Extract

Abstract: Hygrothermal and bio-hygrothermal risks within buildings are commonly acknowledged to be synergistic effects of the interrelated factors of the outdoor climate, envelope material selection, indoor climate, and operational profiles. This paper provides a summary of a literature review of hygrothermal (heat and moisture) and bio-hygrothermal (mould growth) risk analyses of buildings. Responding to Australia’s industry and government needs to inform ongoing enhancements to the national building regulations, the aim of this review is to bring together the current research, methodologies, evidence on prevalence, and risk factors in this field, and to explore the implications that may be caused by Australia’s intermittent conditioning requirements and the major reliance on occupant operated ventilation to manage interior relative humidity within old and new residential buildings. This research has applied a
two-step research approach, namely a bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review. Using bibliometric techniques, 7194 documents regarding the theme were analysed that were published from 2008 to 2023, and then further limited to articles with the occurrence of keywords, analysed papers of key research clusters to further unpack current knowledge of this area. This systematic literature review focuses on the factors, causes and mitigations of the hygrothermal and bio-hygrothermal risks in energy efficiency buildings, to identify that the research gaps are still significant. For temperate climates, impact from intermittent occupation and conditioning and the reliance on occupant managed interior relative humidity control haven’t been adequately captured in the regulations, standards, or simulation processes.

Keywords: hygrothermal, bio-hygrothermal risk, sustainable building design, bibliometric research, indoor air quality, sick building syndrome, dampness of building, literature review, VOS Viewer

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