Presenter: Stefanie Wibiasa
Co-Presenters: Amber Bass, Marisa Daluro
Mentor: Alison Kwok
Poster: 34
Major: Architecture
The Pacific Northwest’s climate-mild, but with occasional extremes-greatly affects a resident’s satisfaction with his or her particular thermal environment. The primary goal of this study was to help the tent communities of Eugene, Oregon stay significantly warmer during the harsh winter months. To this end, we investigated whether adding a layer of homemade insulation to the floor of a tent would significantly reduce heat loss and better regulate the interior temperature. Group members selected a neutral, unsheltered outdoor venue and set up a small tent similar to one that would be found in a houseless community. Over the course of a 24-hour period (divided into three eight-hour segment), hourly temperature readings both inside and outside the tent were measured and recorded. The first eight- hour assessment functioned as a control period—data taken without supplementary insulation. The second and third eight-hour assessments measured temperature data after various layers of homemade insulation had been added to the interior base of the tent. The study goals were addressed primarily through data logging, quantitative inquiry, and analyzing ideas of thermal comfort.