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.
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(2nd Ed.), Passive and Low Energy
Architecture International. < http://plea-arch.org/?page_id=125>
accessed April 30th, 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.”
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
As our long time readers know, we feel strongly that HVAC trade
schools along with architectural and engineering programs should teach the
basics in human anatomy and physiology; for those parts related to the indoor
environment.
It just makes so much sense that those in industry responsible for indoor spaces should be able to explain how the indoor climate affects the
body or how the body responds to the indoor climate.
Doesn't it make sense to you as well?
How long would it take to explain the fundamentals?
Two hours.
We know you don't have two hours to spare online so we’ve uploaded a sample on thermal comfort that we teach in our integrated
design program at the following link:
Our ACCA Roundtable presentations on Radiant Cooling for High Humidity
Geographies have sparked a renewed interest in psychrometrics with requests for
recommended study material.
For the working stiff who just wants to dive right in
without an in-depth theory discussion, the ACCA Manual P authored by Rutkowski and
associated technical team is your friend…cover to cover it’s only 54 pages and
will serve your studies well.
For a more in-depth study including a historical look at
psychrometrics you’ll want the ASHRAE publication authored by Gately. At 273
pages, it lacks nothing in subject matter and as far as we have discovered to
date has the most comprehensive and comprehendible theory of any other moisture
manuals in our library.
So there you have our recommendations…pick up the manuals through ASHRAE and ACCA and read content from
the other noted resources (Google search psychrometrics+ name, i.e. psychrometrics + Lew Harriman).
To obtain the password simply join our Linked-In discussion
group and start a new thread with your request; because we have many password protected
presentation, it’s important that you copy and paste the above URL in the “add
more detail” section.
This topic is part of our three
day integrated design course and we’ll be covering it again in detail so if you
missed our ASHRAE and ACCA presentations you can still catch us at various
locations across Canada before the end of the year.
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
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.
Two very big buildings made of glass one just received a LEED Platinumdesignation 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.
As readers of this Journal know, I read a lot of paper’s and by far the best ones are though such outlets as the University of CaliforniaeScholarship which, “provides a suite of open access, scholarly publishing services and research tools” to readers like me.
Below is the abstract from the paper - there is nothing more to be said other than read the paper – you’ll be much more wiser for it.
The main objective of the Ph.D. study was to examine occupants’ perception of comfort in nonindustrial buildings (homes and offices), in particular how building occupants understand comfort and which parameters, not necessarily related to indoor environments, influence the perception of comfort.
To meet the objective, the following actions were taken: (1) a literature survey exploring which indoor environmental parameters (thermal, acoustic, visual environment and air quality)predominantly determine overall comfort and whether other factors unrelated to the indoor environment influence the perception of comfort; the literature survey summarized 42 peer reviewed and conference articles and 1 book covering the period from 1970 to 2009;(2) preparation, distribution and analysis of a questionnaire survey sent to 2499 addresses representing the most common types of residential buildings in Denmark and filled out by 645persons (response rate of 26%); and (3) analysis of the post-occupancy satisfaction survey conducted by the Center for the Built Environment (CBE) at the University of California Berkeley in 351 mainly U.S. office buildings and filled out by 52,980 building occupants.
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Final comment: Kudo’s to CBE and DTU for making this and other papers available on an open access basis – wish more academic institutes would follow your path.
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.
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%.
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.
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 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.
The folks from Business Information Group with Publisher Peter Leonard and his merry band of editors have just launched the premier issue of Better Building, a magazine for progressive residential constructors.
Inside the front cover is Murray Pound, Vice President of Operations for Gold Seal Master Builder. Murray is a unique individual in that he is both a master builder and professional fire fighter who has been advocating for fire sprinklers for many years. He’s seen the carnage and horrific scenes from senseless destruction and knows firsthand the aftermath of buildings burnt to the ground.
I have the pleasure of knowing Murray and always pay attention to his stories as a builder and the stories of fires he’s fought and so should you. As a 13 year veteran fire fighter and just completing their 300th project - the folks at Gold Seal have a deep understanding of safe, secure, energy efficient comfortable homes…check them out today.
