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Canadian Refrigeration and Air Conditioning, 28, 7, pp. 20-24, 1962-07
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Canadian building research of interest to the air- conditioning engineer
Hutcheon, N. B.
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no. 139
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BIDG
\.- __-,tNATIONAT RESEARCH
COUNCIT
CANADA
DIVISION OF BUILDING RESEARCH
NRC 69,16
Cqnqdiqn Building Reseqrch of Interest
to the Air-Conditioning Engineer
b y
A N A t - y z E p
. . ,
N. B. Hutcheon
Reprinted
from
CANADIAN REFRIGERATION
AND AIR COND]TIONING
Vof. 28, No. 7, July | 962, P. 2O-2+.
;ESj,i
rEcl'lNlcAL PAPER
No. l3e
O F T H E
D I V I S I O I . I
O F B U I L D I N G R E S E A R C H
OTTAWA
JULY 1962
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This publication is being distributed by the Division of Building
Re-search of the National ReRe-search Council. It should not be reproduced in
whole or in part, rvithout permission of the original publisher. The
Divi-sion would be glad to be of assistance in obtaining such permisDivi-sion.
Publications of the Division of Building Research may be obtained by
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Gov-ernment Specifications Board.
A list of all puhlications of the Division of Building Re-search is available and may be obtained from the Publications Section, Division of lluilding Research, National Researeh Council, Ottawa, Canada.
A e r i o l v i e w o f t h e B u i l d i n g R e s e o r c h C e n -t e r , N R C , M o n -t r e o l R o o d , O -t -t o w o . T h e m o i n b u i l d i n g i s i n t h e c e n t r e , t h e s o u n d c h o m b e r s i n t h e s e p o r o i e b u i l d i n g l o w e r , right. The fire reSeorch loborotory con be s e e n o p p o s i t e t h e m o i n b u i l d i n g .
work of the air-conditioning engi-neer is an essential part of building since he is concerned with the fac-tors of heat, moisture and air in the environment. Others deal with the structure, the building en-closure. and other direct environ-mental factors such as noise and illumination, all under the leader-ship of the architect who is the designer and co-ordinator. Build-ing research in its broadest sense, therefore, encompasses the work of t h e a i r - c o n d i t i o n i n g e n g i n e e r , though the research work which car' be undertaken in any one agency must of necessity be lim-ited, no matter how generously it may be supported.
Since the initiation of the Divi-sion 15 years ago its staff, facil-ities, and work have grown stead-ily until it now employs 220 people, is privileged to have for its use some 4 million dollar's worth of buildings and equipmentl and issues some 200 new publications and reports of various kinds each year. All of this activity involves a very considerable expenditure of public funds and it is appropriate that the formal reports which are made from time to time should be supplemented by talks such as this, in which an account will be given
of the activities of the Division which are of interest to the air-conditioning engineer. In addition, it may be that some further links can be forged in the ehain of com-munication between us. to our mutual benefit.
DBR Activities
A rigorous selection of subjects for study by the Division has had to be made. Those subjects of in-terest to the air-conditioning engi-neer which are considered most appropriate for study relate more t o t h e p e r t i n e n t c h a r a c t e r i s -tics of Canadian building and the Canadian climate than to the equip-ment as such, although equipequip-ment studies are not excluded. Much of the work of interest is that carried out in the Building Services Sec-tion. In it, work has been developed along four major lines: the thermal and moisture performance of ma-terials and mama-terials in combina-tion forming the building en-closure, the performance of building equipment, heat and mass inter-change between the enclosure and tha environment, and heat ex-change between the ground and associated structures.
The work carried out in other Sections dealing with materials,
Conqdiqn building reseorch of interest
to the qir-conditioning engineer.
B y N . B . H u t c h e o n * *
Butlrruc RESEARCH was formally recognized in Canada in 1947 with the establishment of the Division of Building Research under the National Research Council. This was not the beginning of building research in Canada since research directed to the improvement of buildings had been carried out in universities and by other agencies both public and private over many years. This activity tended to be fragmented however, and it was recognized, in view of the special character of the construction indus-try and of its problems, that a sus-tained research effort of some magnitude was required to assist in the over-all advancement of building technology.
