Dear Colleagues,

The coupled heat and moisture transfer in porous building materials and in building topics represents a major social concern related to the improvement of the living environment of buildings through the use of low-energy solutions with a low environmental footprint. Indeed, the current thermal regulations recommend the design of buildings to be more thermally insulated with a very low permeability. Despite the limitations of the energy and environmental impact, these regulations also lead to new issues, as they may affect summer comfort and indoor air quality. Another consequence is the deterioration of these "hermetic" buildings because of the presence of humidity inside the living environment. Thus, the presence of water (in vapor and liquid phases) is responsible for fungal growth and the degradation of plant-based insulation. Moreover, it is the transport vector for aggressive agents such as chlorides and sulphates, and the site of chemical reactions such as carbonation. Hitherto, neglected second-order phenomena have become increasingly important, to the extent that they make a significant contribution to the overall heat balance of buildings and cannot be neglected anymore. Moisture transfer is a significant issue. In addition, the use of materials with a low environmental impact, such as eco-materials, bio-sourced materials, and recycled materials, is hindered, in particular through the non-availability of databases related to their intrinsic properties and from a lack of knowledge about their behavior over time.

This Special Issue deals with heat and moisture transfer at different scales: from the microstructure, to material and building scales. It covers not only the aspects related to the numerical and experimental modeling of the transfer mechanisms at both microscopic and macroscopic scales, as well as numerical and experimental phenomenological modeling at the material scale, but also contributions associated with the characterization of the properties of building materials, eco-materials, and bio-based materials, namely: microstructural, mechanical, thermal, and hydric. All original works applied to the evaluation of the energy performances of buildings and the reduction of environmental impacts are also welcomed.

Prof. Dr. Rafik Belarbi
Guest Editor

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• Heat and Moisture Transfer (HMT)
• Bio-based Materials
• Buildings Energy Performance
• Environmental Footprint
• Indoor Air Quality
• Hysteresis
• Aging Material Properties
• Multiscale Modelling