There are a number of residential fire safety systems available today and one of them comes from Uponor a supporter of ours and colleague to the industry. They’re a leader in this field and we suggest you look at their product offering.
Lots of other good stuff in the issue including a few words from yours truly on building codes, enclosures, IEQ and HVAC systems – access the issue here (note: you’ll have to scroll down on the landing page to Supplements & Special Features).
The ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Tool provides a user-friendly interface for calculating thermal comfort parameters and making thermal comfort predictions using several existing thermal comfort models. This new version focuses on the Adaptive and Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) Models and has an updated user interface.
RBc: This is one of my favorite tools of all time and use it regularly in course curriculums. It deals with mean radiant temperature and air temperatures, clo values, met rates, draft, humidity and other thermal comfort metrics.
If you do “Thermal Comfort” as part of your service and product offerings you need to obtain a copy of this program.
The Bullitt Center on Seattle's Capitol Hill begins construction – uses solar, non toxic materials, and radiant heating and cooling among other systems to help achieve superb energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality.
With the help from our UK friends at Science Photo Library we make available for web viewing several new videos illustrating concepts of heat transfer, energy and indoor environmental quality.
For the young grade school student working on a class project or clients of the seasoned veteran looking to educate themselves these high quality animations help explain concepts to the non-technical person.
The Schlieren video in particular emphasizes once again we’re not in the business of conditioning buildings but in conditioning people.
When accessing each of the pages for the first time, allow 60 to 120 seconds to load. We hope you enjoy the new content courtesy of our site supporters.
Established in 2004, The Journal of Indoor Environmental Quality (JIEQ) in conjunction with Healthy Heating serves as a technical interpreter and consolidator of academic research demonstrating the building and health sciences are inclusive elements. It provides professional development programs based on its analysis to application professionals such as architects, engineers, interior designers and related technicians.
Subscribe to the JIEQ
Visit www.healthyheating.com
Friends of Industry
Quotes
“The quality of housing conditions plays a decisive role in the health status of the residents, because many health problems are either directly or indirectly related to the building itself, the construction materials that were used, and the equipment or the size or structure of the individual dwellings.”
The World Health Organization
"Indoor environmental quality is in part a result of materials and methods of construction which has an influence on occupant health. For this reason, policies around health and construction cannot be treated separately and must be linked together." Source: Bean, R., IAQ Webinar Presentation, 2009
The HVAC system consumes 50-60% of the building energy cost and generates 80-85% of tenant complaints.
Source: U.S. General Services Administration, Public Buildings Service, Office of the Chief Architect
Good Design
“Industrial designers determine the form and interaction qualities of manufactured products...They study people at work, at home and in motion to create satisfying experiences with products from the kitchen and the office to the hospital and the warehouse…” Excerpt from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).
In our opinion, industrial design has been overlooked by the HVAC industry – illustrated by consumers facing difficulties selling homes with HVAC systems which have “beast in the boiler room.”
Be reminded by S. Claire Conroy from Residential Architecture, "It's time architects of every discipline understand residential architecture for what it really is: everyone's most intimate connection with architecture. It's not simply a “test bed”—it's a vessel for our lives on their most personal level. That makes the stakes very high indeed. No one is more discriminating and demanding than a residential client.”
"A lot of it has to do with how we are responding at a physiological level to what we see as we walk in through the door." Sarah Susanka, Architect
“Industrial designers determine the form and interaction qualities of manufactured products...They study people at work, at home and in motion to create satisfying experiences with products from the kitchen and the office to the hospital and the warehouse…” Excerpt from the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).
"In any industry, one of the most important and difficult tasks is to explain a nuanced process to someone unfamiliar with the field. At its grass roots, design is a process like many others; it has theories, strategies and examples that can be explained on a general level. It’s not a matter of what type of information is given, but rather how it is presented and to what type of audience."
Speaking Design to Non-Designers, IDSA