Broadly speaking, all building may be said to be concerned with the provision of a modified or con-trolled environment for the people, goods or processes which are to be accommodated within it. The
*Presented at the ASIIRAE Regional Con-ference, Toronto, 23 March 1962. **Assistant Director, Division of Building Re-search, National Research Council, Ottawa, Canada.
-fire, acousties, structures and soil mechanics may also be of interest on occasion. For example, studies on ground temperatures and on permafrost in Northern areas may be of value to the engineer con-cerned with the mechanical services in Northern buildings. Studies in-volving climate which are clearly of importance are carried out with the assistance of a full-time meteorologist seconded to work with the Division from the Meteo-rological Branch, Department of Transport.
Gon'odion Climote Dqto
The Division of Building Re-search does not carry out studies of climate as such, this being the responsibility of the Meteorological Branch, Department of Transport. It has, however, co-operated with the Meteorological Branch in the preparation and dissemination of climate information for use in building. Studies of climate data carried out initially for the Na-tional Building Code led to the preparation and publication jointly with the Meteorological Branch of the Climatological Atlas of Canada. Canadian climate .data appearing in the ASHRAE Guide for the use of air-conditioning engineers have been provided from this source. The climate supplement to the 1960 National Building Code and other data required from time to time by the building industry have been prepared with the assistance of the Meteorological Branch through the meteorologist seconded to DBR. The Research work of the Division often involves the measurement of
climatic factors when these have special significairce in particular studies.
Thermol Conductivity
Extensive guarded hot plate facilities for the measurement of thermal conductivity have been developed within the Division for research purposes. This equipment is used also to provide a testing service to industry. Comparison tests have been carried out with the U.S. National Bureau of Stand-ards. Work carried out to determine the characteristics of hot plates and some of the sources of error has provided information which has been used in the preparation of a revision of the ASTM standard method. Thermal conductivity data have been made available from time to time for use in the improvement of values given in the ASHRAE Guide.
Although all standard thermal conductivity measurements are made on dry materials, moisture is almost always present in practice. Extensive studies have been made and are continuing, using both steady-state and dynamic methods, on the complex phenomenon of com-bined heat and moisture flow. Woter Vopour Tronsfer
Facilities are maintained for the standard measurement of water vapour permeability of vapour bar-riers and other materials, as a test-ing service to the buildtest-ing indus-try, as well as for research. Again, some permeance values have been made available for use in the ASHRAE Guide. Special studies
have been undertaken on the trans-fer of water vapour by convectioh through large openings.
Extensive measurements have been carried out in the vapour transmission laboratory to provide background information on test methods and properties of ma-terials required for the preparation or revision of a number of CGSB and other specifications, including those on vapour barriers and plas-tics.
Focilities for rlorge-Scole Heot ond Moisture Studies
It was recognized early in the development of the Division's work that heat and moisture experiments on various elements of the build-ing enclosure such as walls, win-dows and roofs would have to be conducted on a fairly large scale in the laboratory under controlled conditions, as well as under natural weather conditions. Accordingly it has been necessary to provide ex-tensive laboratory as well as out-door facilities for these purposes.
The outdoor test units have largely been in the form of test huts 5 by 5 by 8 feet high; The first group of test huts was con-structed in Saskatoon over a tunnel specially designed to facilitate ac-cess and instrumentation, in asso-ciation with a service building. Later, a similar facility was con-structed at Ottawa. Additional single huts were also constructed at Churchill and at Pennsylvania State University. These test huts have been used in comparisons of climate effects, studies of condensa-tion in walls, comparisons of
in-L e f t : O u t d o o r t e s t s t o t i o n o t S o s k o t o o n showing the service building, six wood-frome test huts constructed over o service tunnel o n d o s t o n d o r d h u t o n t h e l e f t . ( N o t i o n o l Film Boord of Conodo). ,Right: Window oir leokoge opporotus-Lroxes opened, exposing w i n d o w t e s t p o n e l .
