Journal of Indoor Environmental Quality: Building science

November 06, 2013

Oxford University Press to release new, "Textbook of Children's Environmental Health"

The first-ever textbook of children's environmental health. Comprehensively assembled and edited by two pediatricians who are widely recognized leaders and pioneers in the field of children's environmental health.

An ideal course textbook or collateral reading in schools of public health and in universities that offer majors in public health or environmental science. Suitable for public health practitioners, pediatricians and pediatric trainees; family physicians; environmental scientists; nurses and nursing students; students in schools of public health; college undergraduates majoring in public health, environmental health or environmental science; health and environmental policy makers in governments and NGOs.

Over the past four decades, the prevalence of autism, asthma, ADHD, obesity, diabetes, and birth defects have grown substantially among children around the world. Not coincidentally, more than 80,000 new chemicals have been developed and released into the global environment during this same period. Today the World Health Organization attributes 36% of all childhood deaths to environmental causes.

Children's environmental health is a new and expanding discipline that studies the profound impact of chemical and environmental hazards on child health. Amid mounting evidence that children are exquisitely sensitive to their environment-and that exposure during their developmental "windows of susceptibility" can trigger cellular changes that lead to disease and disability in infancy, childhood, and across the life span-there is a compelling need for continued scientific study of the relationship between children's health and environment.

The Textbook of Children's Environmental Health codifies the knowledge base and offers an authoritative and comprehensive guide to this important new field. Edited by two internationally recognized pioneers in the area, this volume presents up-to-date information on the chemical, biological, physical, and societal hazards that confront children in today's world: pesticides, indoor and outdoor air pollution, lead, arsenic, phthalates, bisphenol A, brominated flame retardants, ionizing radiation, electromagnetic fields, and the built environment. It presents carefully documented data on rising rates of disease in children, offers a critical summary of new research linking pediatric disease with environmental exposures, and explores the cellular, molecular, and epigenetic mechanisms underlying diseases of environmental origin.

With this volume's emphasis upon integrating theory and practice, readers will find practical approaches to channeling scientific findings into evidence-based strategies for preventing and identifying the environmental hazards that cause disease in children. It is a landmark work that will serve as the field's benchmark for years to come.

Readership: Practitioners and researchers in pediatrics, public health, nursing, life and environmental sciences, toxicology, obstetrics, developmental psychology, and health economics.

RBc: We look forward to getting this new publication…in the meantime be sure to check out these links on indoor environmental quality:

Posted by RBean on November 06, 2013 at 12:16 PM in Air cleaners, Air filtration, Air pollution, Air Temperature, Air Velocity, Arsenic, Asbestos, Asthma, Bacteria, Building Codes, Building Enclosures, Building science, Carbon dioxide, Carbon monoxide, Children and pollutants, Dust mites, Educational, Environmental Ergonomics, Environmental Health, Ergonomics, Floor Coverings, Floor Temperatures, Forced Air, Formaldehyde, Health, Wellness and Comfort, Human Factors, Humidty, Indoor Air Quality, Indoor Climate Engineering, Indoor Comfort, Indoor Environmental Quality , Indoor lighting quality, Indoor sound quality, Mercury, Moisture, Mold Issues, PAH's, Particulate matter, Phthalates, Radon, Science, TVOC's, Ventilation, Viruses, VOCs | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 10, 2013

New building guide addresses the limits of thermal comfort: avoiding overheating

As the heat wave continues, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has released a new Guide to provide greater understanding and improved prediction of overheating in commercial buildings. ‘TM52: The limits of thermal comfort: avoiding overheating in European buildings' will be published today on the online Knowledge Portal and will be soon followed by ‘TM49: Probabilistic design summer years for London'.

Both guides offer information to help avoid uncomfortable conditions for occupants. These support the existing publication ‘KS16: How to manage overheating in buildings' which gives guidance for building managers and owners about the causes of overheating and how to mitigate it. CIBSE also provides guidance for building managers and occupants in the form of top tips on how to manage overheating, available to download from the CIBSE website.

Fergus Nicol, lead author of the Guide TM52 commented: "Overheating has become a major problem in building design. The rising cost of energy combined with global climate change has reduced the options available for building comfortable, low-energy buildings. Research has been directed towards methods for increasing indoor winter temperatures but this can lead to lightweight, highly insulated buildings that respond poorly in the summer. To assess this further, CIBSE responded by forming the Overheating Task Force."

