Fraunhofer Building Innovation AllianceSustainable wooden buildings are growing in popularity in Germany and elsewhere. Unlike masonry, however, wood is very moisture-sensitive, and errors in the planning or execution of buildings can quickly lead to expensive damage. For many years, the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics IBP has been working on the development of suitable models and techniques for realistically evaluating the moisture behavior of building components dependent on use and climate. In the construction industry, the hygrothermal simulation program WUFI® has made a name worldwide for its evaluation of the effectiveness of moisture protection. The software takes into account all relevant, practical variables from a construction perspective, covering everything from vapor diffusion and radiation effects to air infiltration. It is also able to evaluate the influence of green roofs.
Together with Fraunhofer WKI, new generic material data was calculated for various wooden material products as part of an industrial research project. From the fall of 2016, this information expands and updates the data basis used by the software to calculate wooden building components. In addition to the evaluation of moisture contents and the development of moisture over time, there are also models for evaluating the risk of mold and wood rot. Consequently, Fraunhofer IBP possesses all the state-of-the-art expertise required for the technical moisture evaluation of wooden components according to the latest scientific knowledge. We are happy to advise and support you in product development, planning, evaluation and damage assessment.