-L e f t s C o l d r o o m o n d c o n t r o l i n s t r u m e n t p o n e l w i t h i n s p e c t i o n w i n d o w ( l e f t c e n t r e ) . T o t h e r i g h t i s t h e g u o r d e d h o t b o x w i t h i h e c o n t r o l p o n e l , b e f o r e i t i s m o v e d t h r o u g h t h e d o o r i n t o t h e w o r m s i d e . R i g h t : I n t e r i o r v i e w o f r e f r i g e r o t e d l o c k e r r o o m c t C o r n -w o l l ; O n t o r i o . F l o o r h e o v e d m o r e t h o n I f o o t d u e t o i c e l e n s i n g i n t h e s u b s o i l . ( H o d l e y A l l i n g h o m , C o r n -w o l l , O n t ) .
sulations and vapour barriers, wetting of walls by rain, and ma-sonry efflorescence effects. In general these have been supplemen-tary to laboratory studies but have brought to light many interesting effects, have been a source of stimulation and have provided a most useful link between laboratory and field performance studies of walls and wall materials.
The first large-scale laboratory heat transfer apparatus for the Division was constructed at the Prairie Regional Station at Sas-katoon. This provided for a test panel 8 by 8 feet which could be heated and humidified on one side and exposed to -40"F on the other. This apparatus was used for ex-tensive studies of the-thermal per-formance of wood-frame walls which resulted in several valuable papers on the thermal effects of air spaces in walls and led to a much needed improvement in the understanding of the performance of reflective insulation in walls.
The provision of new permanent quarters for the Division in Ottawa in 1953 made it possible to con-struct a large cold room 15 by 15 by 11 feet.high for heat and mois-ture tests on large panels and on windows. Thermal transmission measurements can be made by means of a special hot box on any 4- by 8-foot panel of a test wall heated on one side and cooled to -40"F or lower on the other. A second large-scale heat transfer facility was later designed and con-structed to permit measurement on panels 8 by 8 feet in size. Both of these facilities are unique in de-sign and performance and are the
only facilities available in Canada for precise heat-flow measurement on large building panels and on windows and doors. They have been used in commercial tests of curtain walls and windows. The cold room is currently being used in an ex-tensive study of the thermal per-formance of windows.
Lorge-Scole Roin ond Air 'Leokoge Apporotus
Rain penetration and air leak-age measurements on 8- by S-foot panels can be made in two addi-tional large-scale facilities. One of these, the air leakage apparatus, is used mainly in tests on wintlows but can also be used for curtain walls. A rain leakage apparatus, intended for both windows and curtain walls, is being constructed. Window Studies
Window studies have represented the major activity in the large-scale apparatus for the past several years. Windows constitute the most troublesome part of the build-ing enclosure, and they must, in general, be tested full-scale to ob-tain an accurate indication of their performance in respect of surface temperature, air leakage, rain leakage and heat transmis-sion. Much of the work in pro-gress, in addition to commercial testing which is carried out when required, is concerned with the development of suitable test meth-ods and of appropriate coefficients for use in design. The interest in these has been stimulated by the recent development of new Cana-dian window specifieations and by activities sponsored by ASTM.
Draft specifications of window air leakage and thermal test methods are being developed for ASTM.
Additional studies are in pro-gress to provide a better basis for prediction of window and frame s u r f a c e t e m p e r a t u r e s . A n o t h e r study at present requiring' much time and effort is being carried out on the evaluation of sealed double glazing units. It combines a test program with the development of evaluation procedures and should eventually also provide a basis for new standard test methods.
Hurmidity Meosqreme'nt
The precise measurement' of relative humidity has always presented a challenge. The Divi-sion, having need in its own work for a standard against which to calibrate humidity devices, has de-veloped at the Prairie Regional Station a precise humidity stand-ard accurate to about 0.2 per cent relative humidity. With this ap-paratus it is now possible to deter-mine the characteristics of various humidity measuring devices and to develop accurate information on the moisture response characteris-tics of certain materials of special interest.
