Adjacent Office Research Articles

Improvement of thermal environment in the outdoor atrium by employing the spray system

Outdoor atriums have recently been applied with increasing frequency for natural illumination, but they produce a harsh thermal environment easily in summer. Moreover, overheating of the outdoor atrium necessitates air-conditioning to moderate indoor thermal comfort. Simultaneously, the substantial heat emissions from air-conditioning outdoor units worsen the outdoor thermal environment, creating a vicious cycle. Traditional passive evaporative methods involving water and greenery, while capable of regulating the thermal environment, suffer from low evaporative efficiency and pose significant challenges. To improve thermal environment in outdoor atriums, the spray system was employed due to its high cooling efficiency, especially in open or semi-open spaces. In this study, a comparative experiment was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of using a spray system for evaporative cooling in open outdoor spaces. Furthermore, employing high-efficiency evaporative cooling through spraying to disrupt the vicious cycle of indoor and outdoor thermal environments. The dual goals include regulating indoor and outdoor thermal conditions while also mitigating the local heat island effect. Temperature and humidity distribution within the atrium and adjacent hallways were monitored, along with the impact on air-conditioning operation consumption in neighboring offices. Results showed that the spray system significantly improved the thermal environment in the outdoor atrium, reducing the average and peak air temperatures by 0.94–2.83 °C and 2.92–5.21 °C, respectively. It also resulted in a drop in the average temperature by 0.56–1.62 °C and the peak temperature by 2.31–3.25 °C in adjacent hallways. This effectively eased the issue of overheating in these areas while raising the comfort level in adjacent office spaces. The predicted mean vote decreased from 1.46 to 0.87, indicating a significant improvement in thermal environment in neighboring offices. Furthermore, the daily energy consumption was reduced by 10.6–12.4% in neighboring offices. This study provided the valuable guidance for improving thermal environments within outdoor atrium.

The John Sealy Hospital Fire Evacuation.

Advances in fire safety and building construction have made fires in modern health care facilities uncommon and easily contained. Therefore, emergent hospital evacuations resulting from an internal fire are rare. On January 4, 2017, a fire occurred at the John Sealy Hospital, part of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, resulting in emergent evacuation of the hospital building and an adjacent office and patient care building. The internal emergency response system was quickly activated, and more than 100 patients and 200 staff members were evacuated within 27 minutes with no fire- or smoke-related injuries. Obstacles encountered during the evacuation process included difficulties with communication and confirming patient count in a timely manner. This article describes the emergent hospital evacuation during the fire, summarizes the subsequent reflections of a multiagency after-action review, and issues a call to action for further research and publication on emergency patient evacuation.

Analysis of the effectiveness of landslide stabilization in a near-dam reservoir area

The geological conditions of the landslide area in a near-dam reservoir area of a water conservancy hub project are complicated, and the stability problem of the landslide body is prominent, which is not only directly related to the safety of the adjacent office building and highway, but also poses a threat to the normal operation of the water conservancy hub. According to the latest geological data of the landslide area, the results of the stability calculation of the landslide body are analyzed, and the reinforcement design scheme of circular chair type anti-slide piles & prestressed anchor cables is proposed for the landslide body to solve the problem of anti-slide stability of the landslide body. Numerical analysis results show that: the safety factor under each working condition after reinforcement is within the permissible range and meets the relevant normative requirements, the landslide body has good control effect on deformation after reinforcement, and the reinforcement measures can provide certain reference value for the design and construction of similar projects.

Energy and photosynthetic performance investigation of a semitransparent photovoltaic rooftop greenhouse for building integration

The present article aims at evaluating semitransparent photovoltaic rooftop greenhouses based on organic photovoltaics and ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene. A RADIANCE/TRNSYS model is proposed. Five configurations (greenhouse roof with 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% photovoltaic-module covering) and two cities (Barcelona; Paris) have been evaluated. The findings reveal that an increase of the photovoltaic-covering surface reduces the overall energy demand of the greenhouse, but it also reduces the illumination that reaches the crops. For Barcelona, the optimal configuration for proper crop development (tomato; lettuce) is the one with 50% covering. For Paris, the optimal configuration is the one with 25% covering. In terms of energy, in the case of Barcelona, the part of the electricity demand of the greenhouse covered by the photovoltaics ranges from 14% to 63% whereas, in the case of Paris, these percentages range from 6% to 25.3%. As for the thermal behaviour of the building (adjacent office floor), the installation of the rooftop greenhouse reduces air-conditioning demand (around 30% for Barcelona and 37.7% for Paris (0% covering)). For Paris, the effect of the photovoltaic-covering percentage on the thermal demand of the adjacent floor is minimal. However, for Barcelona, it can reduce the air-conditioning demand by 35% (scenario: 100% covering).

