Journal of Indoor Environmental Quality

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:

1. Thermal Comfort: A Condition of Mind
2. Do I need an engineer? A Guide to HVAC/Indoor Climate Design Service Providers
3. Where will your indoor climate system score?
4. How to "ball park" your budget for indoor climate control.
5. Indoor environments: Self assessment
6. Built to code: What does it mean for consumer thermal comfort?
7. The Total Comfort System - The "Un-minimum" System
8. Thermal Comfort: A 40 grit perspective for consumers
9. The Cost of HVAC Systems - Are You Paying Too Much for Downgrades?
10. Thermal Comfort Surveys - Post Occupancy, Part I
11. Thermal Comfort Surveys - Post Occupancy, Part II
12. HVAC does not equal IEQ: Mislabelling, misleading and misunderstanding

 

 

Related articles

Indoor Air Quality and its Effects on Health: a Presentation of the Guidelines for Health-Based Ventilation in Europe

How Indoor Environment Affects Performance (ASHRAE March 2013)

Housing improvements for health and associated socio-economic outcomes

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

Related articles

Integrated health and post modern medicine includes the physical environment and architecture.

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

CBE Thermal Comfort Tool: Online now - check it out.

Thermal Comfort: Indeed a Condition of Mind

A Ph.D. Thesis on human comfort: New materials worthy of study

Education and the Built Environment

 

Housing improvements for health and associated socio-economic outcomes

Now available - National Research Council Canada: Construction Innovation, Volume 17, Number 4

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

Suggested Reading:

1. HVAC Systems and Indoor Environmental Quality
2. Thermal Comfort: A Condition of Mind
3. Thermal Comfort Surveys - Post Occupancy, Part I
4. Thermal Comfort Surveys - Post Occupancy, Part II
5. Thermal Comfort: A 40 grit perspective for consumers
6. Do I need an engineer? A Guide to HVAC/Indoor Climate Design Service Providers
7. Where will your indoor climate system score?
8. How to "ball park" your budget for indoor climate control
9. Indoor environments: Self-assessment
10. Built to code: What does it mean for consumer thermal comfort?

Related articles

Thermal Comfort As an Art or Science in Architecture

Now available - National Research Council Canada: Construction Innovation, Volume 17, Number 4

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?

Related articles

Healthy Buildings Research: New Developments, Future Directions and Potential Solutions, Healthy Buildings 2012 Plenary Lecture, Charles J. Weschler, PhD

CBE Thermal Comfort Tool: Online now - check it out.

Thermal Comfort: Indeed a Condition of Mind

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.

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.

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; 

• Daikin
• Federated Insurance
  
• Grundfos 
• IBC Boilers
• Rehau
• Taco 
• Tekmar 
• Uponor
• Viega 

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

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.

Photo credit © James West / JWest Productions.

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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.

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.

Suggested reading:

1. TED Talks, Wolfgang Kessling: How to air-condition outdoor spaces

2. Faulty Towers or Woe Canada: Suggested by some as the new National Anthem

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

4. TED Talks, James Howard Kunstler: Fired up about civilization and architecture in America.

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

6. Transsolar Climate Engineering, High Comfort Low Impact

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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Suggested reading:

Radiant cooled Manitoba Hydro Office Building

The Facts on Manitoba Hydro Office Building

NREL Research Support Facility

The Facts on NREL Research Support Facility

Begin With the End in Mind: A Model for Sustainability

Why Do Architects Focus on Art More than Building Science?

 

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Sign up soon for our five city Canadian Tour hosted by the Uponor Academy:

Sept. 17-19 Edmonton, AB
Oct. 29-31 Halifax, NS
Nov. 19-21 Vancouver, BC
Nov. 26-28 Toronto, ON
Dec. 3-5 Montreal, QC

Topic: 

How to establish low energy allowances for delivering thermal comfort and indoor air quality in modern buildings

If you want to know more about this course call us at 403.278.8481

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...

Suggested reading:

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) of Building Materials

Building Enclosures: A Filter, Sponge and Capacitor

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. 

 

 

 

 

See also:

• Glass versus glass: Winnipeg’s Manitoba Hydro Office Tower vs. Chicago’s Aqua Tower
• Begin with the end in mind

Top and middle photos - source: Wikipedia, (Thanks to A. Tennyson for making us aware of this image.) Bottom photo source: Robert Bean

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Announcement: New course dates and locations

Sept. 17-19 Edmonton, AB
Oct. 29-31 Halifax, NS
Nov. 19-21 Vancouver, BC
Nov. 26-28 Toronto, ON
Dec. 3-5 Montreal, QC

Topic:  

How to establish low energy allowances for delivering thermal comfort and indoor air quality in modern buildings

Description:

This three day hybrid course explores the design principles in energy and exergy efficient indoor environmental quality focusing on integrating architectural, interior design and radiant based HVAC system solutions. The core content based on theory and practical applications will revolve around the health, building and HVAC sciences including a study in thermal comfort and indoor air quality, cold climate enclosures, heat transfer, hydronic cooling and heating systems including a detailed study in fluid fundamentals and the hydraulics of hydronics, control valves and balancing, heat terminal units including fan coils, radiant cooling and heating and dedicated outdoor air systems.

