Form Approved
REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE
OMB No. 0704-0188
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1. AGENCY USE ONLY (Leave blank)
2. REPORT DATE
3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES COVERED
November 1998
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE
5. FUNDING NUMBERS
Moisture in the Roofs of Cold Storage Buildings
6. AUTHORS
Wayne Tobiasson and Alan Greatorex
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
REPORT NUMBER
Special Report 98-13
U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and
Owens Corning
Engineering Laboratory
One Owens Corning Parkway
72 Lyme Road
Toledo, Ohio 43659
Hanover, New Hampshire 03755
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES)
10. SPONSORING/MONITORING
AGENCY REPORT NUMBER
11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.
Available from NTIS, Springfield, Virginia 22161
13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)
The low-slope roofs of 10 cold storage buildings in the Dallas area were examined visually and thermographically
from above and below. Cores were taken to verify infrared findings, and 12- 12-in. (30- 30-cm) specimens of
many of the insulations were removed for laboratory studies of their thermal properties. Insulations included
fibrous glass, fiberboard, perlite, wood fiber, expanded and extruded polystyrene, isocyanurate, and phenolic.
Areas of wet insulation were found in 8 of the 10 roofs. Some wetness was due to leaks caused by flaws in the
roofing membranes and their flashings, but some was associated with infiltration of warm, moist outside air at
roofwall intersections without effective air seals. Of all the insulations examined, permeable fibrous glass was the
most susceptible to wetting by air infiltration. Sustained one-way vapor drive, the sealing-in of moisture at the
base of insulation in roofs of cold storage buildings by freezing, and the limited opportunities for drying wet
insulation in such roofs provide incentives to use insulation that is very resistant to wetting. Its very low rate of
moisture gain by vapor diffusion and its resistance to wetting in the presence of freezethaw cycles make extruded
polystyrene insulation particularly appealing for use in the roofs of cold storage buildings.
Air leakage
Freezers
Refrigerated structures15. NUMBER OF PAGES
14. SUBJECT TERMS
45
Cold storage buildings
Infrared surveys
Roof membranes
Coolers
Insulations
Roof moisture
16. PRICE CODE
Thermal resistance
17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION
20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT
OF REPORT
OF THIS PAGE
OF ABSTRACT
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UNCLASSIFIED
UL
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89)
NSN 7540-01-280-5500
Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18
298-102
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