Exploring Cross-Modal Influences on the Evaluation of Indoor-Environmental Conditions

The comfort requirements of occupants influence indoor-environmental factors and energy performance of buildings. Occupants are typically exposed to a multitude of indoor-environmental factors, including a variety of different thermal, auditory, visual, and air quality conditions. However, the bulk of past research and derivative indoor-environmental codes and standards concerning the comfort of occupants address the multiple indoor-environmental stimuli in isolation. Starting from a brief review of past research on multi-perceptual indoor-environmental assessments of occupants, the present study pursues an experimental approach to explore the potential cross-modal effects on the evaluation of indoor-environmental thermal, visual, and acoustic aspects. In this context, a laboratory space including two adjacent identical mock-up office rooms was used to conduct multi-aspect parametric studies with human participants. Different thermal, visual, and auditory conditions were maintained in these two units. In the course of the present study, 296 participants were exposed, on a short-term basis, to different combinations of thermal, visual, and auditory conditions. The experiments were intended to explore if the evaluation of one aspect of the indoor environment could be influenced by differences in the values pertaining to the other aspects. The experimental results are presented and discussed, including their limitations.

Thermal and visual comfort, energy use and environmental performance of glazing systems with solar control films

Buildings with large window areas tend to have more heat gains/losses through the glazing systems, which increase the cooling and heating loads. Applying solar control films (SCFs) on glazing systems can reduce the heat gain, annual energy consumption and peak demand load. The main objective of the present study is to assess the (thermal and visual) comfort, energy and environmental performance of different types of SCFs applied on glazing systems. Three adjacent office rooms located in a university building in Lisbon were used as case study. A building energy simulation model, calibrated from experimental results, was used to simulate the performance of the glazing systems. The most reflective SCF (τvis = 16%; g = 0.15) has the highest thermal and optical performance due to its low visible transmittance and solar heat gain coefficient, making it possible to achieve temperature and glare comfort during 41% and 43% of working hours. The spectrally selective film with τvis = 63% and g = 0.40 has the highest energy performance, enabling to achieve an annual reduction of 38% of energy consumption and CO2 emissions. From a multi-criteria evaluation approach, the best alternative is the most reflective film when assigning preferred importance to thermal and visual comfort, and the most spectrally selective film when energy cost saving and CO2 emission reduction are taken as the decision criteria.

Audio-video virtual reality environments in building acoustics: An exemplary study reproducing performance results and subjective ratings of a laboratory listening experiment.

The present study adopted a human-centred approach to explore the potential of audio-video Virtual Reality (VR) to evaluate indoor noise protection by building characteristics. Different background speech conditions, convolved with sound insulation filters of adjacent office rooms, were presented in a VR office environment and the effects on cognitive performances and subjective ratings were measured. The found effect patterns were the same as those obtained in a real laboratory setting reported by Schlittmeier, Hellbrück, Thaden, and Vorländer. [(2008). Ergonomics 51, 719-736]. This exemplary study promises various options for research on noise effects by the use of virtual built environments which are of high plausibility and unlimited variability.

Energy savings potential of passive chilled beams vs air systems in various US climatic zones with different system configurations

The energy savings potential of passive chilled beams in various climatic zones is analyzed in this study. A passive chilled beam model, developed based on full-scale experiments, is used as a system module in a whole building simulation tool to account for the convective and radiative effects of passive chilled beams. The model was validated with measurements from a field study in an open plan office equipped with multiple passive chilled beams. In addition, a parallel field study in an adjacent identical office space equipped with an air (VAV) system was conducted to compare the resulting energy consumption with the two systems.To further study the energy savings potential and indoor thermal conditions with passive chilled beams, four different chilled beam system configurations, combined with a parallel variable air volume system, were studied using the whole building model in different US climatic zones. The results showed that using a dedicated outdoor air system, or a separate chiller for the passive chilled beams, or a desiccant wheel after the cooling coil may result in significant relative energy savings depending on the location. The last option proved to be the most efficient, providing up to 12% for hot and humid climates and up to 20% for hot and dry climates –compared to a conventional variable air volume system. Finally, the radiative-to-total cooling effect of passive chilled beams varied between 7% and 8% and has only a small impact on energy savings and indoor thermal conditions.

