An outline of DAMP - a KBS diagnostic system.

DAMP is an 'Expert System' or 'Knowledge Based System' (KBS) to aid diagnosis of causes of moisture damage found in buildings in New Zealand. This paper gives an outline of the current version of DAMP, which is still under development at the Building Research Association of New Zealand, operating in the CLASS language developed at University of Auckland with BRANZ support.

A prototype expert system for diagnosing moisture problems in houses.

In this paper the moisture-diagnosis prototype of a knowledge based expert system to assist in the identification and diagnosis of air leakage problems in residential buildings is described and discussed. This prototype system requires the user to describe the symptoms of the existing moisture problems and provide information on house characteristics. Based on additional information on the symptoms and the house, this interactive program produces a list of probable causes and recommentations for remedial action.

Use of statistics for predicting distribution of air infiltration.

Calculation of air infiltration in a large number of cases can give information of expected variations in yearly air change and energy consumptions. As model is used the equivalent leakage area model written in a spreadsheet computer program. For a typical Norwegian house an analysis of the influence of some parameters is made. The influence of climate is found to be small, if we compare the mean yearly air change for towns in Norway. Prediction of air infiltration is made from known variations in indoor temperature, 50 Pa pressurization air change and leakage and pressure characteristics.

Tracer gas used to evaluate HVAC equipment.

When controlling the performance of a ventilation system it is important to investigate how the system works together with the building it ventilates. It is the performance of the complete system which is of interest, not its individual components. This paper describes the use of a computer-controlled, tracer-gas measuring system for controlling ventilation systems. By means of 4 measuring probes the condition of the air at the intake, room injection, room extraction and exhaust is registered.

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