The CIBSE Overheating Task Force explored what is needed from building designers, service systems, ventilation and facilities management in order to maintain comfortable living and working conditions, especially in the summer months. Occupant comfort is particularly important as it directly impacts productivity and health which in turn affects employers. Only recently it was quoted that Mark Zuckerburg, founder, Facebook, keeps his offices at 15°C as it is believed to increase productivity. CIBSE's recommended temperature is 20°C.

CIBSE President George Adams also emphasised the importance of designing buildings fit for a changing climate due to global warming in his inauguration speech entitled ‘Whole Life Thinking'. The subject was also discussed further at the CIBSE Natural Ventilation Group event, Passive Building Technology in Practice, 21st June at UCL.

Additional reading:

Posted by RBean on July 10, 2013 at 11:17 AM in Air Temperature, Architecture, Books, Building Codes, Building Enclosures, Building science, Consumers on Comfort, Environmental Ergonomics, Environmental Health, Health, Wellness and Comfort, Human Factors, Indoor Climate Engineering, Indoor Environmental Quality | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 02, 2013

A little about the radiant based HVAC system at the LEED Gold Telus Spark Science Center: P2S2013 Conference Location

Telus Spark Science Center

It was serendipitous that my keynote at the Pathways 2 Sustainability Conference was in the Telus Spark Science Center. The HVAC system was designed by the Calgary office of Dialog who have described the IEQ systems as;

“Along with lots of natural Calgary light and smart water use, the building design brings fresh air to every room. Rather than a typical, forced-air ventilation and cooling system, the building incorporates displacement ventilation and radiant panels to distribute fresh air and highly effective heating and cooling for visitor comfort. The atrium and extensive lobby areas are heated and cooled with a radiant chilled/heated slab system for a non-intrusive but highly effective conditioning system. Underseat displacement ventilation is provided in the 250-person IMAX theatre for optimum thermal comfort and ventilation effectiveness.”

You can see some of the interior photo’s at our photo library https://twitter.com/healthyheating

Interestingly, the HVAC zone for the exhibit hall (converted into the P2S2013 conference space) was tested beyond its functional capacity as over 250 delegates filled a space likely designed for less. (hopefully someone from Dialog will show up and correct my assumption). Despite the load, the thermal comfort was well beyond most conference halls that I have visited (and there have been hundreds). The air quality not so much. As the occupant load increased it was necessary to open the adjoining doors connecting a large open hallway to the conference room and that one simple solution seemed to do the trick for most of the attendees.

The point being - despite a heavy occupant load during three days of rain the radiant cooling panels never once condensed as the air system was capable of maintaining a lean air mixture.

I really like how the Architectural/Interior Designers and Mechanical Engineers incorporated the ventilation columns into the space – very nice.

Brad Struble Telus Spark representative and director of design gave us the tour and did a great job explaining the project as well as helping adapt the space to the conference and for the adaptive measures to help maintain the indoor environmental quality.

You can learn more about the project including the radiant based HVAC system from this video (can view in Google Chrome).

More about the conference, keynotes and moderators.

My keynote slides will be accessible early next week...I'll let you know the URL via this blog, our Linked-In page and twitter feed.

Final note: Lisa Fox and her team did a fabulous job organizing the event and workshop - well done!

Posted by RBean on June 02, 2013 at 11:11 AM in Air cleaners, Air filtration, Air Temperature, Air Velocity, Architecture, Building Enclosures, Building science, Concrete, Consumers on Comfort, Controls, Dedicated outdoor air systems, Environmental Ergonomics, Ergonomics, Exergy, Fenestration, Floor Temperatures, Forced Air, Green, Heat Recovery Ventilators, Heated Flooring, Human Factors, Humidty, HVAC, Hydronic heating, Indoor Air Quality, Indoor Climate Engineering, Indoor Comfort, Indoor Environmental Quality , Indoor lighting quality, Indoor sound quality, Interior Design, LEED and Green, Mean Radiant Temperature, Radiant based HVAC, Radiant Cooling, Radiant Projects, Thermal Comfort, Ventilation | Permalink | Comments (3)

April 30, 2013

Thermal Comfort, Design Tools and Techniques (PLEA Note 3), 2nd Edition

Excerpt: “This is the third booklet in our PLEA Notes series. Each of these Notes is intended to deal with one particular and narrow aspect of design, of a technical /scientific nature. These Notes serve a dual purpose: to be a learning tool, introducing the subject and discussing it in mainly qualitative terms, but also to be a design tool, to provide quantitative data and methods for the consideration of the particular subject matter in design. An implicit aim is also to create an authoritative reference work, which would provide a concise but comprehensive summary of the state of the art of the subject.

