Heat & Moisture Simulation Workshop | Assess Risk & Prevent Interstitial Condensation

Is the building you are designing or retrofitting:

• traditionally built or a protected structure?
• to feature a solid wall or unventilated roof buildup?
• tall or in an area of strong winds?
• damp or considered problematic?
• to be fitted with internal wall insulation?
• to be made very airtight and highly insulated?
• to feature timber in vulnerable positions, like joist ends?

If you are concerned about interstitial condensation, mould or rot then you need to evaluate the risks with WUFI® Pro.

The annual WUFI® Pro Workshop, now delivered online, provides a practical, hands-on introduction to how one can use WUFI® Pro to carry out hygrothermal numerical simulation. WUFI® is the world-leading simulation software for understanding the risk of interstitial condensation, mould, rot and freeze-thaw in buildings. The training includes guided use of the software, and a 6-week temporary licence of the full version of the WUFI® Pro software, as well as access to support on the online WUFI® Forum for that period.

Teaching in the Covid Era

In the context of social distancing and travel restrictions, we have changed the way we teach the WUFI® Pro Workshop this year from a 2-day, on-site delivery at a London venue to teaching a similar number of hours online over a one-week period (from Friday to Friday). We will use the ‘flipped classroom’ approach that Joseph and his team in Technological University Dublin have developed for the MSc in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design). The approach is particularly suited to teaching software applications.

The week-long WUFI® Pro Workshop will be structured around three live webinars. The first introductory session will be on the morning of 20th November. Access will be provided to a supporting website, containing resources that include videoed lectures, Wufi files, standards and a formative exercise to deepen the students’ learning (that is submitted a few days later).

The second webinar on 24th November will allow Joseph and Christian to provide feedback to the students on the formative exercise, answer questions and do live demonstrations. Another block of lectures and formative exercise will then be released to allow further learning and practice before the final webinar on 27th November. That third, concluding, webinar will have the same format.

The online, ‘flipped classroom’ approach allows students to learn at their own pace, the videoed lectures allow repeated re-listening, the greater amount of time using the software facilitates more exploration and familiarity, and the Q+A can correct errors and point to future learning. We hope you enjoy the new approach.

Guidance & Assessment

Despite Wufi being available since 1995 and being validated to BS EN 15026 since that standard was first published in 2007, it was only in 2016 that BS 5250 - the Code of Practice for Control of Condensation in Buildings referred to BS EN 15026 and acknowledged transient hygrothermal simulation (as ‘full modelling’). In the last two years the Code of Practice has been significantly re-thought and re-written: in the Summer of 2020 it was sent out to public consultation. We have been told that the revised document is underpinned by an ethos that is more up-to-date, more risk averse, more focused on capacity, systemic thinking and in-service conditions.

Moisture in Buildings: an Integrated Approach to Risk Assessment and Guidance authored by Neil May (RIP) and Dr. Chris Sanders (published by BSI) and Technical Paper 15 authored by J. Little, C. Ferraro and B. Arregi (published by Historic Environment Scotland) are two key documents in the emerging library of serious, peer-reviewed guides to applied building physics and risk assessment of historic buildings that have been created for building professionals. Both documents are available free as downloadable pdfs and form a context for this training course.

Despite these positives changes, most building material suppliers and many building design professionals still prefer to carry out hygrothermal risk assessment using the Glaser Method. Section D.3.5 BS EN 15026(2016) states the limitations of the Glaser method. ‘This method assumes moisture transfer is affected solely by diffusion; thermal conductivity and thermal resistance of materials are assumed constant; the effects of phase changes and the specific heat capacity of materials are ignored’.

The Glaser method cannot assess the impact of:

• imperfect construction (such as air leakage in internal air barrier and rain ingress at cracks)
• short-term weather events (like driving rain and freeze thaw)
• orientation and exposure
• hygroscopic materials (like brick, plaster, timber and many insulants)
• construction moisture
• material characteristics that vary (depending on changes in moisture or temperature etc.)

What is the sense of assessment that excludes real world conditions and variability? WUFI® Pro can be used to asses all such conditions and more.

