Moisture performance of facade elements made of thermally modified norway spruce wood

Abstract

Wooden facades are gaining in importance. Thermally modified wood is becoming one of the preferred materials for claddings. In spite of the fact that facades made of thermally modified wood have been in use for more than two decades, reports about long-term monitoring have been sparse. The results of three-year monitoring of a facade made of thermally modified wood in Ljubljana are reported. Moisture content measurements of thermally modified facades were taken at 22 locations and compared to the moisture content of untreated Norway spruce wood. Temperature and relative humidity were recorded in parallel. The moisture content of the wood was compared to the average relative humidity before the measurements. The results confirm the lower moisture content of thermally modified wood in comparison to reference Norway spruce. The moisture content of the wooden facade could be best correlated with the average relative humidity and temperature 48 h before the wood moisture content measurement was taken.