Testing | Checking | Measuring

At a test building on the test field whole wall segments can be torn down and reconstructed. The building is air-conditioned in winter to an indoor climate of +20 °C and 50 % r.h. Test duration is at least a period of 6 month up to several years. Temperature and moisture measurements on the wall sequence can be used for validation of WUFI® simulations.

A test specimen is saturated with water by immersion in water. The saturated specimen is sealed on the sides with aluminium foil and if necessary insulated. Then the drying out over the top face is measured in the climate chamber. The measured drying curve can be divided in a first drying period, which only relates to the test conditions (temperature, moisture, air velocity) and a second period, which is material dependent.

Artificial window for a detailed analysis of daylight conditions

A sample of the insulation material is laterally sealed with an epoxy resin. The back side of the specimen is attached to a cooling device to manage a dew-point undercut. The front side is exposed to the climatic conditions in the climate chamber. This produces a gradient of temperature and partial pressure, and consequently vapor diffusion into the material. The adsorbed moisture is condensing at the sealed back side of the material, where it causes an increase of relative humidity; hence, the moisture content inside the material sample is rising. Due to the increasing gradient of relative humidity, a liquid transport back to the front of the material sets in. Eventually, the opposing moisture fluxes will reach a dynamic equilibrium.

The calorimetric façade and roof testing facility, which is located on Fraunhofer IBP’s field test site in Holzkirchen, can be used to measure the energy properties of transparent building elements in-situ under real weather conditions.

Investigating bleed air contaminants in a targeted and controlled manner.