Assume Nothing
The building was constructed as a large automotive garage, capable of serving eight large trucks, with adjoining two-story offices, showers, and locker rooms. The offices, showers, and locker rooms were separated from two-story-high truck bays by a fire-rated concrete masonry wall. Conditioned air was provided by a number of package-terminal-air-conditioning (PTAC) heat-pump units under the windows. ...
Assume Nothing
During an assignment for a large municipality, I was asked to investigate indoor-air-quality issues in a newer building. The building was constructed...
UVC Lights Enhance Indoor-Air Quality at Wastewater-Plant Office Facility
Built in 2002 to accommodate nearly 400 city employees, the Pregerson Building, located at the center of the Hyperion Wastewater Treatment Plant in Los...
Controlling Laboratory IAQ and Energy Costs
Editor's note: This article follows Ventilation Strategy for Laboratories, which appeared in the August 2007 issue of HPAC Engineering. Laboratory procedures...
New Test Standard for Dilution Blowers
For reasons of safety and health, not to mention litigation, consulting and facility engineers long have insisted on independent performance verification...
U.S.'s Largest Indoor Water Park Gets World-Class IAQ With Fabric Ducts
Billed as America's largest indoor water park, the new 70,000-sq-ft Wild Water-Dome at Wilderness Hotel & Golf Resort in Wisconsin Dells, Wis., presents...
NEW EQUIPMENT & RESOURCES
Air-handling-unit brochure A product brochure from Mainstream describes the company's custom-built air-handling units and replacement coils. The eight-page...
Choosing the Right Air Filter and Filter Media
Poor indoor-air quality (IAQ) is more than just a nuisance; it is costly. For example, total costs to the U.S. economy because of poor IAQ reach as high...
Ventilation Strategy for Laboratories
A large portion of a laboratory's space-cooling load is the result of heat produced by research equipment. If heat can be captured at its source, its...
Defective Dampers
Our firm received an assignment from the state to provide damper monitors on dampers contained in all of a developmental facility's cottages. These dampers...
HVAC Duct Design for Colleges, Universities
Throughout much of the 20th century, acoustics and indoor-air quality (IAQ) largely were overlooked in the design of classroom buildings on college campuses....
NEW EQUIPMENT AND RESOURCES
Energy-recovery ventilators German-engineered, energy-recovery ventilators offer a 6-in.-diameter collar system that is designed for one-person installation....
CO2 - vs. Cfm-Based Ventilation Assessments
For a healthy and productive indoor environment to be achieved, a mechanism is required to verify (1) the amount of outdoor-air (OA) ventilation being...
Common Sense
While visiting an automobile assembly plant, I came to an area in which cars often were turned around. They were backed into a small space that had no...
Airing Out Problem
Our company was involved in a project to renovate an existing hospital space to make way for a new pharmacy. Our first task involved a visit to the space...
Hospital-Acquired Infections
One of the first articles I read after returning home from my most recent trip to the hospital (three operations in just over two weeks) was Air-Treatment...
NEW EQUIPMENT & RESOURCES
Exhaust fans Tested and certified to withstand winds of up to 150 mph, high-wind and hurricane exhaust fans do not require ties to a roof. The fans feature...
Engineering a Fan-Wall Solution
When the aging air-handling units (AHUs) at the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) needed to be replaced, the AIC's project manager, C.Lee; the executive...
What's New About ASHRAE 90.1, 62.1
Editor's note: On Jan. 25, HPAC Engineering produced with sponsorship from ABB a Webcast titled What's New About ASHRAE Standards 90.1 and 62.1. Throughout...
Design Guidelines for Stratification in UFAD Systems
The control of room-air stratification is critical to the design and operation of successful underfloor-air-distribution (UFAD) systems, representing an oftentimes complex balancing act: Increasing stratification by reducing airflow or mixing for a given space heat load saves energy, while decreasing stratification by boosting airflow or mixing for a given space heat load improves occupant comfort....
Louver Design Considerations
After selecting a louver model that best fits an application, system designers need to consider certain characteristics when sizing the louvers. In this article, characteristics that affect water penetration, pressure drop, and louver installation will be examined. By using the following suggestions, designers will maximize louver performance and ensure that louvers are equipped to meet the needs of their specific application. ...
Simple Upgrade of Filter Helps Bank Achieve Award-Winning Air Filtration
Looking to provide a cleaner, healthier indoor environment for the 450-plus employees at its headquarters in Scottsdale, Ariz., 1st National Bank of Arizona...
CFD Analysis Assists in Optimization of Displacement-Ventilation System
With ventilation-system performance highly dependent on a number of variables, such as the size and placement of supply diffusers and return grilles and...
LEED Opportunities for Raised Floors in Schools
With modes of operation/building use forever changing, building owners increasingly are choosing to implement HVAC designs emphasizing flexibility and...
The Three Stooges
After I moved to Florida, I designed one of the first distribution systems for an elementary school. The project was fast-track and had to be constructed...
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