PCA BMI Analysis ReportMould-Moisture Diagnosis

1. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND BMI ASESSMENT PROCEDUREAmbient air temperature, relative humidity, and surface temperature measurements havebeen collected using environmental sensors placed in several locations within theproperty. These sensors gather data which can be used to assess moisture inbalance indwellings.

Condensation and/or mould growth may happen when there is an inbalance in thebuilding moisture environment. This can occur due to moisture production and theinadequate function of the following key causal factors:

* The Building Envelope PerformanceAs a whole and/or related to presence of thermal bridges (i.e. cold spots / low surfacetemperature(T)/surface relative humidity (RH)) which relate to low temperature factor, fRsi(i.e. poor thermal behaviour), and high water activity aw (i.e. high surface RH) ofwall/ceiling

* The Heat-Moisture Regime related to air temperature and relative humidity

- Low indoor air temperature caused by insufficient heating, heat loss and/orinfiltrations (e.g. cold air entry through gaps) and around thermal bridges (coldenvironment)

- High atmospheric moisture levels of indoor air relative humidity

* The VentilationRelated to high high vapour pressure excess (VPE) through indoor - outdoor watervapour pressure differentials (insufficient / inefficient air exchange)

Analysis of the data gathered by the sensors can help identify which (if any) factors, orcombination of factors, are the most likely cause/s of any condensation or mould issues.The extent of the impact created by the individual causal factors has been expressedusing a numerical "Moisture Impact Indicator" with the following impact scores: -0- noimpact (NI)-; -1-very low (VL)-; -2- low (L)-, -3- moderate (M)-; -4-high (H)-; -5- very high(VH)-; -6- extremely high (EH)-.

The combined impact of the various causal factors is known as total Building MoistureIndex (BMI). The BMI indicates the degree of moisture inbalanced according to theobtained score.

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PCA BMI Analysis ReportMould-Moisture Diagnosis

2. BUILDING OBSERVATIONS ON MOISTURE ISSUESSurveyor: RC-P1Date of inspection: FEB 2018Address: Somewhere in InglandProblem room: bathroomProblem area: cellingIs there visible mould: YES

Comments and additional relevant observations:

This report is showing the assessment of a moisture imbalance environment beforechanging the ventilation system.

Please, note that this report is not a Building survey. It is based on data processed fromsensors (data loggers) placed in appropriate locations of the dwelling and understandingthey have not been moved.These loggers collect simple environmental parameters as temperature, relative humidity,and surface temperature. Through a set of algorithms our tool can process and provideother environmental parameters (e.g. temperature factor), which relate to the causalfactors mentioned above and which lead to surface condensation mould growth. Theassessment is not just considering the process of average values. Many ranges of dataare processed based on critical thresholds and weighted values that establish the severityand likelihood of the event.

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PCA BMI Analysis ReportMould-Moisture Diagnosis

Image of the monitored property Image 1

Image 2 Image 3

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PCA BMI Analysis ReportMould-Moisture Diagnosis

3. RESULTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENTTwo weeks are considered to be the optimum period of monitoring needed in orderformulate an accurate and reliable Building Moisture Index. A report will be created if datasets have been gathered for shorter periods of time, however the user should be awarethat accuracy may be compromised when monitoring periods are less than 14 days.

The analysis of the environmental data gathered from the sensors during 11 days 5 hours (start from 2018-02-01 18:00:00 until 2018-02-12 23:30:00) period, every 30 mins, shows that the total Building Moisture Index (BMI) in bathroom displays a Very High score(4.5 BMI-T) of a moisture inbalance environment.Degree of impact of causal factors to moisture inbalance and mould growth:

* Poor Building Envelope Thermal Performance: Extremely High impact * Inbalance Heat-Moisture Regime: Moderate impact

Low Indoor Air Temperature: Low impact (i.e. warm air) High Indoor Air Relative Humidity: High impact (i.e. humid air)

* Insufficient / Inefficient Ventilation: Very High impact

Please note, these results have been obtained under the indicated external weather andindoor environmental conditions (Table 2). The causal factors are dynamic andinterrelated, therefore any significant changes in any of these factors can further upsetthe balance and potentially increase the BMI score to higher levels, with consequentincrease of surface condensation or mould risk on thermal bridges (e.g. by increasingmoisture production, reducing heating, not opening windows or extraction fans, increasingoccupancy, changing building usage, etc.).

Table 2 and Table 3 show average values of raw and calculated environmentalparameters. The thermal envelope performance graph (Figure 1) shows that data fall intoan area where the temperature factor fRsi (0.66) can be considered as inappropriate. It isa problem when in conjunction with water activity aw values (0.83) obtained during therecorded period.

The ventilation, i.e. removal of the moisture produced in this dwelling, seems to be aproblem, with data (Figure 2) showing Very High VPE values (0.7 kPa), in a warm(19.2°C) and humid (59.2%) environment (Figure 3).

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PCA BMI Analysis ReportMould-Moisture Diagnosis

BMI causal factors graphs

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PCA BMI Analysis ReportMould-Moisture Diagnosis

Raw and calculated parameters graphs

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PCA BMI Analysis ReportMould-Moisture Diagnosis

4. RECOMMENDATIONS

The following recommendations are drawn from the environmental assessmentundertaken and the data gathered during the monitoring of the building and that weresummarised as the Building Moisture Index (BMI). Where recommendations are listed,they will appear in the order of significance to the moisture inbalance observed.Interpretation of detailed monitoring showed that:

* The thermal performance of the building envelope is poor and it is contributingsignificantly to moisture inbalance. To resolve this, the thermal envelope must beconsidered carefully and measures to improve the thermal performance of the buildingshould be taken.

* The building is not allowing wet air generated within the building to escape adequatelyand this is contributing significantly to moisture inbalance. The existing provision for airexchange and ventilation from within the property to the outside atmosphere must bechecked and improved.

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PCA BMI Analysis ReportMould-Moisture Diagnosis

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