COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE & PLANNING

DEPT. OF BUILDING TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

Building Maintenance and supervision – BSTC 512

Building Diagnosis and inspection

Done By:
Abdullah Ehtesham – 2170007729
Ameen Almlies – 2170007700
Ali Assem - 2170007760 R
Ramez Kayed – 2170007751
Abdulaziz Dossary - 2170001388

Instructor: Engr. Noman Ashraf

 Building Diagnosis

1-Building Information:

We did the inspection of an office building located in Imam Abdulrahman bin

Faisal university in Dammam. The building is an office for (safety & security).
The building is old and in need of restoration as we noticed there were many
cracks and problems in the walls.

Safety & Security Building

Cracks in the walls

2- Infrared camera scanning:

We scanned the building by using FLIR camera which it's thermal imaging
camera for the inspection of cracks and thermal bridges in the building.
the inspection is to study the condition of the building such as visualize energy
losses, detect construction failures, detect missing or defective insulation,
source air leaks, locate thermal bridges, detect mold and badly insulated areas
etc.

FLIR camera

3- Outdoor pictures:

The pictures below show the east side of building and as we can see there
are exfiltration of cold air caused by the crack between the beam and the
wall.
These pictures show that the shaded area have less temperature than area
with no shade. Also, that the glass reflects less energy than the concrete
wall in this area because of shade.

The third picture is showing the thermal bridge above the WC windows as it
may be from the connection between beam and the wall.
The following photos for the windows from east elevation show the thermal
bridge around the windows caused by the metal frame and that would lead
loos more energy if no good insulation is added.

The photo below shows the thermal bridge between the concrete beam and
the CMU wall as, the result is because of bad insulation around these
elements.

3- Indoor pictures:

The internal pictures used to detect the thermal bridges and the energy loss
from inside to outside.
The below photos are for the corner of the room. It shows more temperature
from the left wall as it is for outside directly and less from the wall in the
right. The metal aluminum door also caused to transfer more temperature to
inside.

This photo is for the wall in office beside WC. The wall is looking damp
because of the water coming from the other side and that is causing a
thermal bridge.

This last photo is showing the difference of temperature in one room while
the AC is working.
 Assessment of indoor air quality

For this assessment we will assess the indoor air quality of a residential
apartment. We will be collecting the data over six days in 3 different rooms:
living room, Bedroom and Dining room. We will use the test 160 IAQ Wi-Fi
data logger to get the different parameters such as the Temperature,
Humidity, CO2, and Atmospheric pressure. We will keep it at a height of
1.5m from the ground level while it collects the data at 15-minute intervals.
The 5 values that we will be checking are:
1) Carbon Dioxide CO2 (ppm)
2) Temperature (C°)
3) Atmospheric Pressure (hPa)
4) Relative Humidity (RH)
5) Due point Temperature (Td)

1) Carbon Dioxide CO2 (ppm)

Parts-per-million (abbreviated ppm) is the ratio of one gas to another. For
example, 1,000ppm of CO2 means that if you could count a million gas
molecules, 1,000 of them would be of carbon dioxide and 999,000
molecules would be some other gases.
This is an important value to check as it can have health effects and cause
problems. Below are the values of ppm which show what the values mean.

250-350 ppm: background (normal) outdoor air level

350-1,000 ppm: typical level found in occupied spaces with good air
exchange
1,000-2,000 ppm: level associated with complaints of drowsiness and poor
air
2,000-5,000 ppm: level associated with headaches, sleepiness, and
stagnant, stale, stuffy air; poor concentration, loss of attention, increased
heart rate and slight nausea may also be present.
>5,000 ppm: This indicates unusual air conditions where high levels of other
gases also could be present. Toxicity or oxygen deprivation could occur.
This is the permissible exposure limit for daily workplace exposures.
>40,000 ppm: This level is immediately harmful due to oxygen deprivation.
 PPM FOR LIVING ROOM
1400
1200
1000
800
ppm

