• August 20-21, 2007 - Charleston, SC

WUFI Registration

• August 23-24, 2007 - Atlanta, GA

WUFI Registration

For the latest news on North American workshops, please refer to http://www.section08.com/wufi.htm.

The 3rd Annual Advanced Hygrothermal Course and WUFI-User Conference will be held on

September 24 - 28, 2007 at the Fraunhofer Institute, Holzkirchen, Germany.

This annual session is for previous WUFI graduates or students with equivalent experience in modeling. This year's 5-day session will be taught by Drs. Hartwig Kuenzel and Andreas Holm of the Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics (Germany) and Drs. Achilles Karagiozis and André Desjarlais of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (U.S.). The curriculum will include WUFI 4 (1D), WUFI 2D and WUFI Plus.

This conference uses a one-on-one format for complete interaction between the designers of the WUFI programs and the professionals who use them. Users will have an opportunity to interact and share techniques, as well as be the recipient of the most powerful advances to date. Eight WUFI-users will have the opportunity to present at the WUFI-Conference.

• Arrive at Munich prior to 24 September.
• Lodging at Alte Post Hotel, Holzkirchen, Germany
• Conference includes interaction with building scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute and an in-depth tour of this impressive building science investigative facility.
• Conference is 24 September to 28 September.
• Conference cost: US $1,100.
• You are responsible for transportation, dinners, and lodging costs.
• (Hint: Oktoberfest runs continuously from 22 Sept. - 7 October in Munich.)




Please reserve your place now, as space will be limited. Payment is not due until July 1. Below is a link to a reservation form that you can e- mail or fax back to us: Reservation Form

Previous workshops:

June 28-29, 2007 - San Diego, CA

May 7 - May 8, 2007 - Houston, TX

WUFI/ORNL Computer Modeling Workshop for Wall Design and Performance (Heat and Moisture Transfer in Building Envelopes. Dallas, Texas, February 1-2, 2007

WUFI-ORNL/IBP, 2-Day Workshop, PENN State University (May 30-31, 2002)

 

WUFI ORNL/IBP for North America
(Nov. 2000)

In cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institut for Building Physics (Germany), ORNL has developed the WUFI-ORNL/IBP for North American. The Cutter Information Corp. comments this in their weekly e-mail service "CutterEdge Buildings" (extended version in the October 2000 issue of the "Energy Design Update" Newsletter):

ORNL, FRAUNHOFER INSTITUTE RELEASE POTENT NEW DESIGN TOOL FOR NORTH AMERICA

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute of Bauphysics (IBP) have teamed up to bring a powerful new moisture engineering tool to North America. Though the name -- WUFI-ORNL/IBP -- doesn't exactly roll off your tongue, the software holds real promise. For the first time ever, designers and researchers will have a simple, accurate tool to evaluate the temperature and moisture conditions within any building enclosure over time. Thus, designers will be able to model different climatic conditions, materials, and assemblies to see how wind-driven rain might penetrate the envelope, how much condensation will form under what conditions, and where and when wood decay is likely to occur.

One might speculate that had WUFI-ORNL/IBP been on the scene in North America 10 years ago, the construction industry might have avoided millions of dollars in legal claims related to failed exterior insulation and finish systems and stucco-clad buildings in the Southeast and Northwest.

The Windows-based WUFI, developed by Hartwig Kuenzel, Andreas Holm, and other researchers at IBP, was first introduced in Europe in 1994 and has since been accepted there as a reliable research and design tool. Kuenzel, who is IBP's laboratory hygrothermal director, says that WUFI was developed to help European designers understand how heat and moisture interact within a building enclosure. Currently, more than 200 universities and research institutes, plus a growing number of private firms, use the European version.

When a collaborative agreement was struck between ORNL and IBP in 1998, a joint team of researchers led by ORNL's Achilles Karagiozis and IBP's Holm began to modify and improve WUFI for use in North America. The new model interface was specifically designed for both the novice and the expert, which was not a simple task given the complexity of hygrothermal physics, says Holm, the modeling group leader at IBP.

Karagiozis tells *EDU* that the North American version of WUFI-ORNL/IBP will be available free to anyone living in the USA or Canada by downloading the model from ORNL's Web site: http://www.ornl.gov/btc/moisture (set to be available at the end of November). He says that the current model has a somewhat limited database of material properties but that more materials will be added in the months ahead. The WUFI-ORNL/IBP model will also be included in "Moisture Analysis for Buildings," a manual to be published by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

Updated June 19, 2007 by Teresa Williams