Microclimate Rain Analysis of In-situ Hitex Diamond Cavity Wall Construction

Auckland City Council asked “Does RH exceed 80% in Rain Event? Do Diamond walls dry out and recover following a Rain Event? What period does drying take? Does RH exceed 80\% for sufficient time for moulds to grow? This work is in response to “Should Diamond have limitations in wetter environmental areas? Ran spray water over wall 24/7 for 5 days. Immediate effect is wall cools and RH increases. At all times RH inside the wood framing remains less than 80%RH. Rain event caused surface probes to increase an average of 2.5\%MC. MC returned to normal in 8 days following test. No conditions that would allow mould to grow.

key facts

Tests performed by Ian and Bryan Holyoake in June 2004 at the Hitex factory walls.