600
400
200
0

Day 2 Day 1

The ppm value seems normal for the most part on day 1 but in day 2 the
values went over 1000 reaching around 1250 which shows there was lack of
fresh air flowing in and the other reason was because Friday afternoon
where there were guests in the house which could have increased the value

PPM FOR BEDROOM (DAY 3 & 4)

1400

1200

1000

800

600

400

200

DAY 3 DAY 4

The value of day 3 seems fine but in the night, it went up after around 11pm
which might be due to extra occupants present inside the bedroom.
The values in the dining room seems to be fine for the most part as well just
going up while there were extra occupants which shows when the value
went above 1000 for a brief period at around 12AM.

2) Temperature (C°)
Temperature can be a particularly important measure in the built
environment when considering the thermal comfort of occupants and in the
design of building services systems.
Making a building comfortable is not as simple as delivering an average
internal air temperature of 21 °C throughout the year. We will see in the
graphs how the much is the average temperature throughout the day to get
an idea of the comfort level.
 10
15
20
25
30
35
C°
12:00:00 AM

10
15
20
25
30
12:45:00 AM
1:00:00 PM 35
1:30:00 AM
1:45:00 PM
2:15:00 AM
2:30:00 PM
2:45:18 AM
3:15:00 PM
3:30:00 AM 4:00:00 PM
4:15:00 AM 4:45:00 PM
5:00:00 AM 5:30:00 PM
5:45:00 AM 6:15:00 PM
6:30:00 AM 7:00:00 PM
7:15:00 AM 7:45:00 PM
8:00:00 AM 8:30:00 PM
8:45:00 AM 9:15:00 PM
9:30:00 AM 10:00:00 PM
10:15:00 AM 10:45:00 PM

Day 1
11:30:00 PM

DAY 3
11:00:00 AM
11:45:00 AM 12:15:00 AM
12:30:00 PM 1:00:00 AM

temperature of around 19° during the night.

1:15:00 PM 1:45:00 AM

Day 2
2:30:00 AM

DAY 4
2:00:00 PM
3:15:00 AM
2:45:00 PM
4:00:00 AM
3:30:00 PM
4:45:00 AM
4:15:00 PM
5:30:00 AM
5:00:00 PM
6:15:00 AM
5:45:00 PM Temperature in Bedroom (Day 3 & 4) 7:00:00 AM
Temperature in Living Room (Day 1 & 2)

6:30:00 PM
7:45:00 AM
7:15:00 PM 8:30:00 AM
8:00:00 PM 9:15:00 AM
8:45:00 PM 10:00:00 AM
9:30:00 PM 10:45:00 AM
10:15:00 PM 11:30:00 AM
11:00:00 PM 12:15:00 PM

We can see in the bedroom usually because the AC is on it reached a low

11:45:00 PM 1:00:00 PM
 Temperature in Dining Room (Day 5 & 6)
25.5

25

24.5

24

23.5

23

22.5

22
12:45:00 AM

4:15:00 AM
12:00:00 AM

1:30:00 AM
2:15:00 AM
2:45:18 AM
3:30:00 AM

5:00:00 AM
5:45:00 AM
6:30:00 AM
7:15:00 AM
8:00:00 AM
8:45:00 AM
9:30:00 AM
10:15:00 AM
11:00:00 AM
11:45:00 AM
12:30:00 PM
1:15:00 PM
2:00:00 PM
2:45:00 PM
3:30:00 PM
4:15:00 PM
5:00:00 PM
5:45:00 PM
6:30:00 PM
7:15:00 PM
8:00:00 PM
8:45:00 PM
9:30:00 PM
10:15:00 PM
11:00:00 PM
11:45:00 PM
DAY 5 DAY 6

We can see the temperature was constant mostly and usually in the
afternoon it increased reaching a maximum of 25°.

