The building envelope

Question 1

Which are the four control layers and
which processes are they supposed to deal with?

Answer 1

?

Question 2

Is it a distinction between damp and water? Explain!

Answer 2

Damp is not yet saturated water, but still wet

Question 3

Pressure differences over the building envelope. What is meant by the “stack effect”?

Answer 3

?

Question 4

What is the driver for the air movement, and which is the direction?

Answer 4

Density: Hot air rises upwards due to its lower density.
Pressure: Hot air expands, creating pressure. Then flows towards cold side of space (Due to sun on one side)

Question 5

What is meant by driving rain?

Answer 5

?

Question 6

How is a building influenced by driving rain?

Answer 6

?

Question 7

What is meant by a cavity wall?
Give examples on different types of drained-screened wall systems.

Answer 7

?

Question 8

Explain about the control layers in a wall of this kind.

Question 9

In a cavity wall – how is drying made possible?

Question 10

What is the meaning of having a cavity tray (or water diverter) in a cavity wall?

Question 11

Can something be explained about the critical parts in the assembly (or excecution) of a high
performance filled cavity wall?

Question 12

Why is it so important to avoid air movements around the thermal insulation boards in a cavity
wall?

Question 13

About the mass storage wall systems
What kind of rain protection will they give?

Question 14

About the mass storage wall systems
Give some examples

Question 15

About the mass storage wall systems
Where can we find the control layers in this kind of walls?

Question 16

About the mass storage wall systems
What is meant by “dry stone walls”?

Question 17

What tells the example of the brick wall with different kinds of thermal insulation on the inner
side about the process of moistening and drying of a compact brick wall?

Question 18

In the example of water absorption of a brick and a concrete wall, what are the consequences of
water absorption and what are the consequences of high run off?

Question 19

Water in the ground
Explain about a damp-proof course in a basement.

Question 20

Water in the ground
Explain different levels of water in the ground and is the type of soil important in this case?

Question 21

Water in the ground
What is capillary action and where does it happen?

Question 22

Water in the ground
What is rising damp and how does the transport of salt by rising damp work?

Question 23

Water in the ground
How can effloresce of salt happen and how is the visibility of it related to the relative humidity?

Question 24

Water in the ground
What is frost erosion and what is it’s mechanism?

Question 25

Water in the ground What is spalling?

Question 26

Water in the ground How can we hinder capillary moisture transport in a basement wall?

Question 27

How can we understand the temperatures in the ground in winter and summer solstice respectively?

Question 28

What is the problem with frozen soil and why does it happen and how can problems be avoided?

Question 29

When temperature is measured deeper and deeper in the ground, how will it vary, and what temperature is expected 20 meters down in the ground?

Question 30

Explain the idea with the crawl space foundation, or what is meant by a crawl space foundation?

Question 31

What is meant by a slab on ground foundation?

Question 32

How can a heating system be incorporated in the ground slab?

Question 33

What is meant by a basement foundation?

Question 34

Explain about moisture protection in a basement.

Question 35

Explain about thermal insulation of a basement wall.

Question 36

Explain about different ways for damp or water to pass the air gap in a cavity wall: What happens when a thermal insulation material becomes damp?

Question 37

Explain about different ways for damp or water to pass the air gap in a cavity wall: Water that flows on the inner of the outer leaf and rises at the inner leaf

Question 38

Explain about different ways for damp or water to pass the air gap in a cavity wall: The possible problem with wall ties.

Question 39

Explain about different ways for damp or water to pass the air gap in a cavity wall: Problems with gaps in the thermal insulation

Question 40

Explain about different ways for damp or water to pass the air gap in a cavity wall: What may be the problem with indoor air reaching the gap in the cavity wall?

Question 41

Explain about different ways for damp or water to pass the air gap in a cavity wall: What is the problem with “air washing” round the batts of thermal insulation?

Question 42

Explain about different ways for damp or water to pass the air gap in a cavity wall: The summer damp case.

Question 43

What is meant by perfect wall barrier systems?

Question 44

EIFS or ETICS – what is that and what happens in case water enters the inner of a wall of this type?

Question 45

Explain differences in placing the vapor membrane depending on the climate.

Question 46

What can we make out of looking at comfort zones in summer and winter and combining them with areas of moisture and temperature outdoors, and putting them into a mollier-diagram?

Question 47

Explain design of a wall to window connection in different climates. Where should the control layers be?

Question 48

Explain about why the line for the break of a thermal bridge should be quite straight through the construction.

Question 49

How is a joint seal designed?

Question 50

What determines the ideal width of a joint seal between two concrete elements in a wall?

Question 51

Why is it good having a threshold in a horizontal joint?

Question 52

How can a horizontal joint be drained?

Question 53

How is the joint between a window frame and a wall designed?

Question 54

Explain about damage in joints.

Question 55

What is the difference between a one step-joint and a two step-joint?

Question 56

How are joints assembled in a floor and why is it done in that way?

Question 57

It is worth thinking about the different weather barrier concepts.

Question 58

Explain “the weather barrier concepts”