We’re back! I’ve been away working on a new comprehensive course on Energy, Buildings and Indoor Environmental Quality. Happy to say we’re finished and look forward to delivering this program across the country – more on this later.
I want to draw your attention to my latest read: TransSolar’s High Comfort Low Impact publication and have to say it’s a home run in our ballpark of studying design principles and philosophies on energy and indoor environmental quality. We’ve talked about TransSolar before but just in case you’re new to this international firm, their scope is to, “…ensure the highest possible comfort in the built environment with the lowest possible impact on the environment.”
So simple yet so powerful – an approach which has taken them into the coveted design rooms across the globe, working as specialized energy and indoor climate consultants on such projects as the Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand to the newly commissioned Manitoba Hydro Office Tower, Winnipeg, Canada to the Klimahaus® Bremerhaven, Germany.
High Comfort Low Impact is an inside look at TransSolar’s approach based on human factor design with explanations on the bodies sensory systems and how the study of human anatomy opens up an immense appreciation for what architecture should be about – putting the needs of the occupants first and then support this with low impact designs, materials and methods of construction. What we like most about TransSolar is their in-depth understanding and use of low temperature radiant heating and high temperature radiant cooling with displacement ventilation, heat recovery and low exergy systems - they get the whole comfort and energy thing - true leaders in indoor environmental design. You can and should learn more about TransSolar and be sure to add, “High Comfort Low Impact” to your library.
High Comfort Low Impact
Transsolar Climate Engineering
Editors: Monika Lauster, Erik Olsen
fmo-publishers, 2008
ISBN: 978-3-937934-02-0
Additional study material:
- E-x-e-r-g-y 101 – Maybe you’ve heard the word but never understood its meaning. This HPAC Magazine article uses Star Wars hero Master Yoda as the master of E^5: Energy, Efficacy, Efficiency, Entropy and Exergy.
- The power in Mean Radiant Temperature(MRT): By and large the world of architecture and HVAC design still unfortunately focus on air temperature as the exclusive metric for comfort. This narrow approach completely misses the definition of human based comfort. Learn the power of MRT.
- Thermal Comfort Research with Manikins: Since the early days before WWII Thermal Manikins have been used to research thermal comfort. Learn more about this unique field of study.
