Samuel V. Glass

Madison, WI 53726-2398
United States
Wood structures can endure for centuries if they remain sufficiently dry. As the construction industry evolves, research is needed to protect wood buildings from the potential effects of moisture. Proper design, operation, and maintenance of wood buildings are critical to prevent moisture-induced damage, such as mold growth, wood decay, and corrosion of metal fasteners.
Dr. Glass conducts research within the Building and Fire Sciences Research Work Unit at the Forest Products Laboratory. His research focuses on the building envelope, the collective elements that separate the interior and exterior environments, including the foundation, exterior walls, and roof. Dr. Glass investigates the relationships between moisture, energy efficiency, and durability in residential and non-residential wood buildings. Primary research objectives include
- Advancing the fundamental understanding of wood–moisture interactions;
- Quantifying moisture transfer in the building envelope;
- Developing tools for predicting moisture-induced damage in buildings; and
- Developing moisture control strategies for cross-laminated timber, a relatively new engineered wood product with vast potential for use in mid-rise and high-rise buildings.
Dr. Glass conducted his doctoral research in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He investigated how surfactant films at the gas-liquid interface control gas uptake and evaporation of water. These studies contributed to understanding chemical reactions that occur in sulfuric acid droplets in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, which affect ozone levels.
- Wood−moisture interactions
- Water vapor sorption in wood
- Moisture-related properties of wood and wood products
- Cross-laminated timber (CLT)
- Moisture control in buildings
- Heat, air, and moisture transfer in the building envelope
- Interior and exterior moisture loads on the building envelope
- Tools for predicting mold growth, wood decay, and corrosion of metal fasteners
- Hygrothermal modeling
- Instrumentation for monitoring moisture levels in building assemblies
Moisture control in wood buildings is important for human health, building sustainability, and conservation of the forest resource. Excessive moisture levels in buildings can lead to mold growth and respiratory health problems for occupants. Preventing moisture problems contributes to building sustainability by extending the service life. The sustainability and health of America's forests depend on sound conservation practices, including utilization. Efficient wood utilization reduces the risk and impacts of wildfire, provides incentives for private landowners to maintain forest land, and provides a critical source of jobs in rural America. Use of wood as a green building material is important for climate change mitigation because wood products store carbon for as long as the building exists. Wood products require less energy to process than other building materials such as steel or concrete, and use of wood produces less air pollution, solid wastes, and greenhouse gases. These benefits hinge on efficient and proper use of wood in construction.
- University of Wisconsin-Madison, Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, 2005
- Calvin College, Grand Rapids, MI, B.A., Chemistry/Classical Civilization/Archaeology, 1998
- Research Physical Scientist, USDA Forest Products Laboratory, 2005 - Current
- Research Assistant, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Chemistry, 2001 - 2005
- Teaching Assistant, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Chemistry, 1999 - 2001
- Member, Society of Wood Science and Technology (SWST), 2008 - Current
-
Member,
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE),
2005 -
Current
Standing Standard Project Committee 160, Criteria for Moisture-Control Design Analysis in Buildings; Technical Committee 1.12, Moisture Management in Buildings; Technical Committee 4.4, Building Materials and Building Envelope Performance
- Glass, Samuel V; Boardman, Charles R.; Thybring, Emil Engelund; Zelinka, Samuel L.. 2018. Quantifying and reducing errors in equilibrium moisture content measurements with dynamic vapor sorption (DVS) experiments
