The effectiveness and functioning of air cavities on architectural heritage with pathology caused by rising damp
Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development
ISSN: 2044-1266
Article publication date: 10 August 2023
Abstract
Purpose
Rising damp affects the deterioration and conservation of architectural heritage. Air cavities built next to the base of these buildings on an unsaturated floor can reduce the damage to foundations and walls due to this. These are passive systems, which are usually designed with no objective data to show their functioning and effectiveness. This is why the authors are presenting this study.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is presented starting with simple field equipment for representative types for a previous cataloguing of cases in Spain. The physical parameters of the air in this research are air speed and evaporation in the cavities and the base, taking the local climate and the particular formal and construction characteristics of each case study as a reference.
Findings
The results of the analysis validate the method and the efficiency of such cavities, whose performance is greater in systems with a variety of features, that is to say, those which work by thermal or wind flow rather than those which only use hygric flow.
Originality/value
This work is novel because there are not in situ experimental works which prove the functioning and effectiveness of these systems.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Institutions: Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España; Consejería de Cultura y Turismo de la Junta de Castilla y León and their Delegaciones Territoriales; Ayuntamiento de Pinarejos in Segovia; Arzobispado de Madrid; Obispado de Alcalá de Henares, Obispado de Segovia and Obispado de Zamora; Fundación del Patrimonio Histórico de Castilla y León and Fundación González Allende; Universidad de Alcalá in Madrid and the Universidad Instituto de Empresa in Segovia; and the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología.
Companies: REARASA Restauración de Edificios, Artesonados y Retablos Alonso S.A.; TRYCSA Técnicas para la Restauración y Construcciones S.A.; Mármoles y Granitos CABANILLAS S.L.; and Construcciones ESTEJOSAN, S.L.
And the following people (who are not represented by the institutions and companies listed above): Eduardo Barceló de Torres, Francisco Jurado Jiménez, Pedro Lucas del Teso, Andrés Díez Herrero, José Carlos Sanz Belloso, Ángel Casaseca Beneítez, Leocadio Peláez Franco and Manuela Andrés Temprano.
Citation
Gil-Muñoz, M.T. and Lasheras-Merino, F. (2023), "The effectiveness and functioning of air cavities on architectural heritage with pathology caused by rising damp", Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCHMSD-09-2022-0160
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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