Engineer Research and Development Center - Environmental Laboratory

Risk and Decision Science Team

Integrating Moisture Vulnerability and Monitoring Prioritization into Existing DoD Building Stock Sustainment Management

DESCRIPTION

Provide risk-informed decision support to installations with reference to building condition monitoring for mold and moisture related problems. Develop approach for updating building condition index for DoD buildings in the BUILDER database to inform lifecycle analysis and maintenance/repair/retrofit decisions.


Problem

There are various stressors that act on a building over the course of its useful life and cause degradation of condition and performance, but one of the most impactful is elevated moisture levels. The optimal building façade designs to control the movement of water, air, water vapor, and heat at the time of construction may no longer be suitable 20 years in the future as local climates change. Climate risk will cause some asset lifecycle trajectories to deviate from their expected course and sustainment investment strategies will need to be adapted accordingly.

Line graph of mean relative humidity vs time.
Indoor Climate Modeling
Map of USA showing color coded zones from 1A to 8A.


Solution

To inform decisions about long-lasting capital investments in DoD’s global building portfolio, it is important to understand the scale and implications of the evolving risk from moisture and integrate it into existing condition assessment and facilities sustainment, restoration, and modernization planning. A hybrid approach for detecting current and future problems is needed to target monitoring and subsequent activity according to the risk of moisture problems occurring. Leveraging existing data, methods, and processes for building design, construction, assessment, and asset management will help us better understand the scale of moisture-related vulnerability and to prioritize high risk buildings for monitoring.

Photo of the corner of a room with circles of mold growing on the white and tan wall.
Table labeled: Table 1 - Mold Growth Index (MGI) descriptions reproduced from Ojanen et al. (2010). There are Two columns headed MGI and Description of Growth Rate. Row 1: 0, No growth. Row 2: 1, Small amounts of mold on surface (microscope), initial stages of local growth. Row 3: 2, several local mold growth colonies on surface (microscope). Row 4: 3, visual findings of mold on surface, < 10% coverage, or < 50% coverage of mold (microscope). Row 5: 4, visual findings of mold on surface, 10%-50% coverage, or > 50% coverage of mold (microscope). Row 6:5, plenty of growth on surface, > 50% coverage (visual). Row 7: 6, heavy and tight growth, coverage about 100%.

Two images. Left is a graphic showing Distress Density, Type, and Deverity labels pointing to a box with CI (condition index) in it then an arrow pointing to a vertical bar with numbers from 100 at top to 0 at bottom. Right is a table headed with Condition Index and Descriptor. The rows below go from green down to red. Row 1: (green) 100-85 Good, Slight or no serviceability or reliability reduction. Row 2: (yellow-green) 85-70 Satisfactory, serviceability or reliability is degraded but adequate. Row 3: (yellow) 70-55 Fair, Serviceability or reliability is noticeably degraded. Row 4: (yellow-orange) 55-40 Poor, Significant serviceability or reliability loss. Row 5: (orange) 40-25 Very Poor, Unsatisfactory serviceability or reliability reduction. Row 6: (red-orange) 25-10 Serious, Extreme serviceability or reliability reduction. Row 7: (red) 10-0 Failed, Overall degradation is total.
A line graph with y-axis labled CI (condition index) from 0 at the origin to 100 at the top by 20 point increments, and x-axis labeled Year from 1990 at origin to 2020 by 5 year increments. A red line slopes down from the top left and curves down slowly decreasing, then more rapidly and finally slowly to 2020. Points along the line are labeled Inspection 1, 2, and 3, and Adjusted Service Life. A dotted line above to the right is labeled Initial condition Trend. A box is drawn across from CI 40, touching the red line and down to around 2007, with the label SL = 17 yrs inside.

Impact

Leverage data from BUILDERTM, the established DoD facility condition assessment and prediction software, and incorporate new predictive information to extend its use for moisture problems. Proactively identify candidates for recapitalization work in a building prior to more costly degradation or failure occurring. A moisture vulnerability index will be developed to convey the likelihood that moisture problems will arise because of exposure to conducive conditions and susceptibility to moisture issues such as mold growth. Outputs will be used to inform prioritization of buildings for more detailed inspection and monitoring.