Humidity

Hu
umidity ccan be ju
ust as im
mportantt as tem
mperature
e for hu
uman comfort. Too
T
mu
uch hum
midity can ampliffy the heat
h
and
d make it feel muggy,

, while not
eno
ough humidity ca
an be un
ncomforttably dryy.
Wa
arm air can
c hold more moisture
m
t
than
cold
d air can
n, but people don
n't perce
eive
the
e absolutte numb
ber of wa
ater mole
ecules in
n the air (absolutte humid
dity which
h is
me
easured a
as densitty), they perceive
e relativee humiditty which is represented as
a a
percentage
e of wate
er vapor in the air.
This graph of
temperaturre bins
compares wet
w
bulb and drry bulb
temperaturres and
helps underrstand
humidity.
The larger the
t
difference
between the dry
and wet bu
ulb
temperaturres, the
drier the airr and
the lower th
he
relative hum
midity
is. You can see
that Copenhagen
is relativelyy humid
because thee
temperaturre bins
are roughlyy the
same size and
a
distribution
n for
wet and dryy bulb
temperaturre.

Peo
ople genera
ally consider 40% to 55% relattive humid
dity to be comforta
able. Below
w 40% will feel
dry,, above 55% will feel muggy an
nd wet (unless the tem
mperature is cold).
Hum
midity also
o affects what
w
passsive heatin
ng or cooling strate
egies will be most effective. For
insttance, evap
porative co
ooling is much more effective
e
in
n dry climates.
Con
ntrolling hu
umidity is also an im
mportant fu
unction of active HVA
AC systemss. There is a lot of latent
hea
at in water,, and de-h
humidifying
g the air re
equires coo
oling that water which can re
equire a lo
ot of
coo
oling energ
gy. See more on heat energy flo
ows in build
dings.
Hum
midity can be determ
mined by co
omparing wet
w bulb and dry bullb tempera
atures. At 100%
1
humiidity
the air is completely saturated and
d the dry bulb
b
and wet
w bulb temperatu
t
ures will be
e the same
e. In
all other
o
scena
arios, the wet
w bulb te
emperature
e will alwayys be less than
t
the dry bulb tem
mperature due
to evaporative
e
e cooling. The largerr the diffe
erence bettween the dry and wet
w bulb temperatu
t
ures,
the
e drier the air and the lower the
e relative humidity
h
iss.
Hum
midity data
a is often displayed
d
in a psych
hrometric chart.
c
To le
earn how to
t read the
ese charts, see
the Psychrometrics page
e.
Like
e temperature, hum
midity varie
es through
hout the day
d
and year,
y
and robust de
esign requ
uires
dessigning forr a range of
o humiditties. You can
c
graph humidity variation to help se
et your design
requirements..

Hum
midity variation th
hrough
a yeear at a site
(Gra
aph from Autodeskk
Revvit)

The
e graph above showss average humidity
h
in
n morning and evening from th
he historical record, with
w
a th
hick colored
d band illu
ustrating avverage daily range in humidity. The much
h wider tra
anslucent band
b
bou
unded by dotted
d
lines shows th
he full rang
ge of maxim
mum and minimum
m
h
humidity
in
n the historical
reco
ord. As with temperrature variation, thesse extreme
es are not experienced often, but should
d be
con
nsidered in the design
n.
Besides affecting cooling energyy demandss, humidity can also
o affect other susta
ainable design
facttors, such a
as the design of the building envelope.
e
B understa
By
anding the
e humidity ratio of an
n air
stre
eam, we ca
an identify at what te
emperature
e water willl condensa
ate (also known
k
as th
he dew po
oint).
Witth this know
wledge so we can prrevent issue
es such as mold and decreased
d insulation
n performa
ance
with
h the prop
per placem
ment of a vapor and
d water barriers
b
in exterior walls
w
and roofs.
r
A good
reso
ource for comprehending the interactio
ons betwee
en temperrature, rela
ative humidity, and dew
point can be ffound at Dew
D
Point Calculator.
C
.