Authors: Divya Mullick, Rashmin Damle, Nikhil Bhesaniya, Yash Shukla, Rajan Rawal
Abstract:
To predict the impact of the moisture-buffering ability of building materials, hygrothermal simulations are carried out. It is a simulation-based study where the two numerical models of EnergyPlus are studied: Conduction Transfer Function (CTF) and Combined Heat and Moisture Transfer (HAMT). The study quantifies the annual energy consumption in a low-rise office building for five climate zones of India. Preliminary work shows that lime-plastered building has lower indoor relative humidity by 6 - 10% and the indoor conditions were 6% more comfortable. The results show that building having cement plaster is more energy consuming than lime. The moisture-buffering capacity of lime helped in reducing overall energy consumption by 12 – 23 kWh/m2 for the five climate zones of India.
