Tag: Alison Kwok

Lack of Ventilation – Intoxication: Studying Carbon Dioxide Levels in a Student’s Apartment

Presenter: Shannon Ladner, Gina Realmuto, Ayla-Mae Vedder, Architecture

Poster: B-6

Mentor: Alison Kwok, Architecture

As building technology increases, buildings are being sealed tighter to reduce heating and cooling costs. With this increase in energy efficiency comes a decrease in quality. Air quality, specifically, has become a major concern as people spend more time indoors. In a student’s small apartment near the University of Oregon, ventilation has become a pressing problem. Our team set out to test the build-up of the highly known chemical compound carbon dioxide in a four-hundred square foot apartment. The American Society
of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers has set the ventilation standard at a maximum of one-thousand parts per million of carbon dioxide. After testing the apartment with carbon dioxide meters, we found the average amount of carbon dioxide to be one thousand six-hundred and fifty parts per million. Determined to find a solution to this ventilation problem, we decided to test the effectiveness of a common remedy: opening a window. Our hypothesis was that an open window would bring in enough fresh air to reduce the apartment’s carbon dioxide level to one thousand parts per million within four hours. The results were a success and in fact only took an average of forty-five minutes. However, it being winter, this method of ventilation sacrificed the residents’ thermal comfort. This research jump-started our interest in finding more convenient and passive ways to ventilate spaces as an alternative to mechanical ventilation systems.

Solar Reflector Prototype

Presenter: Jared Barak, Josie Baldner, Architecture

Poster: A-1

Mentor: Alison Kwok, Architecture

Skylights are a lovely addition to most rooms, but they are also major contributors to building heat loss in cold weather. Because glass is such a poor insulator, an improperly placed skylight can make a room retain heat poorly, resulting in a chilly space and an expensive utility bill. In an attempt to increase the solar penetration into one such room, a prototype solar reflector was constructed and placed above a skylit bathroom. Temperature and light intensity data collected from beneath the retrofit skylight indicated that the additional reflected sunlight significantly increased the brightness of the room, but had a negligible effect on the temperature. The study implies that reflecting additional sunlight through an existing aperture could make a skylight perform as if it were a larger skylight without any additional building heat loss.

Stopping Heat: A Study of Repurposed Cork Insulation

Presenter : Sebastian Oviedo, Maria Burbano

Mentor : Alison Kwok

Major : Architecture

Poster 40

Over the last few decades, the construction industry has been increasingly concerned with its impacts on the environment. This relates both to the production and the operation performance of materials and assemblies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the thermal performance of post-consumer cork stoppers re-used as insulation for OSB panels. With the use of an insulated HotBox and HOBO U12 data loggers, a sample of a cork stopper-insulated panel was tested for heat flow and thermal resistance, and compared to a panel insulated with commercial extruded polystyrene foam. The results showed that the repurposed cork insulation had a performance 17.3% higher than that of the commercial alternative. Repurposing post-consumer waste could diminish the amount of cork going to landfills, which is approximately 13 billion each year (13). Cork is a naturally produced, highly insulative material, which makes it a potential material for high-performance building construction.

Tour de Fans: An Exercise in Comfort

Presenters : Erik Larson, Kyle Stuart-Willis, Robert Nicholls

Mentor : Alison Kwok

Major : Architecture

Poster 23

We are architecture students at the University of Oregon investigating into the Environmental Control Systems of an architectural space and the level of success for their implementation. This study analyzed the UO Rec Center’s spinning (stationary bike) exercise room and how human activity affects environmental conditions. By studying the temperature and relative humidity during a class we were able to understand human-generated heat in a room and apply more ventilation equipment in order for the room to remain in the architecturally-defined “comfort zone” (defined by ASHRAE standard 55) for a longer period of time. We hypothesized that a third fan added during a spin class would increase the time spent in the comfort zone by 20%. The study took place over 2 weeks to gather data with multiple controlled variables. Devices known as HOBO data loggers took intermittent measurements of the classroom’s temperature and relative humidity We concluded that the implementation of a third fan dramatically increased the classroom’s circulation, resulting in highs up to 46% lower in temperature and 35% lower in relative humidity. Our investigation shows that proper research of the ventilation/air circulation of an architecturally-designed space results in a more pleasant environment for users and a greater contribution to society for the architects involved. We also learned that participating in multiple spin classes leads to great glutes.

Thermal Comfort Study of Deady Hall; Discovering the Thermal Conditions Inside the Building, Determining Causes, and Suggesting Solutions

Presenter: Emily Smietana (Architecture)

Co-Presenters: Vesta Tsao and Yana Stannik

Mentor: Alison Kwok

Oral Presentation

Panel C: “Human Environments” Coquille/Metolius Rooms

Concurrent Session 2: 10:30-11:45am

Facilitator: Matt Nelson

Deady Hall, the oldest building at the University of Oregon, has been determined to be thermally uncomfortable. The radiant heating system is dysfunctional at maintaining a comfortable thermal interior environment as determined by ASHREA Standard 55. This is largely because the heaters have no (or a very poor) zoning system and the building lacks sufficient ventilation. This case study looks at the building’s thermal conditions, assessing the temperature differences across rooms and floors and the influential factors. Using HOBO U12 temperature data loggers, spot checks for relative humidity and temperature, interviews and surveys, we gathered information to build a thermal map of the building during winter months. We have determined that the classrooms on all three main floors of Deady Hall fall within the comfort zone an average of 42.3% of the week. A list of possibilities for addressing these thermal issues has been assembled, with energy conservation being a strong factor. This study is a launching point for further exploration; we hope that it will influence changes to the building that would make a positive difference to users and energy use.