In this Note 3 the undergraduate student will find part 1, then sections 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 of part 2 as well as part 3 of particular interest. The practising designer (using the above sections as introduction) will - we hope - find part 4 most useful. The research student, or anyone interested in the whys and wherefores will find part 2 as a unique reference source.

References for the comfort index data sheets are given in footnote form, similarly in places where they refer to that page only. General references are listed in alphabetical order on pages 62 – 63.

We hope that this Note will contribute in some small way to the creation of better buildings, healthier indoor environments and energy conservation, thus serve the broad aims of PLEA and a sustainable future.”

Citation: Auliciems, A., Szokolay, S.V. (2007) Thermal Comfort, Design Tools and Techniques. PLEA Note 3(2^nd Ed.), Passive and Low Energy Architecture International. < http://plea-arch.org/?page_id=125> accessed April 30^th, 2013

Additional reading:

Posted by RBean on April 30, 2013 at 12:13 PM in Air Temperature, Air Velocity, Building Enclosures, Building science, Chilled Beams, Clo Values, Conduction, Consumers on Comfort, Controls, Convection, Educational, Efficacy, Environmental Ergonomics, Environmental Health, Ergonomics, Fenestration, Floor Coverings, Floor Temperatures, Forced Air, Green, Health, Wellness and Comfort, Heated Floor, Heated Flooring, Indoor Climate Engineering, Indoor Comfort, Indoor Environmental Quality , Interior Design, LEED and Green, Mean Radiant Temperature, Moisture, Psychrometrics, Radiant Asymmetry, sustainability, Temperature Stratification, Thermal Bridging, Thermal Comfort, Thermal Comfort Survey | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 06, 2013

How Indoor Environment Affects Performance (ASHRAE March 2013)

The authors review what we know and don’t know about how thermal comfort and indoor air quality affect performance. The article is written in the form of answers to 40 frequently asked questions. The authors, also widely respected, offer opinions based on what the research shows.

Excerpt: “As experienced researchers in the effects of thermal comfort and indoor air quality on performance, we are often asked to give our best estimate of how, and to what extent, performance is affected by different aspects of indoor climate. This article provides a brief summary of our personal opinions, in the form of answers to 40 frequently asked questions. Our answers are based on the results of behavioral experiments conducted to date. We offer no opinions on long-term health effects of indoor environmental quality. We provide some references to relevant sources, but there is not enough space for all such references. We list some questions we cannot answer as topics for future research in this area.”

Available for free to ASHRAE members.

Citation: Wyon, D.P., Wargocki, P., How Indoor Environment Affects Performance. ASHRAE Journal, 55:3(46-55), March 2013

Posted by RBean on April 06, 2013 at 01:57 PM in Air Temperature, Architecture, Building Enclosures, Building science, Consumers on Comfort, Current Affairs, Environmental Ergonomics, Environmental Health, Environments for Seniors, Ergonomics, Health, Wellness and Comfort, Human Factors, Indoor Air Quality, Indoor Climate Engineering, Indoor Comfort, Indoor Environmental Quality , Indoor lighting quality, Indoor sound quality, Interior Design, Thermal Comfort, Thermal Comfort Survey | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 23, 2013

Housing improvements for health and associated socio-economic outcomes

Excerpt: "Housing investment which improves thermal comfort in the home can lead to health improvements, especially where the improvements are targeted at those with inadequate warmth and those with chronic respiratory disease.

Improvements in warmth and affordable warmth may be an important reason for improved health. Improved health may also lead to reduced absences from school or work. Improvements in energy efficiency and provision of affordable warmth may allow householders to heat more rooms in the house and increase the amount of usable space in the home. Greater usable living space may lead to more use of the home, allow increased levels of privacy, and help with relationships within the home. An overview of the best available research evidence suggests that housing which promotes good health needs to be an appropriate size to meet household needs, and be affordable to maintain a comfortable indoor temperature."