Audience:

This course is for today’s working design practitioner who may be a recent graduate from an architectural, mechanical engineering or interior design program and those from the distribution and contracting professions who already hold design certifications from various institutes and associations.

Experienced professionals who may want to expand their knowledge base on IEQ, controls, radiant heating & cooling, fluid hydraulics and snow melting will also benefit from the program.

Note:

Course fee includes 21 hours of instruction, 500 page bound course curriculum with all the slides, formatted 4 per page on 11x17 landscape, industry software and handbooks

Details:

Course overview and instructor bio

Course hosted by:

Uponor Academy

If this is not the cook book for your new building you may want to look for another chef.

Recipe for High Performing Buildings – Better Than Standard Practice

If you are an architect, building owner, facility manager, or design/build contractor and want to learn how buildings can achieve energy, economic, and environmental performance substantially better than standard practice…ASHRAE's High Performing Buildings publication is for you.

High Performing Buildings describes measured performance of practices and technologies to promote better buildings, presenting case studies that feature integrated building design practices and improved operations and maintenance techniques. They tend to be built around three fundamentals: They take advantage of climate and location, they have envelopes that reduce load and enhance natural lighting, and they use high-efficiency mechanical systems and lighting.

Link: <www.HPBmagazine.org/subscribe >

RBc: The latest issue features among others, Manitoba Hydro Place; a radiant cooled and heated 700,000 sq.ft. 22 plus story building that is beating the Model National Energy Code by 60% and ASHRAE 90.1-2007 by 52%.

We featured this project back in 2010 < http://blogs.healthyheating.com/2010/05/manitoba-hydro-place-a-new-benchmark-for-cold-climate-buildings.html>

Just a reminder this project has a radiant based HVAC system (heating and cooling), dedicated outdoor air systems, geothermal with high efficient condensing boilers, low VOC finishes for IAQ etc…if this sounds familiar it should because if it’s not the recipe for your new building you may want to look for another chef.

Suggested reading:

• http://www.healthyheating.com/Page%2055/Page_55_i_cooling_eq.htm
• http://www.healthyheating.com/DOAS/DOAS_Introduction.htm
• http://www.healthyheating.com/Page%2055/Page_55_a_benchmark.htm

We'll be talking about these and other principles at the following upcoming courses

• Energy Center of Wisconsin: HVAC hybrids: transitional solutions bridge tradition and the future and How vision affects residential design: an exploration of human sensory systems, Wed, Feb 1, 2012, Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center, Schaumburg, Il.,
• 2012 Uponor Convention, Thermal comfort with Radiant Based HVAC and How not to do radiant cooling, April 11-12, 2012, Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas

Old and rare books related to IEQ and Human Factor Design

Old and rare books related to IEQ from Laurens (The Physiological Effects of Radiant Energy, 1933), Vernon (The Principles of Heating and Ventilation, 1934) and Bedford (Modern Principles of Ventilation and Heating, 1937)

Our three latest additions to our library have arrived! I’ve been harvesting a bumper crop of information from these treasures whose information is just as valid today as it was when they were written.I love this old stuff because it established the “why” and it stands the test of time.

Every day I come across someone who is ambivalent or ignorant to the importance of “human factor design” with most focusing on the “mechanics of doing” rather than the science of “understanding why”…it an unfortunate byproduct of our system which is based on judging the construction industry by “how” it put things together to meet the minimum requirements of the building code.

As I have said before, the contractors are the first and last people to touch the project…it behooves us to teach them the “why” before we teach them the “how”.

New Report: Thermal Performance of Building Envelope Details for Mid- and High-Rise Buildings

 
Thermal Performance of Building Envelope Details for Mid- and High-Rise Buildings, ASHRAE Research project 1365, July 2011

excerpt: "The reduced thermal resistance due to thermal bridging through steel and concrete framing can have a significant impact on the whole building energy performance. Uncertainty about the thermal performance of the building envelope can lead to inefficient design of HVAC systems, building operation inefficiencies, inadequate condensation resistance at intersections of components and compromised occupant comfort. ASHRAE 1365-RP‘s objective was to provide thermal performance data of 40 common building envelope details for mid- and high-rise construction. The goal of the project was to develop procedures and a catalogue that will allow designers quick and straightforward access to information but with sufficient complexity and accuracy to reduce uncertainty in the thermal performance of building envelope components."

RBc: Enclosures, condensation, HVAC systems, inefficiencies and compromised occupant comfort...can not stand in isolation and are one and the same. This is another great report by ASHRAE and the folks from Morrison Hershfield.

 

Thermal bridging - related discussion and suggested reading:

http://www.healthyheating.com/Definitions/Mean%20Radiant.htm

http://abecsouth.org/Abstracts+Links.html

http://www.wbdg.org/pdfs/jbed_summer10.pdf