Moisture Control in New ASHRAE Standard

Moisture and mold continue to be problems in some structures. Often, nd much of the problems originate during the building design stage.
A new standard from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) provides guidance on how to design buildings with better moisture control in mind.

ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 160— Criteria for Moisture Design Analysis in Buildings— formulates design assumptions for moisture design analysis and criteria for acceptable performance.

“If the designer elects to perform a design moisture analysis, the standard requires he or she to think about the interior conditions that will be maintained in the building and the effect that may have on building envelopes,” says Anton TenWolde, chair of the committee that wrote the standard.

“The standard provides a methodology for the first time to make consistent design recommendations, such as the need, type and placement of vapor barriers in any climate," TenWolde says.

The standard introduces criteria to handle rain, wind and other exterior moisture weather loads.

To order, contact ASHRAE Customer Service at 800/527-4723 (U.S. and Canada) or 404/636-8400 (worldwide), fax 404/321-5478, or visit ashrae.org/bookstore.