Source: Thomson, H., Thomas, S., Sellstrom, E., and M. Petticrew, Housing improvements for health and associated socio-economic outcomes, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, (2), 2013

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD008657.pub2/pdf/abstract

December 18, 2012

New method for estimating thermal comfort in low-energy buildings at the design stage

18 Dec, 2012 10:37 CET Indoor environments that are too hot, too cold or draughty create discomfort and lower human productivity. MSc (Tech) Riikka Holopainen from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, has written a doctoral thesis on a new method for estimating the actual level of human thermal comfort in low-energy buildings. The method is also the first of its kind to be integrated with a building simulation tool. Factoring in the different ways in which buildings are used and the different kinds of people using them at the design stage can help to improve energy efficiency and human comfort.

Energy-efficient passive and zero-energy buildings require considerably less heating than traditional buildings. Traditional HVAC solutions are therefore no longer suitable for designing indoor environments for low-energy buildings.

The Human Thermal Model (HTM) is a new technique developed by Senior Scientist Riikka Holopainen from VTT in her doctoral thesis, which can be used to design and create optimal indoor environments for low-energy buildings. One of the novelties of the method is the fact that it allows scientists to measure how different solutions are likely to affect human thermal comfort and the energy efficiency of buildings at the design stage.

The model is based on the physiological thermal control system of the human body, and it can be used to calculate the actual level of human thermal comfort in both steady-state and transient thermal environments. The thesis introduces the first ever mathematical application that integrates a building simulation tool with human thermal sensation. The model also produces information about previously complex comparisons, such as the effects of different structural solutions and HVAC systems on human thermal sensation.

Earlier models for measuring the comfort of indoor environments have not taken account of the human body’s own thermal control system. These methods are also insufficient for designing passive and zero-energy buildings. Models based on laboratory measurements, for example, overestimate the heat perceived by humans in warm conditions and underestimate it in cool conditions. They also factor in clothing as a hermetically sealed unit similar to a diving suit.

Both internal and external factors affect human thermal sensation. Internal factors include personal characteristics, anatomy, activity level, whether work is physical, and clothing. External factors include room temperature, which covers air and surface temperature, as well as air velocity and relative humidity. Holopainen has demonstrated that the most important factors contributing to thermal sensation and comfort are air and surface temperature, activity level and clothing.

Ensuring building optimisation and human comfort at the design stage

Indoor environments that are too hot, too cold or draughty create discomfort and lower human productivity. Bed-bound patients in hospitals, for example, spend a great deal of time lying still and therefore need a sufficiently warm indoor environment and bedclothes. Checkout operators in shops, on the other hand, may have to sit in heat in summer and in cold and draughts in winter. Factoring in the different ways in which buildings are used and the different kinds of people using them at the design stage can help to optimise indoor environments and improve human comfort. Employees can also be given clothing advice.

The Human Thermal Model is suitable for both new builds and renovations. Engineering firms and the construction industry can now develop their products to better meet the needs of different buildings and users.

In the future, the HTM and building automation systems will work together to automatically regulate ventilation, heating and cooling according to actual needs, incorporating human thermal comfort as an integral aspect of workplace productivity enhancement.

Source: Holopainen, R., A human thermal model for improved thermal comfort, Doctor of Science in Technology Thesis, Aalto University, VTT, December 2012

<http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/science/2012/S23.pdf>

Additional reading:

Thermal Comfort: A Condition of Mind
Thermal Comfort: A 40 grit perspective for consumers
Built to code: What does it mean for consumer thermal comfort?

Posted by RBean on December 18, 2012 at 03:16 PM in Air Temperature, Air Velocity, Architecture, Building Enclosures, Building science, Clo Values, Conduction, Convection, Design Tools, Efficacy, Energy Efficiency, Environmental Ergonomics, Environmental Health, Environments for Seniors, Ergonomics, Floor Temperatures, Health, Wellness and Comfort, Home Technology, Human Factors, Humidty, HVAC, Indoor Climate Engineering, Indoor Comfort, Indoor Environmental Quality , Insulation, Net-Zero Energy, Radiant based HVAC, Thermal Comfort, Thermal Comfort Survey | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 03, 2012

Comprehensive study from Denmark reports on thermal overheating complaints in high performance homes.

