PHT moisture guide
15 January 2024
Moisture in buildings is a hot topic in retrofit, as it is the cause of many building failures, as well as potentially impacting disastrously upon indoor air quality and the health and well-being of occupants. On the surface, it seems like something that we Passivhaus Consultants or Designers should not have to pay much attention to. After all, we’ve got an exceptionally airtight building, reduced thermal bridging, a wonderfully warm interior temperature and excellent ventilation to all rooms in the building. On top of that, it’s all built to a high level of quality. So, what is there to worry about?
To find out if there’s anything to worry about, we first have to understand some basic moisture physics. It might be that your Passivhaus project has a very moisture-robust approach, but when it comes to EnerPHit, there could be a bit of a mish-mash of moisture strategies because we have to take into account the existing building!
The new moisture guide from the Passivhaus Trust (PHT), which QODA’s Kostas Megagiannis co-authored alongside retrofit specialist Sarah Price and Toby Cambray, guides designers through what we need to know when considering moisture in EnerPHit projects. This guide succinctly brings together all the published information on moisture in retrofit, covering the topics that are most relevant to those assessing, designing and building EnerPHit projects.