Publisher's Synopsis
Establishing a sufficient and acceptable indoor climate without increasing energy consumption in interior spaces is one of the world's biggest challenges. Buildings are often designed to maintain constant, almost stable thermal conditions throughout, with the aim of minimizing energy consumption for heating and cooling and maximizing comfort. New concepts have been developed, such as "ecological buildings", "bioclimatic constructions", "solar houses" etc., all of which are based on the aim of achieving acceptable comfort at lower cost, without damaging the health of occupants or the environment.This book is a state-of-the-art review of the various notions that interest us during the preparation of a thesis. Since the aim of our work is to study the hygrothermal behavior of hygroscopic materials, we'll first focus on the energy and environmental issues involved in the building sector, followed by a presentation of thermal comfort and the origins of moisture in buildings and its after-effects.