Equipment
Studies of equipment have been limited thus far to a few cases considered to be worthy of special attention. Laboratory studies on oil-fired heating units were carried on for many years through a co-operative program at Queen's Uni-versity. These were concerned with methods of evaluating performance, with the performance of conver-- 5 :
sion vapourizing burners, and with safety aspects of oil-fired space heaters for Northern use.
Records of field performance of residential oil-fired furnaces have been gathered in Ottawa and of gas-fired furnaces in Saskatoon. Similar studies on oil-fired fur-naces are being carried out in the Halifax area by the Atlantic Re-gional Station of the Division.
Domestic chimneys have re-quired special attention, lvith con-sideration being given to test methods, draft performance, deg-radation arising from high tem-peratures, and to the temperatures produced on adjacent combustible surfaces. A small chimney labora-tory has been developed for these studies.
Thermol Performonce o f B u i l d i n g s
Thermal studies in actual build-ings have developed slowly, and have taken several forms. The earliest studies were of wall and window condensation problems car-ried out at Saskatoon, F o r t Churchill and Ottawa.
The first comprehensive heat-ing study of a complete buildheat-ing was that carried out a number of years ago on a prefabricated arctic hut located in the Yukon. Later. studies were carried out at Camp Gagetown to determine the fuel re-quirements and heating perform-ance of 30 oil- and coal-fired units. Following the Gagetown tests ar-rangements were made to obtain records of temperature, humidity and fuel consumption for a number of houses at Ottawa and Saskatoon. This program has been extended slowly to include the taking of records at Vancouver and at Hali-fax. Currently also, records of tem-perature and humidity are being taken in residential units at the northern town of Inuvik. Some of these measurements have been un-dertaken for specific purposes. Col-lectively they are providing infor-mation on the indoor climate in houses across Canada, and form a basis for improved estimates of fuel requirements and ventilation rates, the latter being an important factor in the operation of Cana-dian residential buildings.
The direct measurement of ven-tilation rates in actual buildings poses many problems. Techniques for doing this have been evaluated and a katharometer technique em-ploying a tracer gas has been adopted for use in further studies. The measurements made on
dwell-ings have been extended in Ottawa to include the small pressure dif-ferences existing from inside to outside of houses which determine air leakage and chimney draft per-formance,
Attention has been directed re-cently to the problems involved in the heating and ventilation of family basement fallout shelters. A shelter has been constructed and instrumented in the basement of a house in Ottawa and measure-ments have been made over two years. These studies have been augmented by measurements of temperature and ventilation rates in unheated buildings and in the basements of two residences in Sas-katoon in which the heating was cut off as in an emergency. Con-currently with these studies, the problems involved in equipment for heating, lighting and cooking in shelters are being considered.
The approach to studies of the thermal performance of larger buildings is' somewhat different than that which is appropriate for houses. They are the subject of in-dividual and extensive study at the design stage by various specialists, including the air-conditioning en-gineer. They are also much more varied in size, and in the composi-tion of their heating and cooling loads. Efforts are being directed to the improvement of design in-formation on the climate, wind ef-fects and the coefficients that describe the pertinent properties
of the materials which make up the enclosure. The heat, moisture and air properties of these elements singly and when combined to form major components of the building enclosure in the form of walls, win-dows and roofs are under study, as has already been described. The third important step in the design process, involving the pretliction of final over-all building perform-ance, is the estimation of the heat-ing and coolheat-ing loads, includinf ventilation and humidificdtion or dehumidification when required. The establishment of these esti-mates, which in principle involve the solution of many simultaneous algebraic and differential equa-tions, is complex and therefore con-tinues to challenge the air-condi-tioning engineer. The various steps in this process are being examined systematically, with particular at-tention being given to the use of both digital and analogue com-puters. The approximations which must inevitably be made in achiev-ing a workable design procedure are being examined to determine their influence on the accuracy of the final result.
