Lead Performer: Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Oak Ridge, TN
June 16, 2014
minute read time
WUFI is a menu-driven PC program allowing realistic calculation of the transient coupled one-dimensional heat and moisture transport in multi-layer building components exposed to natural weather. Click the image to see an animated version of the software.
Lead Performer: Oak Ridge National Laboratory - Oak Ridge, TN
Partners:
-- University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, MN
-- Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics - Oberlaindern, Germany
DOE Funding: $835,000
Cost Share: $70,000
Project Term: October 2012 - September 2015
Project Objective
Approximately 41% of U.S. households are in the Northeast and Midwest regions, where deep foundations are the dominant below-grade construction style. This project at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) aims to identify energy-efficient, durable foundation insulation systems — customized to climate zone, soil type, and insulation system — that do not accumulate moisture. WUFI has been deployed and validated for decades worldwide as a tool to predict heat and moisture transfer in building envelopes, and it has been successfully adopted for use in the United States by ORNL. The fiscal year 2014 goal of the project is to assess the viability of WUFI 2D as a tool that can be employed for below-grade construction, and to initiate fixes as required, in collaboration with Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Amir Roth
Performer: Andre Desjarlais, Oak Ridge National Laboratory