The hygrothermal performance of building envelope system is dictated by the response of the system to combined heat, air and moisture fluctuations produced by exterior and interior conditions that exist on either side of the envelope. This study was undertaken to generate information that would assist the benchmarking hygIRC model and related methods to assess hygrothermal performance of wall assemblies. This paper reports on experimental results to assess the drying rate of various combinations of sheathing membrane in close contact with wood-based sheathing. A weighing system was devised to conduct drying experiments on wood based products that would retrieve data on the change in weight of specimens continuously over time from which the hygrothermal response of the specimens could then be determined. Specimens consisting of saturated wood sheathing board products of approximately 0.8-m by 1-m size and weighing 5-kg, were either wrapped in different types of sheathing membrane or directly exposed to uniform environmental conditions in a climate chamber. Results provide a measure of the hygrothermal response of the different combinations of sheathing and sheathing membrane and establish rates at which drying occurs in these products. The results are useful in helping benchmark mathematical hygrothermal simulation model hygIRC.
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