WAVE developed practical solutions to problems that plague New Zealand homes such as leaky buildings and indoor mould. It also helped to avoid future issues resulting from changes to materials, designs and construction methods. Ultimately, we'd like New Zealand to have homes that manage moisture properly and have safe indoor environments.
This programme recognised that the performance of the building envelope is linked to the environment within the building and aimed to form a complete model of how buildings manage contaminants (including moisture) to allow designers and builders to assess the impact of any features they wanted to implement.
The WAVE programme was split into four complementary streams:
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Weathertightness
The aim of this stream was to develop a wider range of weathertight building solutions to allow designers to be confident their designs will perform as desired.
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Interstitial moisture
The interstitial moisture (condensation within the building structure) stream looked at moisture management in roof spaces - both residential and commercial.
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Indoor air quality
In this stream, we characterised the performance of devices such as photocatalytic oxidisers to see how they can be used effectively in real-world situations such as schools.
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Ventilation
This stream set out to determine the best ventilation strategy for New Zealand homes.
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