Abstract
Buildings have a long life span which in most circumstances ranges from 50 to 100 years, throughout these service years buildings are most likely to encounter unprecedented weather conditions. Nowadays, both scientific research and physical evidences show a changing climate conditions. An increased accumulation of Green Houses Gases (GHG) on the atmosphere believed to be the leading cause. In the building sector, climate change has posed various challenges. Some of the major problems include a shift in energy demand, premature buildings enclosure damage by heavy wind-driven rain, flood and storm, increase in structural load due to strong wind, and reduced air quality caused by wildfires and biodiversity losses. Using a hygrothermal model developed in COMSOL Multiphysics Software Package, the presented research has addressed the potential impacts of climate change on wood frame walls durability for residential houses located in Vancouver. Hourly current and future weather data suitable to use in building performance analysis developed using an absolute and relative approach based on CanESM2 with CanRCM4 LE and HadCM3 with time series adjustment. Then hygrothermal simulations are conducted using current and future weather data for various wall assemblies, modeling factors, orientations, and indoor environmental conditions. Finally, the durability of the walls examined primarily based on hygrothermal model outputs with associated mold growth and deterioration effect.