Moisture transfer in hygroscopic materials and energy exchangers for buildings

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. Research on buildings is very important because Canadians spend over 90% of their time in buildings and the building sector in Canada accounts for over 30% of energy consumption. Therefore, buildings that provide occupants with a good indoor climate and air quality (i.e., healthy buildings), while consuming minimal energy are important for a healthy, prosperous and sustainable nation. An important, but often neglected, indoor environmental parameter is humidity, thus indoor humidity is often considered to be of small importance for a successful design because temperature is easier to sense, quantify and control. Nevertheless, research has shown that the indoor relative humidity can significantly affect: (i) thermal comfort, (ii) the perception of air quality, (iii) occupant health, (iv) the durability of building materials, (v) material emissions and (vi) energy consumption. In fact, moisture is one of the leading causes of building failure and poor indoor air quality in Canada and countries with similar cold climates. Since temperature and humidity play an important role in the human perception of air quality, air that is hot and humid will be perceived to have a poor quality (or high concentration of contaminants) regardless of whether it is polluted or not. The quality of the indoor environment is especially important because it is strongly linked to the health and well being of occupants.