- Thybring, Emil Engelund; Glass, Samuel V; Zelinka, Samuel L.. 2019. Kinetics of water vapor sorption in wood cell walls: state of the art and research needs
- Thybring, Emil E.; Boardman, Charles R.; Glass, Samuel V; Zelinka, Samuel L.. 2019. The parallel exponential kinetics model is unfit to characterize moisture sorption kinetics in cellulosic materials
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V; Thybring, Emil Engelund.. 2020. Evaluation of previous measurements of water vapor sorption in wood at multiple temperatures
- Kordziel, Steven ; Glass, Samuel V; Boardman, Charles R.; Munson, Robert A.; Zelinka, Samuel L.; Pei, Shiling ; Tabares-Velasco, Paulo Cesar.. 2020. Hygrothermal characterization and modeling of cross-laminated timber in the building envelope
- Kordziel, Steven ; Pei, Shiling ; Glass, Samuel V; Zelinka, Samuel ; Tabares-Velasco, Paulo Cesar.. 2019. Structure moisture monitoring of an 8-story mass timber building in the Pacific Northwest
- Glass, Samuel V.; Wang, Jieying; Easley, Steve; Finch, Graham. 2013. Chapter 10: Enclosure--Building enclosure design for cross-laminated timber construction
- Glass, Samuel V.; Gatland II, Stanley D.; Ueno, Kohta; Schumacher, Christopher J.. 2017. Analysis of improved criteria for mold growth in ASHRAE standard 160 by comparison with field observations
- Glass, Samuel V.; Zelinka, Samuel L.. 2010. Moisture relations and physical properties of wood
- Lepage, Robert ; Glass, Samuel V; Bastide, Paul de la; Mukhopadhyaya, Phalguni. 2022. Serviceability limit state model for fungal growth on wood materials in the built environment
- Glass, Samuel; Zelinka, Samuel. 2021. Moisture relations and physical properties of wood
- Pei, Shiling ; Stogdill, Jake ; Glass, Samuel V; Zelinka, Samuel ; Kordziel, Steven ; Tabares-Velasco, Paulo Cesar.. 2021. Long-Term Moisture Monitoring Results of an Eight-Story Mass Timber Building in the Pacific Northwest
- Thybring, Emil E.; Boardman, Charles R.; Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V. 2021. Common sorption isotherm models are not physically valid for water in wood
- Zelinka, Samuel; Thybring, Emil E.; Glass, Samuel. 2021. Interpreting Dynamic Vapor Sorption (DVS) Measurements: Why Wood Science Needs to Hit the Reset Button
- Lepage, Robert ; Glass, Samuel V; de la Bastide, Paul Y.; Mukhopadhyaya, Phalguni. 2021. A Nondestructive Longitudinal Laboratory Test Method for Detection of Incipient Ultrastructural Changes in Wood
- Glass, Samuel; Zelinka, Samuel; Thybring, Emil Engelund. 2021. Exponential decay analysis: a flexible, robust, data-driven methodology for analyzing sorption kinetic data
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Kirker, Grant T.; Bishell, Amy B.; Glass, Samuel V. 2020. Effects of wood moisture content and the level of acetylation on brown rot decay
- Boardman, Charles R.; Glass, Samuel V; Zelinka, Samuel L.. 2020. Moisture redistribution in full-scale wood-frame wall assemblies: measurements and engineering approximation
- Boardman, Charles R.; Glass, Samuel V. 2020. Improving the Accuracy of a Hygrothermal Model for Wood-Frame Walls: A Cold-Climate Study
- Kirker, Grant T.; Bishell, Amy; Glass, Samuel; Bechle, Nathan; Cappellazzi, Jed; Palmer, Jonathon; Hickey, William. 2020. Fungal Diversity Associated with Zones of the AWPA Fungal Decay Hazard Map
- Boardman, C.R. ; Glass, Samuel V; Munson, Robert ; Yeh, Borjen ; Chow, Kingston. 2019. Field moisture performance of wood-framed walls with exterior insulation in a cold climate
- Lepage, Robert ; Glass, Samuel V; Knowles, Warren ; Mukhopadhyaya, Phalguni. 2019. Biodeterioration models for building materials: critical review
- Boardman, Charles R.; Chow, Kingston ; Glass, Samuel V; Yeh, Borjen. 2019. Hygrothermal modeling of wall drying after water injection
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V; Thybring, Emil Engelund.. 2018. Myth versus reality: do parabolic sorption isotherm models reflect actual wood–water thermodynamics?
- Kordziel, Steven ; Glass, Samuel V; Pei, Shiling ; Zelinka, Samuel L.; Tabares-Velasco, Paulo Cesar.. 2018. Moisture monitoring and modeling of mass-timber building systems
