Combined air, heat, moisture and VOC transport in whole buildings

Thermal and moisture performances of whole buildings are rather well understood today andvarious models exist for simulating those. However, models for calculating VOC emissionsfrom or through building envelope parts are still rare and often need specific materialproperties for each transported compound. A comprehensive model for indoor air qualityshould be able to account for the coupling of thermal, moisture, air and VOC processes andmake use of generalized material properties.In this paper, we first present a computer simulation model for predicting the combined air,heat, moisture and pollutant transport, followed by a discussion on the material propertiesrequired for the model simulation, and then present the predicted and measured results forindividual materials and a typical wall assembly of residential houses with the objective ofdemonstrating the usefulness of the simulation model.