Hygrothermal Functions

 Hygrothermal functions ensure that the required environmental conditions are met which need to be guaranteed in order for the interior spaces to be habitable, safe, and healthy. This pertains basically envelope components, both interior and exterior. From a constructional point of view, the most important factor influencing the physical appropriateness of a particular envelope component in this respect is its specific layering from different materials. Depending on the material properties of the layers, certain sequences are unobjectionable from a point of view of buildings physics, other, in contrast, are potentially failure-prone and hence need to be avoided in constructional design. A proper knowledge of the physical processes governing the behavior of surface components separating spaces with a gradient of different media or physical conditions is therefore fundamental to a successful detail design.