Development of a three-dimensional hygrothermal model of a historic building in WUFI^®Plus vs EnergyPlus

Departamento de Engenharia Civil, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, FCT, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal

^* E-mail address: g.coelho@campus.fct.unl.pt (G. Coelho)

Abstract

Historic artefacts are crucial to transmit history to future generations. Depending on the characteristics of their components these objects can be prone to biological attacks, chemical decay or even mechanical degradation. These three types of decay are induced by the indoor relative humidity and temperature, which are largely dependent on the characteristics of the building envelope, the outdoor climate and the number of occupants. In order to attain a proper indoor climate for the conservation of the artefacts it may be necessary to implement some types of changes. However, and due to the high heritage value of most of the buildings that house these artefacts, any type of changes has to be thoroughly studied prior to its implementation. These studies are usually carried out using a hygrothermal model of the building validated by the measured indoor conditions. The development of these models is entirely based on non-destructive procedures, which is a key factor when studying historic buildings. The yearly indoor climate of a 13^th century church in Lisbon was measured and then used to develop a hygrothermal model of the church in two of the most used software in cultural heritage: EnergyPlus and WUFI^®Plus. The obtained results for each model were compared against the measured indoor temperature and water vapour pressure to determine which are the advantages of the two software.