3) Atmospheric Pressure (hPa)

The air temperature inside a building is important to the comfort of its
occupants and the condition of its contents. In general, a building benefits
from having slight positive indoor pressure. This is especially true during the
heating season because it is expensive to heat the cold air that infiltrates
from outside when interior pressure is negative. Positive pressure also helps
improve indoor air quality because contaminants such as smoke and
particulates are forced out of the space. A slight positive pressure helps
eliminate stratification. This ensures even heat from top to bottom and end
to end in the building. Pressure is measured in hectopascals (hPa) also
known as millibars (mb). The average pressure value at sea level is 1013
hPa (mb) and it's generally higher during the summer months than the
winter months.
4) Relative humidity (RH)
Relative humidity (RH) is a measure of the water vapor density of air
compared to the water vapor density for saturated air at the same
temperature and pressure (that is, the maximum amount of moisture that air
can 'hold' at that temperature and pressure). It is expressed as a
percentage.
Humidity influences thermal comfort. The higher the relative humidity, the
less heat a person is able to lose heat through the evaporation of moisture
on the skin, and so the hotter they will feel. Conversely, air that is too dry
can cause problems such as dry eyes, nose, ears and throat. Typically, a
relative humidity of 40 to 60% is appropriate in many buildings.

Relative humidity (RH) in Living Room (Day 1 & 2)

80
70
60
Relative Humidity

50
40
30
20
10
0
8:30:00 AM
12:15:00 AM
1:00:00 AM
1:45:00 AM
2:30:00 AM
3:15:00 AM
4:00:00 AM
4:45:00 AM
5:30:00 AM
6:15:00 AM
7:00:00 AM
7:45:00 AM

9:15:00 AM
10:00:00 AM
10:45:00 AM
11:30:00 AM
10:00:00 PM
1:00:00 PM
1:45:00 PM
2:30:00 PM
3:15:00 PM
4:00:00 PM
4:45:00 PM
5:30:00 PM
6:15:00 PM
7:00:00 PM
7:45:00 PM
8:30:00 PM
9:15:00 PM

10:45:00 PM
11:30:00 PM

12:15:00 PM
1:00:00 PM

Day 1 Day 2

The relative humidity here seems to be just about in the range and touching
maximum around 69 at 1pm.
 0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
12:00:00 AM

0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70

60
12:00:00 AM 12:45:00 AM
12:45:00 AM 1:30:00 AM
1:30:00 AM 2:15:00 AM
2:15:00 AM 2:45:18 AM
2:45:18 AM 3:30:00 AM
3:30:00 AM 4:15:00 AM
4:15:00 AM 5:00:00 AM

close to around 40.

5:00:00 AM 5:45:00 AM
5:45:00 AM
6:30:00 AM
6:30:00 AM
7:15:00 AM
7:15:00 AM
8:00:00 AM
8:00:00 AM
8:45:00 AM
8:45:00 AM
9:30:00 AM
9:30:00 AM
10:15:00 AM
10:15:00 AM
11:00:00 AM

Day 3

Day 5
11:00:00 AM
11:45:00 AM 11:45:00 AM
12:30:00 PM 12:30:00 PM
1:15:00 PM 1:15:00 PM

Day 4

Day 6
2:00:00 PM 2:00:00 PM
2:45:00 PM 2:45:00 PM
3:30:00 PM 3:30:00 PM
4:15:00 PM 4:15:00 PM
5:00:00 PM 5:00:00 PM
5:45:00 PM 5:45:00 PM
6:30:00 PM
6:30:00 PM
7:15:00 PM
Relative humidity (RH) in Bedroom (Day 3 & 4)

7:15:00 PM
8:00:00 PM
Relative humidity (RH) in Dining Room (Day 5 & 6)
8:00:00 PM
8:45:00 PM
8:45:00 PM
9:30:00 PM
9:30:00 PM
10:15:00 PM
In the bedroom the humidity seems to be going lower than usual staying

10:15:00 PM
11:00:00 PM
11:45:00 PM 11:00:00 PM

In the dining room it seems to be very stable and in the range between 40 to
11:45:00 PM
 5) Due point Temperature (Td)
The dew point is the temperature at which air is saturated with water vapor,
which is the gaseous state of water. When air has reached the dew-point
temperature at a particular pressure, the water vapor in the air is in
equilibrium with liquid water, meaning water vapor is condensing at the
same rate at which liquid water is evaporating.
Dew point is closely linked to relative humidity, which is the ratio of the
pressure of water vapor in a parcel of air relative to the saturation pressure
of water vapor in that same parcel of air at a specific temperature. Relative
humidity (RH) is expressed as a percentage. The relative humidity is 100
percent when the dew point and the temperature are the same. If the
temperature drops any further, condensation will result, and liquid water will
begin to form.

