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Microclimatic conditions (relative humidity and temperature) were monitored in a shipment of Norway spruce (Picea abies) wood inside an intermodal container on its 66-day transport from Slovenia to Japan. In parallel, the susceptibility of Norway spruce wood to moulding fungi was determined and a dynamic vapour sorption analysis was performed. Considerable moulding developed on specimens that were exposed to a climate with relative humidity above 93%. The results of the laboratory assessment correlated with the observations of mould development in the container. The relative humidity in the container was below 93%, so there was no mould growth on the transported Norway spruce wood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wood is one of the most important construction materials and its use in building applications has further expanded in recent decades. In order to enable even more extensive and reliable use of wood in outdoor applications, factors affecting wood’s service life need to be understood. It is well known that fungal degradation of wood is predominantly affected by temperature (T) and moisture content (MC). In order to elucidate the influence of these two factors, long term monitoring of T, relative humidity (RH) and MC at four locations was carried out: a model house made of thermally modified wood in Mozirje (1), the WWII partisan hospital Franja (2), a hayrack in Pokljuka (3) and a house in the north of Slovenia in Vrba (4). The results clearly showed that fungal degradation of wood is influenced by MC and T. In addition, the influence of micro-climatic conditions on fungal decay was shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]