- Zelinka, S.L. ; Kordziel, S. ; Pei, S. ; Glass, S.V. ; Tabares-Velasco, P.C.. 2018. Moisture monitoring throughout the construction and occupancy of mass timber builidings
- Glass, Samuel V; Boardman, C.R. ; Yeh, Borjen ; Chow, Kingston. 2018. Moisture monitoring of wood-frame walls with and without exterior insulation in the Midwestern U.S
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Bourne, Keith J.; Glass, Samuel V; Boardman, Charles R.; Lorenz, Linda ; Thybring, Emil Engelund.. 2018. Apparatus for gravimetric measurement of moisture sorption isotherms for 1-100 g samples in parallel
- Pásztory, Zoltán ; Horváth, Tibor ; Glass, Samuel V; Zelinka, Samuel. 2018. Experimental investigation of the influence of temperature on thermal conductivity of multilayer reflective thermal insulation
- Boardman, Charles; Glass, Samuel V.; Lebow, Patricia K.. 2017. Simple and accurate temperature correction for moisture pin calibrations in oriented strand board
- Glass, Samuel V.; Boardman, Charles R.; Zelinka, Samuel L.. 2017. Short hold times in dynamic vapor sorption measurements mischaracterize the equilibrium moisture content of wood
- Passarini, Leandro ; Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V; Hunt, Christopher G.. 2017. Effect of weight percent gain and experimental method on fiber saturation point of acetylated wood determined by differential scanning calorimetry
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V.; Boardman, Charles R.; Derome, Dominique. 2016. Comparison of the corrosion of fasteners embedded in wood measured in outdoor exposure with the predictions from a combined hygrothermal-corrosion model
- Glass, Samuel V.; Yeh, Borjen; Herzog, Benjamin J.. 2016. Effects of Exterior Insulation on Moisture Performance of Wood-Frame Walls in the Pacific Northwest: Measurements and Hygrothermal Modeling
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Passarini, Leandro; Colon Quintana, José L.; Glass, Samuel V.; Jakes, Joseph E.; Wiedenhoeft, Alex C.. 2016. Cell wall domain and moisture content influence southern pine electrical conductivity
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V.; Boardman, Charles R.; Derome, Dominique. 2016. Moisture storage and transport properties of preservative treated and untreated southern pine wood
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V.; Jakes, Joseph E.; Stone, Donald S.. 2016. A solution thermodynamics definition of the fiber saturation point and the derivation of a wood-water phase (state) diagram
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V.; Boardman, Charles R.. 2016. Improvements to water vapor transmission and capillary absorption measurements in porous materials
- Glass, Samuel; Kochkin, Vladimir; Drumheller, S.; Barta, Lance. 2015. Moisture Performance of Energy-Efficient and Conventional Wood-Frame Wall Assemblies in a Mixed-Humid Climate
- Pásztory, Zoltán; Horváth, Tibor; Glass, Samuel V.; Zelinka, Samuel L.. 2015. Thermal Insulation System Made of Wood and Paper for Use in Residential Construction
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Bourne, Keith J.; Hermanson, John C.; Glass, Samuel V.; Costa, Adriana; Wiedenhoeft, Alex C.. 2015. Force-displacement measurements of earlywood bordered pits using a mesomechanical tester
- Boardman, C.R.; Glass, Samuel V.. 2015. Basement radon entry and stack driven moisture infiltration reduced by active soil depressurization
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Wiedenhoeft, Alex C.; Glass, Samuel V.; Ruffinatto, Flavio. 2015. Anatomically informed mesoscale electrical impedance spectroscopy in southern pine and the electric field distribution for pin-type electric moisture metres
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Quintana, José L. Colon; Glass, Samuel V.; Jakes, Joseph E.; Wiedenhoeft, Alex C.. 2015. Subcellular Electrical Measurements as a Function of Wood Moisture Content
- Boardman, CR; Glass, Samuel V.. 2015. Moisture transfer through the membrane of a cross-flow energy recovery ventilator: Measurement and simple data-driven modeling
