HIGH-PERFORMANCE, LOW-TECH
  • Projects
    • Environment Box
    • Passive Refrigeration
    • Water Cooling
    • Fog Catching
    • Roof Geometries
    • Optimal Insulation
    • Cooler Windcatcher
    • Green Machine
    • Mitigating Humidity
    • Convective Air Flow
    • Styrene Reuse
    • Thermal Reflection
    • ETFE Rigidification
    • Phase Change Materials
    • Polar Reflection
    • Cavity Depth Variation
    • Vapor Permeability
    • Algae Facade
    • Moisture Buffering
    • Engineered Geometries
    • Recycled Desiccant Materials
    • Living Wall
    • Solar Shading Facades
    • SHADESin.reACTION
    • Low-Fab Dehumidification
    • Breathing Wall
    • Urban Heat Island
    • Acoustical Design
    • Latent Heat of PCM's
    • Insulative Qualities of Air
  • About
  • Lectures
    • Building Science Basics I
    • Building Science Basics II
    • Research & Literature Review
    • Scales of Fabrication
    • Electronics
    • Methodology
    • Graphical Excellence
    • Moving Graphics
  • Assignments
    • 1: Research Proposal
    • 2: Prototype
    • 3: Data
    • 4: Design Proposal
    • Presentation & Paper
  • Workshops
    • Thermal Scavenger Hunt
    • Balance Point Game
    • Advanced Shop Training
    • Basic Electronics
    • Advanced Electronics
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    • Data Visualization
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  • Syllabus
  • Resources

Methodology

Box condition : 70% Dew-point
The design condition of the environment chamber is based on the highest recorded dew-point in New York city 2021.

Preconditioning
To test the moisture absorption capacity of hygroscopic materials, pre existing moisture within the materials must be removed. 
Wood
To precondition the wood sample it was placed in an oven. The oven was set to preheat and once it was preheated the wood samples were placed in the oven on dehydrating trays for a few hours. 

Clay Brick & Concrete brick 
The brick was preconditioned in the oven on dehydrating trays for 3 hrs. 
Soil 
Soil was sun-dried for 48 hours and then placed in a microwave for 1 minute.
​

Process for each material
1.Measure materials after preconditioning. This will be repeated after the experiment is over to determine whether or not the materials physical property has changed.
2.Place material inside environment box and turn on humidifier. 
3.Seal box and turn humidifier on until the Dew-point reaches 70%. This will be the base value that will be used to compare absorption capacity between the varying materials.
4. After the environment reaches 70%, allow it to run for the remainder of the allotted time.
​5. Repeat
Picture
Measure the material so that the weight is distributed along the shorter face. If the material is measured laying on the largest face, the weight may be miscalculated.

Picture
Experiment Setup

Proposal

Background

Construction

Methodology

Results

  • Projects
    • Environment Box
    • Passive Refrigeration
    • Water Cooling
    • Fog Catching
    • Roof Geometries
    • Optimal Insulation
    • Cooler Windcatcher
    • Green Machine
    • Mitigating Humidity
    • Convective Air Flow
    • Styrene Reuse
    • Thermal Reflection
    • ETFE Rigidification
    • Phase Change Materials
    • Polar Reflection
    • Cavity Depth Variation
    • Vapor Permeability
    • Algae Facade
    • Moisture Buffering
    • Engineered Geometries
    • Recycled Desiccant Materials
    • Living Wall
    • Solar Shading Facades
    • SHADESin.reACTION
    • Low-Fab Dehumidification
    • Breathing Wall
    • Urban Heat Island
    • Acoustical Design
    • Latent Heat of PCM's
    • Insulative Qualities of Air
  • About
  • Lectures
    • Building Science Basics I
    • Building Science Basics II
    • Research & Literature Review
    • Scales of Fabrication
    • Electronics
    • Methodology
    • Graphical Excellence
    • Moving Graphics
  • Assignments
    • 1: Research Proposal
    • 2: Prototype
    • 3: Data
    • 4: Design Proposal
    • Presentation & Paper
  • Workshops
    • Thermal Scavenger Hunt
    • Balance Point Game
    • Advanced Shop Training
    • Basic Electronics
    • Advanced Electronics
    • Excel & Illustrator
    • Data Visualization
    • Videos
    • Animations
  • Syllabus
  • Resources