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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Thu Jun 09, 2005 11:09 am    Post subject: Newbie Here - hi there Just entered the world of architecture (coming from the construction engineering and HVAC side) with an inaugural trip to Vegas for the AIA/CES conference. Will have feet in both sides with a mission to coat the world of architectural and interior design by integrating human factors into the equation with my own skills and knowledge of environmental ergonomics. Ie: How To Create Thermal Environmental Conditions For Human Occupancy. Looking forward to sharing. If you see a need to discuss the above now or in the future you can beckon me from the address below. I’m just a click away. Here's a cool photo to a warm topic - radiant floor heating....we have lots of other thermal comfort graphics to share. These photo's show different methods of conditioning a surface for comfort...maximum 84 deg F if you want 85% satisfaction in heating,    Filesize:  55.72 KB  Filename:  picture3jpg.jpg  Viewed:  801 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2005 6:07 am    Post subject: Instrumentation for Measuring Human Comfort Factors This sensor tree picks up everything that influences comfort from radiant asymmetry, draft, humidity, mean radiant temperature, dry bulb temperature, and floor temperatures...all the metrics which influence your thermal enjoyment in a space. It can be used to verify design specifications or to identify flaws in the building/mechanical systems. Innova Thermal Comfort Data Logger was developed on the work of Dr. Fanger and Dr. Olesen. http://www.innova.dk/Thermal_Comfort.indoor_climate.0.html    Filesize:  23.42 KB  Filename:  Thermal Comfort Data Logger2 .jpg  Viewed:  760 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2005 9:16 am    Post subject: Radiant Assymetry Most designers are unaware of the term radiant asymmetry except they feel it every time their bodies are simultaneously exposed to large temperature differences like standing in front of a cold window. This is a useful metric in measuring and predicting comfort. The graph shows the range in which humans are comfortable or uncomfortable when they are exposed to various temperature differences in heated/cooled walls and ceilings. The values on the LHS represent the percentage of people who will be dissatisfied as the radiant asymmetry (bottom values) increase. The shaded area represents the ideal design conditions.    Filesize:  72.62 KB  Filename:  Picture2.jpg  Viewed:  916 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2005 8:10 am    Post subject: Humidity - Too Much - Too Little One of the most misunderstood metrics in comfort and controlling home environments is humidity. Hot air heating systems don't 'dry out' the air as often thought. Air temperature simply changes the relative humidity...the water vapor still exists – it doesn’t disappear unless it has been condensed out, evaporated and vented or absorbed by some other means. Another misconception is with radiant heating – it also has little influence over the moisture content in hardwood floors. Wood is a hydroscopic material and is more influenced by relative humidity than temperature. For this reason, constant humidity at whatever controlled value is more important to dimensional stability than temperature. All other things being equal - show me a home with a dilapidated hardwood floor regardless of the HVAC system and I'll show you a home that had no control over humidity - operated dehumidification or humidification with on/off switches that only ran when the heating or cooling blower was running. You can download a free guide to radiant heating and hardwood floors from our website. By the way, modern health care facilities use steam for humidification - this should make you think about your type of system. This popular graph has been adapted to reflect a lower recommended range for cold climate construction.    Filesize:  52.62 KB  Filename:  Picture3.jpg  Viewed:  767 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2005 9:44 am    Post subject: The Target Zone For the ideal home temperature and humidity environment for heating and cooling try to design your architecture and mechanical systems so they operate within the range show in the graphic. If you can do this, you will meet a significant part of the human bodies comfort needs contributing to an 85% satisfaction level. The Target zone is 40% RH year round...make note that the temperature is NOT ambient but operative - I'll discuss operative temperature when I get back from my next seminar. (In the meantime anyone is welcome to throw out the description...or take a guess at its meaning or relevance to thermal comfort.) The Target Zone...    Filesize:  57.11 KB  Filename:  Picture4.jpg  Viewed:  795 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:35 pm    Post subject: Operative Temperature Operative Temperature by definition is the uniform temperature of a radiantly black enclosure in which an occupant would exchange the same amount of heat by radiation plus convection as in the actual nonuniform environment. In simple terms it is what the body feels not what the thermostat says. To experience this, set your room thermostat to 72 deg F on a cold winter day then once the room is stabilized go stand next to the window and ask yourself if you are comfortable. You see 99.99% of all thermostats sold for measuring room temperature don’t consider radiant losses or gains which typical accounts between 40% and 50% of your bodies heat loss. Does this make sense to you? It makes no sense to us. _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:41 pm    Post subject: Re: Operative Temperature RBean wrote: Operative Temperature by definition is the uniform temperature of a radiantly black enclosure in which an occupant would exchange the same amount of heat by radiation plus convection as in the actual nonuniform environment. In simple terms it is what the body feels not what the thermostat says. To experience this, set your room thermostat to 72 deg F on a cold winter day then once the room is stabilized go stand next to the window and ask yourself if you are comfortable. You see 99.99% of all thermostats sold for measuring room temperature don’t consider radiant losses or gains which typical accounts between 40% and 50% of your bodies heat loss. Does this make sense to you? It makes no sense to us. Some good news on a new proposed ASHRAE Guideline 10P, Criteria