Towards a practical mould growth risk indicator

Abstract

The most dominant moisture-related problem in buildings is mould growth. Although recent research has established the causal, physical biological relationships between moisture content, temperature, material type, and mould growth, we do not have an established set of causal relationships between certain building parameters and the risk of mould growth. This paper will deal with the first stage of research that focuses on the construction of a ‘performance indicator’ (PI) that expresses the mould growth risk in existing buildings as the causal effect of certain building parameters. This stage focuses on the accurate prediction of mould growth based on the availability of detailed information about the physical states of building materials over time. These states will be aggregated into a PI value that is meaningful to the actual risk.