Crawl spaces in wood framed single family dwellings in Sweden: unwanted yet popular

Abstract

Purpose -This paper sets out to look at the different types of crawl spaces that are found in Sweden and why they are still being used in today's constructions despite the advice of building experts to avoid their use. Design/methodology/approach -Literature reviews were performed to look at the types of crawl space foundations available as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each type and to look at the economic costs associated with repairing a damaged home that could be attributed to a crawl space foundation. Interviews were conducted with engineers with regard to moisture design issues in the Swedish building industry. Findings -This study shows that there are five traditional types of crawl spaces used in Sweden: plinth, outdoor ventilated, indoor ventilated, unventilated, and suspended crawl space foundations, four of which are currently available to builders. Despite all of the available knowledge regarding the disadvantages and the past performance of the outdoor ventilated crawl spaces, companies in Sweden are still using this design and are still experiencing expensive problems. Research limitations/implications -This paper is limited to Sweden. The situation in other countries was not specifically examined; however, it appears that other countries are also facing the same problems and this paper may provide some insight into why. Originality/value -This study shows that there are many ways to construct a crawl space, some of which are considerably less risky than others. The study also indicates that the building industry in general seems to lack the theoretical background or incentive to utilize these variations properly or completely move away from these designs.

Proudění vzduchu v konstrukci crawl space

“…Konstrukci crawl space lze podle způsobu odvětrání rozdělit na tři základní typy a to: konstrukce odvětrávaná přirozeně, konstrukce odvětrávaná ventilačním systémem a neodvětrávaná konstrukce. Dále je možné rozlišit crawl space na plinth foundation (stavba založena na pilířích), outdoor air ventilated crawl space (větrání crawl space přirozeně nebo mechanicky venkovním vzduchem), intdoor air ventilated crawl space (crawl space větrán vnitřním vzduchem) [1]. V případě, že je konstrukce crawl space uzavřená, bez výměny vzduchu, je potřeba provést velmi dobře izolaci proti zemní vlhkosti [2].…”

Flexibility of electric vehicles and space heating in net zero energy houses: an optimal control model with thermal dynamics and battery degradation

“…The concrete slab floor contains most of the heat capacity of typical single-family houses in southern Sweden [73], hence the rather light, wooden other parts of the envelope are lumped to the indoor air node. The houses are assumed to be rectangular and single-storey, as well as to have plinth foundations [74], allowing 165 us to use the same external temperature time series for the heat losses through the floor as through the rest of the house exterior. The houses in the MG are modelled to have hydronic radiator or floor heating systems with a GSHP used for both heating and cooling, as illustrated in Figure 3.…”

Rising damp in Portuguese cultural heritage – a flood risk map

“…The problem of moisture in buildings has always attracted great interest (Burke, 2005(Burke, , 2007. However, the complexity of the phenomena involved do not always make easy the scientific explanation of various forms of events in which these problems are associated.…”