Experimental wooden frame house for the validation of whole building heat and moisture transfer numerical models

An experimental investigation has begun concerning the hygrothermal behaviour of wooden frame houses. The experimental set-up, consisting in a full-scale wooden frame house exposed to natural exterior climate is presented in the paper. It is located in Grenoble (South-East of France), and is equipped with over 150 sensors in order to collect a large amount of data (temperatures, relative humidity). The experimental data presented in the paper enable to get better understanding of coupled hygrothermal phenomena, and can be used to allow the validation of numerical models for heat, air and moisture transfers in wooden frame buildings. The analysed results demonstrate the importance of temperature-driven moisture diffusion from hygroscopic panelling.