for Achieving Acceptable Indoor Environments and a WOW experiance with interior designer Rosalyn Cama at http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/wwwhealthyheatingcom_bean/ Enjoy. _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 3:43 pm    Post subject: Floor Temperatures Floor Surface Temperatures “In the year 1966 an article, which was published in a magazine of the French Society For Phlebotomies, which informed about the dangers of floor heating systems in modern buildings. However, this article also contained information on the technological progress strived for in the area of floor heating systems and the difference between various types of floor heating systems. This critical essay subsequently suggested better cooperation between the heating technology experts and doctors.” An excerpt from, The Pain Disappeared Today, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 specifies recommended minimum and maximum surface temperatures which is the basis for radiant floor cooling or radiant floor heating. (see graph). Why then, almost 40 years after the article that I still come across designs without fluid or floor temperature regulation? The interface between architectural and mechanical systems (especially radiant floor heating) is not a Popular Science experiment as is so often found in North America. Radiant has been around a long time (Romans> hypocaust or Koreans> ondol) and even in the U.S. dating back to the 1950’s was the infamous Levitt Town with over 17,000 homes - many with radiant heating. Yet – after all these years with all that we’ve learned about thermal comfort – people still insists on ‘practicing’. Indoor environmental quality is a science based on principals and doesn’t need anymore experiments. Have a great weekend. RB    Filesize:  71.13 KB  Filename:  Picture1.jpg  Viewed:  830 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Thu Jul 07, 2005 3:44 pm    Post subject: Floor Temperatures Floor Surface Temperatures “In the year 1966 an article, which was published in a magazine of the French Society For Phlebotomies, which informed about the dangers of floor heating systems in modern buildings. However, this article also contained information on the technological progress strived for in the area of floor heating systems and the difference between various types of floor heating systems. This critical essay subsequently suggested better cooperation between the heating technology experts and doctors.” An excerpt from, The Pain Disappeared Today, ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 specifies recommended minimum and maximum surface temperatures which is the basis for radiant floor cooling or radiant floor heating. (see graph). Why then, almost 40 years after the article that I still come across designs without fluid or floor temperature regulation? The interface between architectural and mechanical systems (especially radiant floor heating) is not a Popular Science experiment as is so often found in North America. Radiant has been around a long time (Romans> hypocaust or Koreans> ondol) and even in the U.S. dating back to the 1950’s was the infamous Levitt Town with over 17,000 homes - many with radiant heating. Yet – after all these years with all that we’ve learned about thermal comfort – people still insists on ‘practicing’. Indoor environmental quality is a science based on principals and doesn’t need anymore experiments. Have a great weekend. RB    Filesize:  71.13 KB  Filename:  Picture1.jpg  Viewed:  726 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Sat Jul 16, 2005 4:02 pm    Post subject: In a Town Called Comfort - Only the Blind Can See New Article that might challenge the principles of some architetcs....enjoy. http://www.healthyheating.com/Definitions/In%20A%20Town%20Called%20Comfort.htm  Description: In a Town Called Comfort - Only the Blind Can See  Filesize:  3.64 KB  Viewed:  13002 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:13 pm    Post subject: Temperature Stratification Another important factor to designing indoor comfort quality is temperature stratification. Any homeowner will tell you about cold feet - hot head syndrome well in fact research tells us most people will be most comfortable when the temperature difference between your ankles and your head is less than 4 to 5 deg F. There are three ways to control this. With building efficiency, radiant heating or a combination of both. The worst combination is a hot air system in a poorly designed and or built home. Temperature Stratification is controllable and specifiable.    Filesize:  15.47 KB  Filename:  Picture5.jpg  Viewed:  701 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 9:05 am    Post subject: Air Velocity One of the other areas to consider in thermal comfort is air speed... In heating high (in-space) velocities are negative...in cooling they can be beneficial...the graph shows the recommended design range and the temperature compensation required. Often you here consumers say, "according to our designer, you need air movement otherwise you have stale air." Wrong, wrong, wrong...stale air and air movement are not the same thing. Steady state ventilation of a house means exhausting air and replacing with fresh clean air. Good HVAC designers can do this without any noticeable air movement. Ventilation should be analogous to a slow moving creek...steady, silent, calm and virtually impossible to perceive flow. Air Speed    Filesize:  82.57 KB  Filename:  Picture6.jpg  Viewed:  668 Time(s) _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2005 5:00 pm    Post subject: Radiant Mythology Here's a new article we've just published called: Radiant Mythology, 22 Myths About Radiant Heating http://www.healthyheating.com/downloads/22%20Myths%20about%20radiant%20heating.pdf If you have any other myths you would like exposed please let us know. _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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RBean Joined: 09 Jun 2005 Posts: 22 Location: North America	Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 4:48 pm    Post subject: Human Physiology We have just added a new section on human physiology and thermal comfort...enjoy the content. http://www.healthyheating.com/Thermal_Comfort_Working_Copy/HH_physiology_intro.htm _________________ RBean,R.E.T. Registered Engineering Technologist Building Constructiong Engineering http://www.healthyheating.com http://wonderfulwombs.typepad.com/
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