Timber frame walls: feasible with a damaged vapor barrier?

A ventilated cavity is usually considered good practice for removing moisture behind the cladding of timber framed walls. Timber frame walls with no cavity are a logical alternative as they are slimmer and less expensive to produce and besides the risk of a two-sided fire behind the cladding is reduced.
To investigate the possibilities, full-size wall elements with wooden cladding and different cavity design, type of cladding and type of wind barrier were exposed to natural climate on the outside and to a humid indoor climate on the inside. During the exposure period parts of the vapour barrier were removed in some of the elements to simulate damaged vapour barriers. The condition of the wind barriers of elements with intact vapour barriers was inspected from the inside after four years of exposure.
This paper presents results with emphasis on the moisture conditions behind the wind barrier. It was found that the specific damages made to the vapour barrier as part of the test did not have any provable effect on the moisture content. In general elements with an intact vapour barrier did not show a critical moisture content at the wind barrier after four years of exposure.