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    Review of 'Moisture Buffering and Mould Growth Characteristics of Naturally Ventilated Lime Plastered Houses.'

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    Moisture Buffering and Mould Growth Characteristics of Naturally Ventilated Lime Plastered Houses.Crossref
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    Moisture Buffering and Mould Growth Characteristics of Naturally Ventilated Lime Plastered Houses.

    Lime plaster is well known for its moisture buffering capabilities but is also susceptible to mould growth. This work focusses on the hygrothermal performance of lime plaster in naturally ventilated residential spaces. Surveys are carried out for 45 traditional buildings of Ahmedabad in India with measurements of ambient variables, such as temperature, relative humidity, wall moisture content, etc. Mould growth patterns of these spaces are related to the measured variables and wall characteristics. Hygrothermal simulations of some spaces are also carried out to observe the moisture buffering of lime plaster. Experimental observations are contrasted with simulation results to see if numerical predictions are realistic.
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      Review information

      10.14293/S2199-1006.1.SOR-EARTH.AHEU6U.v1.RZYDCK
      This work has been published open access under Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Conditions, terms of use and publishing policy can be found at www.scienceopen.com.

      Environmental studies
      Lime plaster; Hygrothermal simulations; mould growth; surface relative humidity conditions.,Energy and health

      Review text

      The subject studied by the authors is of high importance and they have conducted extensive study comprising both models and experimental work with a considerable number of analyses and the results are well discussed with a particular attention to references. Some scientific and editorial improvements are needed in the manuscript to be more understandable and followable.
      Introduction should be concise and be written in the order ending with the gap in the literature and aim of the study. 
      Lime cycle and related explanations are unnecessary to give because there will be no correlation later in the study. 
      Long explanation of lime is not needed. I recommend to delete this part. 

      Please make the introduction concise and clear. Authors should avoid repetition. Authors should briefly explain why lime is favorable in a few sentences and what is lack in the field without repetition. The section should be named as Results and Discussion, if not where is the discussion?  

      How this life span is calculated in this reference? What about more than 2000 years old Roman mortars. 

      reference is needed

      please correct improvising

      Methodology should be described briefly. It is estimated that the first study is modeling, the second study is in-situ examination and the last study is experimental work. If it is correct, please explain it clearly. 

      Abbreviation should be defined clearly when it is used for the first time.

      Please indicate name of the equipment in a, b, c, d, e in Figure 5.

      Table 332 should go to results or appendices section. 

       

      What is Language Lab? Why is it relevant? 

      What does sulphate phase of the lime plaster mortar formation mean? Please revise. 

      Which type of microscope is used should be defined in methods section. 

      Figure 32. If it is an stereomicroscope (or not), the magnification should be defined for all images. Quality of the images should be improved. 

      Polarized optical microscopy? scanning electron microscopy? section 4.2

      Conclusions should be reflected by results. I recommend rewriting the manuscript with clear objectives and results therefore conclusions can be inferred better. 

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