[ad_1]
× closure
Image credit: W. Notman & Son, Women’s Ward, Royal Victoria Hospital, Montreal, 1894. II-105911.0, McCord Stewart Museum)
McGill University researchers say modern temperature control and ventilation designs could be transformed by improving a forgotten heat recovery technology in the design of Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital.
As the COVID-19 pandemic raises questions about efficient ventilation and the climate crisis threatens to exacerbate extreme temperatures, efficient building design is top of mind for today’s architects. But what can we learn from construction techniques developed over 100 years ago?
A team of researchers from McGill University’s Peter Guohua School of Architecture answered this question by examining the original ventilation system at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital.
In findings outlined in an article scienceResearchers say modern temperature control and ventilation designs could be transformed by improving a lost technology.
“These historical insights can help us design today’s device-less solutions, taking new approaches to energy-sufficient buildings and healthy indoor environments,” said co-author Professor Salman Craig.
In a schematic of the Royal Victoria Hospital, originally built in 1893, the team found an early precedent for ventilation heat recovery, an efficiency measure that recovers heat from exhaust air so that stale outside air can be continuously replenished with fresh outside air. of indoor air. Not much additional energy is required to heat the incoming airflow.
“Ventilation heat recovery is critical for healthy, energy-efficient buildings but requires miles of ductwork. The supporting infrastructure generates significant emissions during manufacturing, maintenance and disposal,” said Dr. Anna Halepaska. candidate and first author of the study.
Through archival research and laboratory experiments, the researchers verified ventilation rates and heat recovery amounts. They found that improving on 19th-century technology by eliminating ductwork and fans allowed heat to be recovered through cubicle walls and floors while maintaining a steady flow of ventilation.
New clues revealing 19th-century environmental motivations
By tracing historical correspondence between clients, consultants, architects and engineers, the McGill team discovered how and why the system was originally designed the way it was. Many scholars believe heat recovery is a 20th-century invention, but research shows that engineers were experimenting with it in the 19th century, before electrification and the widespread use of mechanical fans.
“Fuel economy and clean indoor air were real concerns in the 19th century, especially in hospitals. However, this early heat recovery innovation responded to Canada’s harsh winters in a very pragmatic way. It provided a way to anticipate Ways to heat outdoor air, thus stopping ductwork air heating systems from freezing during cold snaps,” Craig said.
By re-reading archival documents, researchers were also able to clarify the role of British hospital specialist Henry Saxon Snell, who mysteriously withdrew from the project after developing the original design. The council forced Snell to step down after local consultants deemed his ventilation scheme unsuitable for the cold winter months.
The researchers proved the governors right, pinpointing why Snell’s solution was inappropriate while revealing innovative heat recovery methods for alternatives.
“It’s also surprising that much of the ventilation design was inspired by an entirely different building type, the Canadian Parliament Buildings. Architectural historians sometimes think of hospitals as unique, but this work shows these key connections, said co-author Professor Anne Marie Adams and architectural historian.
Revealing the early history of heat recovery sheds new light on the environmental ideals that inspired engineers and architects in Canada and abroad during the 19th century.
More information:
Anna Halepaska et al., Thermosiphon ventilation in the 19th century and its potential for heat recovery in today’s buildings, science (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.108765
Journal information:
science
[ad_2]
Source link