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Mould growth and refurbishment of high-rise residential buildings

Smaragdis, G; (2008) Mould growth and refurbishment of high-rise residential buildings. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London). Green open access

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Abstract

High-rise residential buildings are among the dweeling types existing in the UK. Most of them have been built between the 1960's and 1970's and they have poor environmental performance. High energy costs and mould growth are among the main problems that are encountered in these type of dwellings. The solution to deal with these problems is refurbishment. The most common method of refurbishment is overcladding of the external facade as apart from reducing the risk of mould and the energy costs, it also has the advantage of improving the external appearance of the building. In terms of cost, cavity wall insulation is the most efficient, however for buildings taller than a certain height a feasibility study should be conducted. This study aims to investigate the factors that affect the risk of mould growth before and after the refurbishment of high-rise residential buildings. The focus is mainly given on four parameters: insulation, air permeability, use of trickle ventilators, and use of mechnical ventilation. A theoritical building was simulated to study the importance of each one of them. The most effective way for the reduction of mould risk is the use of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) as it eliminates the risk of mould and simultanuously reduces significantly the energy demands for heating. The role of air permeability is also very important. The higher the air permeability, the smaller the mould risk is and vice versa. The use of insulation while reduces the energy demands it needs to be combined with some form of mechanical extract ventilation in order to have sufficient results. The use of trickle ventilators has only a small effect and this, only when there is no insulation.

Type: Thesis (Doctoral)
Title: Mould growth and refurbishment of high-rise residential buildings
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Language: English
Additional information: Thesis digitised by ProQuest.
UCL classification:
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1569464
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