Case studies

Passive, single-family wooden house – MoistureGuard sensors as a part of the research of the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences in Prague

The implemented passive, single-family wooden house, designed by Ing. Miloš Pavelek Ph.D., is located in the Central Bohemian Region at the Dobříš District. It will be monitored by a complex temperature and moisture monitoring system called MoistureGuard.

Monitoring of the entire structure will be used for scientific and research activities of the new master’s degree study program Wooden Structures and Wooden-Based Structures at the Faculty of Forestry and Wood Sciences in Prague (ČZU).

The structure in question is a 2-story, wooden frame structure of a passive standard, which will be used as a family house for permanent living. The built-up size of the structure is 84 m2. The perimeter structures of the building are diffusely open, using especially thermal insulation made of blown cellulose and wood-fiber panels. The house design respects the character of the location and complies with the requirements for a passive house, optimization of which was implemented with the help of the PHPP program. The house utilizes controlled ventilation with heat recuperation for ensuring the required quality of the interior. The quality of the implemented perimeter structures will be verified using the Blower-Door test (airtightness test of the structure).

There are about 20 sensors installed in the house. This number exceeds the standard number for a structure of this size, which would normally have about 7 sensors + central unit, which collects data from individual sensors, executes the initial data processing and display, and backs up the data in the internal memory. Once connected to the Internet, it transmits the encrypted data for cloud processing using artificial intelligence algorithms, which help to detect arising problems immediately upon their occurrence.

Nevertheless, the increased number of sensors were installed intentionally since the Department of Wood Processing and Biomaterials will directly use all the data for its research in order to obtain complete data on the changing characteristics of the wooden structure during individual construction stages and subsequent use of the structure. The measured data will also be used for verifying calculation models of the thermal and moisture parameters with the behavior of the structures under realistic limit conditions. The house will be additionally furnished with sensors for monitoring the quality of the interior (sensors for measuring CO2 concentrations). The MoistureGuard system includes 7 MHT sensors and 13 HT sensors. The sensors monitor moisture in the structure and at other exposed locations. They not only warn about water leaks, but they also inform about the moisture conditions of the building’s wooden structural elements from the beginning of the construction. They measure the air temperature and relative humidity in the exterior as well as the interior. In the building structure itself, they measure not only the air humidity and temperature, but also moisture of the building timber.

All the collected data will be used for detailed research. Thanks to all the used sensors, the single-family house is thoroughly monitored, thus preventing potential problems related to water leaks or excessive moisture.

List of the installed sensors:
At several locations, the sensors are installed in a single level one after another - interior, internal structure of the perimeter structure, exterior at the northern and southern walls, structures in between individual floors and measurements between the ventilated part of the roof and the interior.

Central unit, HT – interior, utility room (boiler, washing machine, dryer), WC (toilet), kitchen (sink, dishwasher), study (shower), bathroom on the 2nd floor (bathtub, sink), bathroom on the 2nd floor (shower), WC (toilet), HT – interior roof, HT – exterior – roof (to the ventilated part of the gap), HT – exterior, HT – exterior, HT – Interior, HT – Interior, living room – base panel sensor, sensor for measuring the internal structure of the building, sensor for measuring the internal structure building, ceiling sensor between the floors, 2 MHT sensors for measurements by the frost-resistant valves.