| dc.description.abstract | This thesis has looked at and assessed the various challenges with moisture and moisture damage in Norwegian residential buildings.\\
In this relation, a review has been made of current statistics and reports within building damages, in order to uncover the causes and extent of the damages. Furthermore, a review has been made of instructions found in Byggforskserien, guidelines for relevant regulations, as well as relevant theory. The purpose of this has been to form an overview of which moisture-related challenges occur, why these occur, how they can be improved and how they can be avoided, and to substantiate these issues with relevant theory. The amount of available information and data on the thesis problem is large, and ranges from microscopic pores in materials, to climate change. It has therefore been important to assess which findings are relevant to the thesis and not, and to what extent these are relevant, in order to address the thesis' problem as specifically as possible.\\
The results show that the proportion of moisture-related building damages have been stable in recent decades, but that moisture damages resulting from precipitation has increased significantly. Statistics show that more than 70\% of all building damages are moisture-related, and that as many as one third of all Norwegian residential buildings have moisture problems. These damages cost society billions of NOK every year, in addition to being a strong contributing factor to health problems such as respiratory disorders, according to several studies done in recent years. \\
A demanding Norwegian climate places strict demands on design and execution in order to avoid complications and challenges with moisture over time. Several of the injuries that occur could have been avoided. This is supported by the fact that damages resulting from building moisture and moisture from inside the building, have been significantly reduced as the focus on moisture in buildings has increased, along with requirements for building density becoming stricter.\\
The example studies in this thesis show some of the challenges one has related to moisture in homes, where a theory of why the damage occurs is presented. The damages that have occurred in all of the three studies must be said could have been avoided with sufficient knowledge. This is in line with statements from experts in the industry, where most of the damages that occur are due to errors in design and / or execution. | |