- Glass, Samuel V.; Zelinka, Samuel L.; Johnson, Jay A.. 2014. Investigation of Historic Equilibrium Moisture Content Data from the Forest Products Laboratory
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V.; Derome, Dominique. 2014. The effect of moisture content on the corrosion of fasteners embedded in wood subjected to alkaline copper quaternary treatment
- Glass, Samuel V.. 2013. Hygrothermal Anaylsis of Wood-Frame Wall Assemblies in a Mixed-Humid Climate
- Jakes, Joseph E.; Plaza, Nayomi; Stone, Donald S.; Hunt, Christopher G.; Glass, Samuel V.; Zelinka, Samuel L.. 2013. Mechanism of Transport Through Wood Cell Wall Polymers
- Boardman, C.R.; Glass, Samuel V.. 2013. Investigating Wind-Driven Rain Intrusion in Walls with the CARWASh
- Glass, Samuel V.; TenWolde, Anton; Zelinka, Samuel L.. 2013. Hygrothermal Simulation: A Tool for Building Envelope Design Analysis
- TenWolde, Anton; Glass, Samuel V.. 2013. Moisture in Crawl Spaces
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Lambrecht, Michael J.; Glass, Samuel V.; Wiedenhoeft, Alex C.; Yelle, Daniel J.. 2012. Examination of water phase transitions in Loblolly pine and cell wall components by differential scanning calorimetry
- Clausen, Carol A.; Glass, Samuel V.. 2012. Build Green: Wood Can Last for Centuries
- Boardman, C.R.; Glass, Samuel V.; Carll, Charles G.. 2011. Moisture meter calibrations for untreated and ACQ-treated southern yellow pine lumber and plywood
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Derome, Dominique; Glass, Samuel V.. 2011. Combining hygrothermal and corrosion models to predict corrosion of metal fasteners embedded in wood
- Zelinka, Samuel L; Glass, Samuel V.. 2010. Water vapor sorption isotherms for southern pine treated with several waterborne preservatives
- Glass, Samuel V.. 2010. A laboratory facility for research on wind-driven rain intrusion in building envelope assemblies
- Boardman, C. R.; Glass, Samuel V.; Carll, Charles G.. 2010. Estimating foundation water vapor release using a simple moisture balance and AIM-2 : case study of a contemporary wood-frame house
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Derome, Dominique; Glass, Samuel V.. 2010. From laboratory corrosion tests to a corrosion lifetime for wood fasteners : progress and challenges
- Glass, Samuel V.; Carll, Charles G.; Curole, Jay P.; Voitier, Matthew D.. 2010. Moisture performance of insulated, raised, wood-frame floors : a study of twelve houses in southern Louisiana
- Glass, Samuel V.; TenWolde, Antoni. 2009. <p>Review of moisture balance models for residential indoor humidity</p>
- Clausen, Carol A.; Glaeser, Jessie A.; Glass, Samuel V.; Carll, Charles. 2009. Occurrence of mold in a two-story wood-frame house operated at design indoor humidity levels
- Glass, Samuel V.; Carll, Charles G.. 2009. Moisture meter calibration for untreated and ACQ-treated southern yellow pine plywood
- Zelinka, Samuel L.; Glass, Samuel V.; Stone, Donald S.. 2008. A percolation model for electrical conduction in wood with implications for wood-water relations
- Glass, Samuel V.; TenWolde, Anton. 2007. Review of in-service moisture and temperature conditions in wood-frame buildings
- Glass, Samuel V.. 2007. Measurements of moisture transport in wood-based materials under isothermal and nonisothermal conditions

Improving experimental techniques that probe wood-moisture interactions

Improving the Accuracy of Automated Instruments for Moisture in Wood

Updating a Building Design Standard with Improved Criteria for Preventing Mold Growth

Modeling indoor humidity in homes

Development of New Kinetics Models for Water Vapor Sorption in Wood

Keeping Wood-Frame Housing Safe and Warm

Monitoring Moisture Levels in Mass Timber Buildings

Improving the Tools and Practice for Designing Moisture-Safe Wood Buildings

Moisture Control in Crawl Spaces in Louisiana

Possibilities and Pitfalls of Computer Simulation for Building Moisture Analysis

Managing Moisture in Energy-efficient Wall Systems

Scientists study how water changes wood

A percolation model for water and electrical conduction in wood with implications for durability

Investigating the Role of Moisture in Durability of Acetylated Wood

Wood Construction Goes Beyond Its Traditional Roots
