Traditional wood buildings in France and in Madagascar use abundant local forest resources in architecture. Woodcan be considered as renewable and natural material when coming from sustainably managed forest. Using wood in construction contributes significantly in controlling the atmospheric carbon cycle and the emission of greenhouse gas. This study presents the main physical characteristics of wood materials and building systems showing the influence of wood coating on indoor environment. Hygrothermal phenomena across the living space are characterized and presented in this work : the presence of water in the wood, the behavior of equilibrium moisture, heat transfer and mass transfer, the physical parameters of wood material and physical parameters of indoor environment. Thermal comfort is similarly characterised. This work contributes knowledge on the evaluation of interactions between thermal comfort, indoor air and wood coating by means of in situ and laboratory measurements and numerical model simulations.
