Whether it’s the meeting room of an office building, the exhibition room of a museum or the waiting area of a government office, many people gather in such places, and quickly the air becomes thick.
Whether it’s the meeting room of an office building, the exhibition room of a museum or the waiting area of a government office, many people gather in such places, and quickly the air becomes thick. This is partly due to the increased humidity. Ventilation systems are commonly used in office and administrative buildings to dehumidify rooms and ensure a comfortable atmosphere. Mechanical dehumidification works reliably, but it costs energy and – depending on the electricity used – has a negative climate impact.
Against this backdrop, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich investigated a new approach to passive dehumidification of indoor spaces. Passive, in this context, means that high humidity is absorbed by walls and ceilings and temporarily stored there. Rather than being released into the environment by a mechanical ventilation system, the moisture is temporarily stored in a hygroscopic, moisture-binding material and later released when the room is ventilated. “Our solution is suitable for high-traffic spaces for which the ventilation systems already in place are insufficient,” says Guillaume Habert, Professor for Sustainable Construction, who supervised the ETH research project.
Read More: ETH Zurich
A team of researchers at ETH Zurich has developed a new, moisture-binding material. If this component is used in walls and ceilings, it reduces the humidity indoors. (Photo Credit: Pietro Odaglia / Josef Kuster / ETH Zurich)