Preview from the REHVA Journal December 2012 issue; Highlights from the Indoor climate in low energy buildings – main topic in Healthy Buildings Conference

Excerpt from one conference report: “Occupants were generally satisfied with their new houses, but were most dissatisfied with the thermal conditions. A majority (68%) specified that they experienced too warm during summer. This was the most prevalent complaint, and in agreement with physical measurements. During winter the occupants were also most dissatisfied with thermal conditions as 27% of respondents experienced too cold, and 25% found that the temperature varied too much. Additionally, there were a series of problems with the technical installations and their use was difficult. The energy use was higher than expected.”

If you haven’t had a chance to read the study, it concluded with a series of recommendations to increase occupant satisfaction in low energy houses:

• Avoid uncomfortably high temperatures during summer with external solar shading, consider the size of the windows facing towards the sun and make effective use of natural ventilation possible.

• Develop more robust and easy-to use technical installations enabling occupants to control the indoor climate and energy consumption as intended in their new relatively technically advanced house, e.g. by a single user-friendly user interface that can communicate with all relevant technical installations.

• Ensure that occupants can use their house as intended by technical installations being fully operational from day one.

• Communicate about the energy consumption so that occupants get realistic expectations according to their family situation and behavior.

Ok…so for our long time readers do you recognize any of these comments?

We'll be discussing more on these topics in our three day integrated design program.

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Download the REHVA December 2012 preview here:
Indoor climate in low energy buildings – main topic in Healthy Buildings Conference (PDF 2.6 MB)

Be sure to sign up for the REHVA eNewsletter - you can also download past issues here.

Posted by RBean on October 03, 2012 at 12:57 PM in Air filtration, Air pollution, Air Temperature, Architecture, Building Enclosures, Building science, Environmental Ergonomics, Environmental Health, Health, Wellness and Comfort, Home Owners Guide to Indoor Comfort Quality, Home Technology, Human Factors, HVAC, Indoor Climate Engineering, Indoor Comfort, Indoor Environmental Quality , Industrial Design, Net-Zero Energy, sustainability, Thermal Comfort, Thermal Comfort Survey | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 21, 2012

Julian Treasure: Why architects need to use their ears

"Because of poor acoustics, students in classrooms miss 50 percent of what their teachers say and patients in hospitals have trouble sleeping because they continually feel stressed. Julian Treasure sounds a call to action for designers to pay attention to the “invisible architecture” of sound."

RBc: "Noise goes up - heart rate goes up...this is not good for you."...We love this quote because it enforces what we have been teaching on indoor environmental quality...so many people believe the indoor air quality is the sole proxy for IEQ but this is a poor understanding of much more complex topic. Julian Treasure does a marvelous job emphasizing where indoor sound quality fits into the grand scheme of quality indoor spaces.

Once again the building professionals are connected to health professionals through the needs of the occupants.

Posted by RBean on September 21, 2012 at 09:12 AM in Building Codes, Building Enclosures, Building science, Consumers on Comfort, Environmental Ergonomics, Environmental Health, Indoor Climate Engineering, Indoor sound quality, What makes a good architect? | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 19, 2012

Quality Assurance in Indoor Environments and Energy Efficiency

ACCA Quality Assured

Just wanted to set aside some time to thank Dan Foley(Foley Mechanical), the fine folks at the Air Conditioning Contractors of America and the corporate sponsors of the recently held ACCA Hydronics Roundtable event. In alphabetical order they include;

A special thank you to Uponor one of our educational partners for bringing our Radiant Cooling for High Humidity Geographies to the conference attendees.

With ACCA’s Quality Assurance program and these manufactures and service providers’ commitment to excellence there can be confidence in the design and installation of radiant based HVAC systems in America.

Thanks to all.

Robert Bean, R.E.T., P.L.(Eng.)
Registered Engineering Technologist - Building construction (ASET)
Professional Licensee (Engineering) - HVAC (APEGGA)
Building Sciences / Industry Development

Posted by RBean on September 19, 2012 at 01:48 PM in Building Enclosures, Building science, Chilled Beams, Consumers on Comfort, Dedicated outdoor air systems, Design Tools, Efficacy, Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Entropy, Environmental Ergonomics, Environmental Health, Environments for Seniors, Ergonomics, Exergy, Fenestration, GeoThermal, Health, Wellness and Comfort, Home Owners Guide to Indoor Comfort Quality, HVAC, Hydronic heating, Indoor Climate Engineering, Indoor Comfort, Indoor Environmental Quality , Radiant Cooling, Radiant heating | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 24, 2012

NCCU Residence Hall Earns LEED Gold Certification

The new 517-bed Chidley North Residence Hall at North Carolina Central University has received LEED gold certification from the USGBC.

