Building facades are subject to exposure conditions that vary according to the climate characteristics of the region where they are located. Driving rain, wind associated with rain, is a major source of moisture and contributes with the degradation process of those facades. The phenomenon is being studied in several countries and, due to concerns about its effects, different methods for measuring it have been devised. This study aims to obtain a directional driving rain index of the city of Goiania, as well as check whether these indices bear a relationship with the moisture measured on the façade surfaces of a multi-storey building. In order to do that, the directional driving rain index of the monthly average and that of January were calculated applying the semi-empirical method, considering meteorological data of the period 2002 to 2008. Subsequently, experimental measurements of moisture on the surface of the facade rendering of a 17-storey building were carried out. The measurements were made on the facades rendered with mortar, after a rainfall in the month of January. The directional driving rain index of the monthly average of the years analyzed and of January indicated a differential behaviour of driving rain for each direction. The superficial moisture measurements of the building facades indicated the occurrence of higher moisture on north-facing facades, as well as on the higher floor (17th) and in the areas below windows.
Durability; Driving rain; Moisture; Facades