Humanizing the Houseless: Warming a Tent Through Homemade Insulation

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.

Architecture-Focused Case Study on the Erb Memorial Union Atrium’s Environmental Performance

Presenter: Mauricio Underwood

Co-Presenters: Jiawei Mai

Mentor: Alison Kwok

Poster: 32

Major: Architecture

The Erb Memorial Union acts today as the center of the University of Oregon Campus and is subjected to the most diverse and frequent student traffic. Yet it is one of the oldest, largest, and most poorly insulated buildings on the University of Oregon campus. This research studies the southeast atrium, where many students tend to congregate. The space is well lit due to the expanse of windows covering the entire southeast side of the building and most of the roof. While this allows for plenty of natural light, the single-paned windows also cause enormous amounts of heat loss in the atrium. But does the amount of heat gain through solar-oriented windows compensate for the heat loss during winter months? The result of the temperature data analysis shows that the solar gains in Btu/Hour through the atrium windows is about twelve times greater than the heat loss to the exterior. However, the steam profile of the building indicates that the atrium is still being heated. Our finding suggests infiltration to be the primary source of heat loss, which was initially overlooked in the study. This further indicates the importance of airtightness in the passive cooling/heating of architecture.

Soundproofing in the Residential Halls

Presenter: Francisco Toledo

Co-Presenters: Amanda Mensch, Kristina Ames

Mentor: Alison Kwok

Oral Presentation

Major: Architecture 

Privacy is an important part of everyone’s life. The focus of our research is to determine what could be done to reduce the amount of sound transmission through a wall in the resident halls. We choose to test and compare two different insulations (wool and rigid). We hypothesized that natural sheep’s wool insulation will reduce the amount of sound transmission by 50% compared to that of rigid insulation. The insulations were placed inside a reconstructed wall to resemble a section of the interior walls inside the Walton residential hall and tested in a sound control room to avoid other factors such as temperature and exterior sounds that could alter our data. We choose five activities, talking, laughing, vacuuming, playing video games, and listening to music, based on their occurrence in the halls. To record data we used a sound meter app from the apple store to determine sound penetration into the box. In our findings, we concluded that when comparing the peaks from each individual activity there was about 8 % more efficiency using wool insulation in terms of sound penetration, but in general the average peak was reduced significantly by around 10-20 decibels. From our understanding, our results make sense because wool has fibers that are able to absorb sound waves while rigid insulation is highly compact hence why is able to transmit sound in the form of energy. The significance of this project is to help university housing enhance the living environment students live in. We believe privacy is an issue when living with 70 other students. Our recommendation, based on our results, is that wool is a better soundproofing material and therefore should be used within the residential halls to provide a greater sense of privacy. University housing on campus has communicated with us that they are preparing a five year renovation plan and would love for us to present to them our findings because it would help them create the most economic and effective plan.

CO2 Got Me Feeling So Blue?

Presenter: Lindsay Rasmussen

Co-Presenters: Katie Bushman, Parisa Motahari-asl

Mentor: Alison Kwok

Poster: 27

Major: Architecture 

This case study measures the carbon dioxide levels in the Architectural Design Studios of Pacific Hall, focusing on room 223. The current number of occupants in this room exceeds the original design intent; nevertheless, the original variable-air-volume ventilation system continues to be used. This case study investigates whether a larger occupancy number raises the carbon dioxide levels past the ventilation system’s capacity to function at ASHRAE Standards. For a contextual comparison a control room in a newly renovated building was also studied. The principal hypothesis for this case study is that the amount of CO2 in Room 223 of Pacific Hall exceeds the maximum levels as defined by ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2010. Three CO2 monitors were placed directly at the primary vent, at desk level, and outside at the air-intake system. CO2 levels were recorded at the same time for 30 minutes in 30-second increments. This experiment was repeated twice per room, once with high-occupancy and once with low-occupancy. Our results show that CO2 levels did not exceed maximum levels in either room. Instead of being an air quality issue, we found there to be a thermal comfort issue in Pacific Hall. However, due to the state of the building and its prior use as a chemical lab, we still believe there to be an air quality issue that we could not account for in this experiment. Carbon dioxide is measured as an indicator of building air quality; however, the results of our experiment lead us to question whether or not CO2 is an accurate representative of overall indoor air quality. This experiment serves as a strong foundation for further research into indoor air quality.

Heating Up Gerlinger

Presenter: Matthew Moyano

Mentor: Alison Kwok

Poster: 23

Major: Architecture 

This study investigated the thermal conditions of Gerlinger Hall’s south façade Sun Porch. Ellis Lawrence intended for the hall to be passively heated most of the year. The authors believe that the gallery space of Gerlinger has enough direct sunlight through its windows that it can passively reach thermal comfort levels during winter without excessive mechanical heating. However, it is currently unable to do so. Damaged and sealed windows do not allow airflow. Outdated radiators cause heat to be continuously released, much more than needed. Hobos, small indoor temperature recorders, collected the data over the span of three days and calculated the heat changes over time. Raytek Lasers identify the heat released and stored in different materials. Variables that affected the data collected were: use of the building, opening of doors, use of central heating, opening of windows, and drafts created by infiltration through historic, single-paned windows. Results of the research show intense heat released from radiators, around 140 deg. F. Walls and floors reach 100 deg. F. The average heat of the area is near 80 deg. F, going in and out of the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers) comfort zone. In response to the data, recommendations for more efficient heating practices will be made in order to make the space more efficient. Such recommendations are: rehabilitation of historic windows and updating and correcting of heating system.