One of the most interesting energy-saving approaches that architecture firm Lord, Aeck & Sargent (LAS) took was to design the building with an ICF (insulated concrete form) bearing wall assembly. The ICF approach was chosen for its insulating capacity, its speedy and efficient construction assembly and its performance in an area of the country where there are great temperature variances. The LAS project manager for Chidley North says that ICF “provides almost double the thermal insulation of concrete masonry with conventional insulation.”

Chidley North features a host of energy-saving, water-saving and other green strategies that earned the building its LEED gold.

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For further details contact: Annie Kohut | Kohut Communications Consulting (tel) 770-913-9747 | (cell) 404-786-6062 (fax) 770-913-3197 | annielk@bellsouth.net www.kohutcommunications.com | Follow me at http://twitter.com/kohutcomm

Lord, Aeck & Sargent is an award-winning architectural firm serving clients in scientific, academic, historic preservation, arts and cultural, and multi-family housing and mixed-use markets.

Posted by RBean on August 24, 2012 at 09:50 PM in Building Enclosures, Building science, ICF Construction, LEED and Green | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 15, 2012

TEDxHamburg, TransSolar's Thomas Auer: Green & Sexy Buildings

I saw Thomas Auer in Winnipeg, Manitoba at the Building Envelope Conference in 2011. Thomas and TransSolar worked on the radiant cooled and heated Manitoba Hydro Building which we featured previously. As we have said before, we really love the message that this firm brings to the world of Architecture, that being the principles of Indoor Climate Engineering (ICE). ICE is different than HVAC engineering which focuses primarily on the building...ICE focus on the energy to condition the occupants; yes HVAC is part of it but the starting point for design is the entire sensory system of occupants, then the enclosure followed by the interior design and then HVAC system.

Here's their corporate mission: Transsolar is a climate engineering firm whose scope is to ensure the highest possible comfort in the built environment with the lowest possible impact on the environment. This is accomplished by developing and validating climate and energy concepts through the recognition that environmental conditions are influenced by all aspects and stages of design.

June 01, 2012

Glass versus glass: Winnipeg’s Manitoba Hydro Office Tower vs. Chicago’s Aqua Tower

Glass versus glass: Winnipeg’s Manitoba Hydro Office Tower vs. Chicago’s multi-tenant Aqua Tower

Two very big buildings made of glass one just received a LEED Platinum designation and labelled the most energy efficient building in America (adjacent photo) and the other is becoming fodder for cynical engineers worldwide; building scientist Ted Kesik called it "architectural pornography" – so why the hypocrisy since they’re both made of glass?

We’ve not seen the energy reports on the Aqua Tower (AQT) (we may never see them) but the published results for the Manitoba Hydro building (MHB) are stated here, “The building's target was for a 60 per cent reduction in energy consumption compared to the Canadian Model National Energy Code for Buildings. The goal was to attain LEED Gold certification. It proved to be even more efficient than anticipated, achieving reductions in energy use of over 70 per cent. In May 2012, Manitoba Hydro Place received LEED® Platinum certification, making it the most energy efficient office tower in North America and the only office tower in Canada to receive this prestigious rating.”

So what`s the difference? In the case of MHB it hired indoor climate and energy engineers TransSolar to evaluate the energy and indoor environmental quality of numerous models before the integrated design team selected the one offering the best opportunity to meet the client’s objectives of an energy efficient indoor climate. This process took years of preconstruction planning (started in 2002) ultimately resulting in the double façade building (think a building within a building) having opening windows on all of its office tower floors, conditioned with low temperature radiant heating and high temperature radiant cooling; ventilated with a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) with heat recovery - boosted by inline fans in the under floor displacement air system and augment by the solar chimney for pulling draft on the entire structure. The HVAC and domestic plant is a geothermal system powered by hydro and assisted with peaking natural gas boilers. What is so great about this building is the attention given to the mechanical and electrical system and how the architecture flows around it to enable its peak performance – it’s truly ingenious and inspiring and a huge credit to the architectural and engineering teams.