Ground Heot Exch,onge
Since all buildings and many of their services are in contact with the ground, it is often necessary to calculate heat exchanges between them and the ground. Information on temperatures in undisturbed ground with natural cover which
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neil Barron Hutcheon was born in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, on March 13th, 1911, and received his engineering training at the University of Saskatchewan, where he received his B.E. (Mech.) in 1933 and M.Sc. in 1935. He then attended the University of London from 1935 to 1937 where he held an IO,DE Overseas Scholarship obtaining his Ph.D. degree from that Univer-sity in 1939.
In 1937 he was appointed an instructor in Mechanical
Engineering at ,the University of Saskatchewan. From
1938 to 1953 he was Assistant Professor and later Profes-sor of Mechanical Engineering at the same University. During tl^. summers of 1939 to 1943, and during one year's leave of absence from the University in 1951-52, he worked with the National R.esearch Council in Ottawa. In JuIy 1953 he was appointed as Assistant Director of the Division of Building Research of the National Research Council.
Author and co-author of several papers which have been published in tech-nical journals and also of many reports and techtech-nical notes of the Division of Buildjng Research, he has been a member of many Committees of the Amer-ican Society of Heating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, including several Technical Committees, the ,Committee on Research from 1952 to 1961, the
Guide Committee in 195,5-56, and more recently as of January 1961 became a
memher of the Board of Directors of the Society.
-forms a basis for such calculations is provided by the work of the Soil Mechanics and Snow and Ice Sections of the Division. The thermal interaction between vari-ous constructions and the ground has been the subject of many studies, both experimental and analytieal.
An investigation of the heat loss into the ground under two similar small basementless buildings at Ottawa has been completed. Tests on a L/10 scale model in the labo-ratory were in fair agreement with the field tests.
More and more reliance is now being placed on analytical methods in ground heat exchange problems in view of the variability of major factors such as weather, soil con-ditions and building type which greatly limit the direct application of specific field measurements in the solution of problems. Methods have now been devised for estimat-ing the effectiveness of peripheral
insulation around basementless
buildings, and for determining the effect of snow cover. The problem
of penetration of the annual
weather cycle under buildings has been formulated and is at present being evaluated with the help of an electronic computer. A simple graphical method has been devel-oped for determining the steady temperatures under city streets and basementless buildings of any shape. This same method can be used to estimate the region of un-frozen ground under rivers flowing in regions of permafrost in the
Far North. Methods are also being developed to determine heat ex: change and temperature distribu-tion in the ground adjacent to basements.
Studies have been made of frost heave under cold storages and some useful conclusions drawn about the need for control of heat transfer from the ground in such cases. Studies of natural ground tempera-tures and of soils become involved in such cases which, in the extreme, present examples of man-made permafrost.
The thermal problems presented by completely buried structures have also been studied. Both ex-perimental and analytical work has been conducted on the buried pipe grid for a heat pump heat source, and on the temperatures around buried heating pipes. The heat transfer from a city subway to the ground and the problems of sub-way ventilation are at present under study.
Conclu,sion
All of the work described has some bearing on the work of heat-ing, ventilatheat-ing, refrigerating and air-conditioning engineers. It is concerned in part, as is the air-conditioning engineer, with mass and energy transfer processes, and with the related constants and co-efficients which define the per-tinent characteristics of the site, the building, and the equipment by which the desired adjustments of heat, moisture and air in a
building are achieved.
Only passing reference has been made to other building research work of the Division which also has some bearing on the work of the air-conditioning engineer. He has already learned to work with the physiologist and the illumina-tion engineey and is now develop-ing common interests with the fire protection engineer and the acous-tics expert. He is being called upon more and more to assist in deter-mining the influence of the envi-ronment provided within the buiki-ing upon the occupants, goods and processes, which it is intended to house. It is also becoming evident that the air-conditioning engineer must extend the work which he does for the structural and ma-terials specialists in assisting them to predict the environments which the materials and components of concern to them will experience as part of the building.
The air-conditioning engineer can no longer practice in his field without regard for the work of other specialists, since the work of all is combined to provide the
final building performance. He
must therefore interest himself more and.more in building research and building science which are con-cerned with the total building as well as its parts.
This paper is a contribution from the Division of Building Research, National Research Coun-cil, Canada, and is published with the approval of the Director of the Division.