Topics discussed will include the vocabulary and fundamentals of building physics, practical examples with WUFI® Pro, interpretation of results, the compliance context in the UK, and a review of completed case studies. Particular attention is paid in the course to how one carries out risk assessments when there is a lack of data on the hygrothermal characteristics of commonly used or existing building materials in the UK. Attendees will learn how to input building fabric assemblies, including orientation and location etc., and run simulations on different configurations, including their own projects.

Who should attend?

The workshop is open to all building professionals, e.g. architects, engineers, surveyors, insulation suppliers, system manufacturers, builders and anyone with a focus on fabric performance. No previous experience with the WUFI® Pro software is required.

Schedule: 

This event will be split over three live contact sessions, as below.  Following each session, delegates will be given distance learning to complete at their own time.  These will need to be complete before the next live session, so please factor in time in your schedule. 

Live interactive sessions are at the time of event only, all delegates MUST attend at the time to complete the course.

There are now thousands of WUFI® Pro users around the world and rising fast.

Book now to join the growing ranks of WUFI® simulators. Our previous WUFI® Pro courses have sold out so book now to secure your place!

See a highlights video from the 2018 WUFI® Pro course:

Registration:

Course fees include the online course tuition, digital course materials, and the full version of the WUFI® Pro software with a 6-week temporary licence, as well as access to support on the online WUFI® Forum for that period.

Participants must have a MS Windows-compatible laptop (on which they have administrator privileges) and will receive the full version of the WUFI® Pro software with a 6-week temporary licence.

About the Speakers

Christian Bludau, Dipl.-Ing., Senior Researcher - Fraunhofer IBP, Germany

Christian Bludau is a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, Department for Hygrothermics, in Germany. Christian received his Diploma in Civil Engineering at the Technical University of Munich, Germany in 2001. After his studies he worked as research assistant at the Institute for Building Materials and the Institute for Structural Engineering at the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich.

He has worked as researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics since 2005 and from 2011 to 2015 he had held a lectureship for building physics / moisture control in buildings at the University of Applied Sciences in Augsburg. His research interests focus on the hygrothermal conditions in wall and roof constructions with special interests in the thermal behaviour of flat roofs. Christian has been involved in many WUFI® seminars, lessons and workshops during the last few years.

Joseph Little, BArch, MSc Arch. AEES, TU Dublin

Joseph Little is Assistant Head of School at Dublin School of Architecture in Technical University Dublin (which replaced DIT on 1st January 2019). He is programme chair of MSc in Building Performance (Energy Efficiency in Design) which has a blended online mode of delivery. He graduated from the UCD School of Architecture in 1996 and from the Graduate School of the Environment at the Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales, in 2008. Joseph set-up his own practice in 2003 when he realised that his passion for low energy, environmental building design could only be realised outside of mainstream architectural practices and launched Building Life Consultancy in February 2009.

Since 2010 Joseph has taught hygrothermal risk assessment using WUFI® Pro with Fraunhofer IBP across the UK and Ireland. He is co-author of Historic Scotland Technical Paper 15 - 'Assessing risks in insulation retrofits using hygrothermal software tools - heat and moisture transport in internally insulated walls’ and 'Hygrothermal Risk Evaluation for the Retrofit of a Typical Solid-walled Dwelling' (SDAR* Journal, Vol.4, Iss.1). The hygrothermal risk assessment module of the MSc in Building Performance is available to UK building professionals (subject to qualifications) as an online CPD delivered over 5 weeks, cementing the knowledge gained in this workshop.

What did delegates say about previous WUFI® Pro Workshops?

"Very good ... most useful was an overview of WUFI Pro, its function, versatility and application in many areas giving me a better appreciation of the software ... Enjoyed the case studies."

"Excellent ... useful tutorial and hands on training with software ... unbiased views & discussions on industry conventions and software."

“Very good mix of theory & worked examples – didn’t assume we already knew everything."

"Excellent ... Great volume of material to study, and the speaker’s expertise and experience."

This event is held in partnership with: