![]() These problems were significant in the relatively mild Portland, Oregon environment. The building had major breaches in the envelope that manifested themselves as occupant discomfort, frozen pipes and the inability to pressurize the lobby among other things. To illustrate the impact of envelope issues on air handling system performance, lets look at a relatively new high rise I worked on during my tenure at PECI, along with Hannah Friedman and Larry Luskay. Envelope Leakage and its Impact on Air Handling System Operation If they are not properly treated initially or properly maintained over the course of time, then operating challenges can present themselves. ![]() The picture below, taken during the early phases of the construction cycle for a high rise project up in Seattle, illustrates some of the envelope issues that can potentially impact an air handling system.īy their nature, envelopes are full of thermal bridges (red arrows) and gaps (blue arrows) that need to be properly treated to keep the environment inside separate from the environment outside. I believe such an understanding will help clarify why I do some of the things I do when I develop an air system diagram. I will also discuss how we generally use outdoor air in buildings. So, to provide a foundation for my next post, which goes into some of the features I incorporate into my air system diagrams, I wanted to spend a bit of time discussing envelope issues and the challenges they can represent for building operations. A well thought out, well implemented, and well maintained envelope can make managing that process much easier than it is when the envelope has issues. Having said that, bringing in air from the outdoors, treating it, and distributing it through-out our buildings is an important part of how we keep them safe and confortable. ![]() My bottom line there is that the envelope is what the outdoors from the indoors the uncontrolled environment from the controlled environment. That concept is one of the drivers behind how I draw air handling system diagrams. In my previous post, I mentioned that in my perspective, the building envelope is a part of the air handling system. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |