The Heat, Air and Moisture Building Science Toolbox is a computer program designed to simplify the application of building science principles to the design of any cladding and exterior wall system. With this computer program, you will determine thermal properties, determine temperature gradients, locate winter and summer dewpoint temperatures, analyze potential winter and summer wall condensation, determine air leakage rates through openings, determine the effect of height and temperature on stack effect and fan pressurization on the building envelope, use the psychrometric tool and produce project specific reports.

The Building Science Toolbox was developed specifically for architects, engineers, technologists and technicians designing building envelope systems. It contains 5 building science tools. These are;

  1. The "R" Value Analysis Tool
  2. The Condensation Analysis Tool
  3. The Air Leakage Analysis Tool
  4. The Building Pressure Analysis Tool
  5. The Psychrometric Tool

1) The "R" Value Analysis Tool

The "R" value analysis tool is used to design the thermal attributes of a wall assembly, to evaluate the nominal "R" value of the assembly, to illustrate the temperature gradients through the assembly and to determine the location of the winter and summer dewpoint temperatures. Each wall design is evaluated against the specific climatic and indoor conditions selected.

2) The Condensation Analysis Tool

The condensation analysis tool enables the user to undertake a vapour diffusion analysis of a wall assembly and to determine the sensitivity of the wall design to cavity condensation. By an appropriate selection of materials, the user may optimize the vapour barrier performance of any wall design for any indoor humidity condition and any outdoor climatic condition.

3) The Air Leakage Analysis Tool

The air leakage analysis tool enables the user to determine the air leakage rates through any size opening, for 3 types of flow paths and for a wide range of operating air pressure differences. It can also be applied to whole building analysis. The air barrier tool also analyses the loss of moisture by air leakage and the energy gain or loss through air leakage. The results are presented as flow rates, per second, per hour and per month.

4) The Building Pressure Tool

The building pressure tool allows the user to determine stack effect pressures at any building height and for any temperature difference within prescribed limits. The fan pressurization effect is caused by the selection of the makeup air rate, the exhaust air rate and the air leakage properties of the building envelope.

5) The Psychrometric Tool

The humidity, temperature and pressure of ambient air are also known as the psychrometric properties of the air. The Psychrometric Tool facilitates the analysis of ambient air conditions. By selecting 3 properties of air, 2 of which are known, the program determines the 3rd property and displays it on the psychrometric chart. For example, the Psychrometric Tool may be used to determine dewpoint temperature of air from a known dry bulb temperature and indoor relative humidity.

H.A.M Toolbox Main Library

In addition to the above, the H.A.M. Toolbox includes a library of climatic data and a list of generic construction materials with basic properties. The user may edit the library to expand the climatic database to include any city of choice and to broaden the material database with any manufacturer’s data. Each tool prints a single page report, project specific, for easy reference to project specific decisions.

The Wall Library

Version 1B was expanded to include a wall design library. This Library is used to store your exterior wall designs for quick retrieval and further development or analysis. When a wall system is designed within one tool it may be recalled in the other. There is no limit to the number of wall design projects stored.

Conversion Wizard

Version 1B was also expanded to include a conversion wizard. From time to time, the user may be required to provide information in the other system of units, either from inch/pound units (US) to Metric (ME) or vice versa. The conversion wizard is simple to use and includes difficult to find conversion factors not normally available in standard conversion tables.

Screen Appearance

The screen appearance may now be expanded or contracted to suit any computer screen resolution without the necessity of altering the computer settings.

About The Developer

Rick Quirouette, B. Arch, a former building envelope researcher, is a well known building envelope investigator and design consultant. His building envelope consulting practice is in demand throughout North America for project design review, forensic analysis, and expert testimony and as a speaker at building science symposia. The H.A.M Toolbox Version1B-E/M was designed for use on a personal computer using Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP or NT operating systems. It is a stand-alone program and does not require or link to other architectural software.

The H.A.M. Toolbox is a must for any building design office. Building envelope design is no longer a matter of tradition and experience. In the absence of costly field testing, this software will provide the best overall prediction of the actual heat, air and moisture loads related to the design of the exterior wall resulting from the indoor and outdoor conditions.

Summary

With the H.A.M Toolbox you will …