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Proceedings of BSO Conference 2020: Fifth Conference of IBPSA-England

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Hygrothermal properties of Scottish building stone and mortar

Phil Banfill

Abstract: Traditional solid masonry walls allow moisture transfer which determines their performance and durability but retrofitting thermal insulation risks upsetting the equilibrium within a wall. To prevent accelerated material deterioration, understanding the hygrothermal impacts of building alterations is critical for structures in exposed locations, and hygrothermal simulation software allows the impact of insulation retrofits to be assessed before a retrofit project starts and helps to avoid negative effects. However, the available software packages lack information on the material properties of Scottish masonry. This paper reports a project to contribute to a data set of material properties. Values of thermal conductivity, sorptivity or water absorption coefficient by partial immersion, water vapour permeability (dry and wet cup), hygroscopic sorption, density and porosity have been determined for the following materials: Natural hydraulic lime mortars (NHL2, NHL3.5 and NHL5) and a hot-mixed lime mortar in both the uncarbonated and carbonated states, an earth mortar, three building stones in current production (Hazeldean sandstone, Locharbriggs sandstone and Scottish Whinstone) and three building stones used historically but no longer in production (Crathes granodiorite, Craigleith sandstone and Giffnock sandstone). This is the first time such data have been brought together.
Pages: 207 - 212
Paper:
bso2020_Banfill