioned in the building component or assembly so as to: b) reduce moisture transfer by diusion, to surfaces within the assembly that would be cold enough to cause condensation at the design temperature and humidity conditions, to a rate that will not allow sucient accumulation of moisture to cause deterioration or otherwise adversely aect any of i) the health or safety of building users, ii) the intended use of the building, or iii) the operation of building services.

Requirements of the vapour retarder

2) In order to minimize the possibility of condensation, the vapour retarder must be located on the high vapour pressure side of the assembly in a cold climate this implies the warm side of the assembly.

high vapour pressure direction of vapour movement by diusion vapour retarder

low vapour pressure

Requirements of the vapour retarder

3) It is not essential that the vapour retarder be totally continuous throughout the assembly since water vapour transferred by diusion is proportional to the relative size of the openings

The text and images used in this presentation have been obtained from a number of di erent sources. This information has been assembled speci cally for the delivery of the course CIVL 478 Building Science & the Building Enclosure, and forms an integral part of the course material which is required for examination. The presentation is intended for educational purposes only, to be used solely by students enrolled in the course. It is not to be distributed electronically or in hard copy format to any other party. Greg Johnson