On the other hand, “The Aqua was named the Emporis Skyscraper Award 2009 skyscraper of the year and was shortlisted in 2010 for the biannual International Highrise Award”, perhaps a result of the architectural focus that left the mechanical and electrical engineering teams the responsibility of making the building work – this classic approach is repeatedly demonstrated as being flawed in a world concerned about sustainability.

As we have said over and over again in this journal and in industry publications – first let the engineers and interior designers create the DNA for the building and then use architecture to enable these systems to operate at peak performance.

This inverted process is the DNA of our upcoming cross Canada Tour hosted by Uponor – who by the way supplied the radiant heating and cooling system for the LEED Platinum Manitoba Hydro Building and the radiant heating and cooling system for the LEED Platinum NREL Research Facility and many other high performance buildings.

You’ll not want to miss this course – it will change how you do buildings.

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Complete listing of credits for the Manitoba Hydro Building: Project Team, Project Facts and Credits

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May 10, 2012

Book review - High Performance Enclosures: A Design Guide for Institutional, Commercial and Industrial Buildings in Cold Climates by Prof. J Straube, Ph.D., P.Eng.

So what do you think? Kind of appropriate after featuring the thermal bridging exposure from the Aqua Tower that Dr. John Straube’s new manual, “High Performance Enclosures” shows up in our mail box!

So I haven’t had a chance to jump fully into this new publication from Building Science Press but what I have seen is excellent. Straube provides with clarity both the graphics and text to explain in detail numerous enclosures from both the low rise and high rise camps. I particularly like the work he’s done on building form and orientation plus the discussions on building loading. As expected there is some duplication for clarification of principles from Straube and Burnett’s 2005, “Building Science for Building Enclosures” which was a modernization and expansion of Hutcheon and Handegord 1983 classic, “Building Science for a Cold Climates”; but unlike the latter references which were targeted more to the engineering sciences, the new publication is more for the practicing engineering, technician, architect and builder - having less theory and more practical example of the what and how to do’s. For a good one-two punch at building science and enclosures you won’t find a better pair of manuals than the 2005 and 2012 publications to keep you company during those cold winter design days.

To order visit, http://www.buildingsciencepress.com/Building-Science-for-Building-Enclosures-P6.aspx

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A note at all publishers…we get the reasoning behind the paper bound publications but really - it’s getting old…we would happily pay a small premium for secured .pdf versions rather than fund the world of transportation, duty and brokerage which adds zero value to the materials. Look at it this way...if we spent less money on zero education value items we could spend more money on the valuable educational items. Those are my thoughts and I'm sticking to them...

What happens when artistic expression and culture trump common sense and principles in sustainability?

Thermal Bridging: A Thermographic Perspective of Epic Scale

What you are looking at through the eyes of thermography is the 86 story Aqua Tower in downtown Chicago. Now, admittedly I find it hard to pass judgement on the architectural skills necessary to build a high rise of this magnitude...its impressive to say you built a high rise - it would look good on a resume. It's also a cool looking building…perhaps the design is not for everyone but it does has a certain je ne sais quoi factor going for it. However, I was in Chicago on several occasions to see this building going up and I and anyone else with an eye for building science could see this structure was going to break all the laws of thermal sensibility as it relates to thermal bridging.

What is thermal bridging? Thermal bridging is what happens when you sit down on a cold park bench and freeze your rear off – literally the process of sitting destroys the heated air barrier between your skin and pants; and the bones in your butt compress the fabric reducing the effective insulation between your cheeks and the seat. The result is a cold rump.

Well in the case of the Aqua Tower, if you extend the interior floor of a building out to the exterior exposing it to the outer elements of heat, wind and moisture it’s like installing a walking conveyor belt (like the type you see in airports) for moving heat and moisture in and out of the building.

The thermographic image shows the various stories’ going up to the top and the colors represent the various temperatures with the hottest temperatures represented by the warmer tones and the colder by the cooler tones.

I’m sure the mechanical and structural engineers had major debates with the architect and clients on this building and evidently they lost out.

So what happens when science loses to artistic expression and culture? Well you get all glass buildings with cooling fins.

This is the type of situation where “feebates” make sense – that being a fee paid by those who want to build bad buildings to those who are willing to build good buildings.

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More on thermal bridging and its effect on mean radiant temperature - a key component of thermal comfort.

A weekly journal on architecture, anthropology and radiant based heating, ventilation and air conditioning. The role of indoor environmental ergonomics, industrial design, HVAC as a health care issue and other human factors in the design of indoor spaces.

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