Due point Temperature (Td) Living Room (Day 1 & 2)

25
Dew Point Temperature (Td)

20

15

10

0
2:30:00 AM
12:15:00 AM
1:00:00 AM
1:45:00 AM

3:15:00 AM
4:00:00 AM
4:45:00 AM
5:30:00 AM
6:15:00 AM
7:00:00 AM
7:45:00 AM
8:30:00 AM
9:15:00 AM
10:00:00 AM
10:45:00 AM
11:30:00 AM
4:45:00 PM

12:15:00 PM
1:00:00 PM
1:45:00 PM
2:30:00 PM
3:15:00 PM
4:00:00 PM

5:30:00 PM
6:15:00 PM
7:00:00 PM
7:45:00 PM
8:30:00 PM
9:15:00 PM
10:00:00 PM
10:45:00 PM
11:30:00 PM

1:00:00 PM

Day 1 Day 2
 0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
0
5
10
15
20
25
12:00:00 AM 12:00:00 AM
12:45:00 AM 12:45:00 AM
1:30:00 AM 1:30:00 AM
2:15:00 AM 2:15:00 AM
2:45:18 AM 2:45:18 AM
3:30:00 AM 3:30:00 AM
4:15:00 AM 4:15:00 AM
5:00:00 AM 5:00:00 AM
5:45:00 AM 5:45:00 AM
6:30:00 AM 6:30:00 AM
7:15:00 AM 7:15:00 AM
8:00:00 AM 8:00:00 AM
8:45:00 AM 8:45:00 AM
9:30:00 AM 9:30:00 AM
10:15:00 AM 10:15:00 AM

Day 5
11:00:00 AM

Day 3
11:00:00 AM
11:45:00 AM 11:45:00 AM
12:30:00 PM 12:30:00 PM
1:15:00 PM 1:15:00 PM

Day 6
2:00:00 PM Day 4
2:00:00 PM
2:45:00 PM 2:45:00 PM
3:30:00 PM 3:30:00 PM
4:15:00 PM 4:15:00 PM
5:00:00 PM 5:00:00 PM
5:45:00 PM 5:45:00 PM
6:30:00 PM 6:30:00 PM
7:15:00 PM 7:15:00 PM
8:00:00 PM 8:00:00 PM
Due point Temperature (Td) Dining Room (Day 5 & 6)

8:45:00 PM 8:45:00 PM
Due point Temperature (Td) Bedroom (Day 3 & 4)

9:30:00 PM 9:30:00 PM
10:15:00 PM 10:15:00 PM
11:00:00 PM 11:00:00 PM
11:45:00 PM 11:45:00 PM
Conclusion
Overall, it seems like the apartment building is well insulated and does not
have any major problems. From the charts we could see that for day 1 and 2
there were some values which were high, but this was because it was
weekend and there were extra occupants in the apartment than usual. As
for the day 3 till day 6 the values were within the range and it seems like the
apartment is in a good condition.

References:
https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Humidity#:~:text=Relative%20hu
midity%20(RH)%20is%20a,is%20expressed%20as%20a%20percentage.
https://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu/dochelp/QA/Basic/dewpoint.html
http://www.titan-air.com/under-pressure--is-building-air-pressure-really-
important.html
https://ohsonline.com/Articles/2016/04/01/Carbon-Dioxide-Detection-and-
Indoor-Air-Quality-Control.aspx?Page=2
https://www.buildingscience.com/documents/digests/bsd-109-pressures-in-
buildings