SEDL / STP / STP691-EB / STP36056S

Weather and the Deterioration of Building Materials

Boyd, DW
Meteorologist, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ont.

Pages: 12    Published: Jan 1980

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Abstract

Early attempts to predict the effects of the weather on the deterioration of building materials were often little more than speculation. The inadequacy of the results is discussed using freeze-thaw cycles and the annual driving rain index as examples. More precise empirical relationships will have to be based on laboratory or test-site observations and may require special weather analyses such as the humidity tables prepared for a study of corrosion of metals. More complex relationships are being found and the analysis of the weather often will invovle the study of the coincident values of two or more elements. The research scientist should be aware of the weather data now generally available and the types of analyses that could be provided.