Case studies of two atria to begin a conversation regarding the importance of acoustical performance of transitional spaces

Transitional spaces, such as lobbies or atria, are largely forgotten spaces regarding room acoustics. These transitional spaces are widely used for presentations, meetings, and parties/gatherings. Lobbies and atria are often connected to hallways and adjacent office clusters, where sound can propagate to areas far away from the source. With the ever-increasing need for transitional spaces to also act as gathering spaces, it is important to begin a discussion of acoustical standards in transitional spaces. This paper discusses two case studies conducted by D.L. Adams Associates: (1) An atrium with a kitchen and dining area used for parties, gatherings, meetings, and throughout the day by employees; (2) an atrium with a commercial-grade kitchen at the center used for meetings, lunchtime, gatherings, and special events. This paper includes discussions of noise propagation, noise build up, reverberation time, and absorptive treatments within transitional spaces and how to make the spaces work acoustically, while isolating them from adjacent areas.

Modeling of double skin façades integrating photovoltaic panels and automated roller shades: Analysis of the thermal and electrical performance

A numerical model is developed for simulating a single or multi–story Double Skin Façade integrating Photovoltaics (DSF-PV). The DSF-PV can co-generate solar electricity and heat, while it also allows daylight to be transmitted to the interior space. The buoyancy-driven air flow inside the cavity may be assisted by a fan to cool down the photovoltaics while providing natural or hybrid ventilation to adjacent zones. Automated roller shades are also implemented in the model and help regulate heating and cooling loads but also control the daylight levels in the indoor space. A parametric analysis for different control strategies for the airflow within the cavity and the roller shading devices is performed with the purpose to apply the proposed methodology to minimize the heating and cooling demand of the DSF-PV system. In addition, a parametric analysis for different adjacent zones floor areas is performed. The simulations show that a DSF-PV system can supply approximately 120kWh/façade area/year covering the yearly electricity demand of the adjacent office if the floor area is approximately less than 3 times larger than the floor area.

Application of a BIPV to cover net energy use of the adjacent office room

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the potential of the experimental building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) façade to cover net energy use in the adjacent office room. Electricity generated by PV panels was intended to cover the energy demand for the mechanical ventilation and the supplementary lighting. Analyses were performed for two orientations of the façade (east and west) and two occupancy profiles considering one or two employees per one office room. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted by carrying detailed numerical analyses of energy produced by the BIPV façade and its consumption in adjacent office room. Calculations of energy generated by PV panels were made using simulation programme ESP-r. Advanced model, used in analyses, take into account dependence of the main electrical parameters of photovoltaic cell from temperature. Findings The findings reveal that energy generated by photovoltaic panels during transitional and cooling seasons is sufficient for lighting and ventilation requirement. However during winter months BIPV facade can cover energy demand only for ventilation. Originality/value The paper provides an original analysis of experimental BIPV façade system as a source of on-site produced renewable energy to cover energy demand in offices building under certain climate conditions. The results reported in presented paper shows the potential of BIPV facades and display this potential in a context of building net energy balance.

Work performance in private office rooms: The effects of sound insulation and sound masking

Our purpose was to examine whether present sound insulation guidelines of private office rooms provide optimal cognitive performance and acoustic satisfaction. 32 voluntary students participated in our laboratory experiment. The experiment simulated two adjacent office rooms. Speaker was in room 1 and listener in room 2. Both sound insulation between the rooms and the background noise level (sound masking) in room 2 were investigated at two levels so that the speech intelligibility between the rooms was significantly changed. Condition A corresponded with the present Finnish sound insulation guidelines according to which the weighted sound reduction index should be at least 35 dB R'w and background noise level from building services should not exceed 33 dB LAeq. Conditions B and D had a 10 dB greater sound insulation than condition A. Conditions C and D had 9 dB larger background noise level in room 2 than condition A. Cognitive performance was the worst in condition A. Acoustic satisfaction and several other subjective measures showed that conditions B-D were better than condition A. The present sound insulation guidelines need to be reconsidered to provide better acoustic satisfaction and less distraction for employees in private office rooms.

Lost proof of innocence: The impact of confessions on alibi witnesses.

The present study investigated how alibi witnesses react in the face of an innocent suspect's confession. Under the pretext of a problem-solving study, a participant and confederate completed a series of tasks in the same testing room. The confederate was subsequently accused of stealing money from an adjacent office during the study session. After initially corroborating the innocent confederate's alibi that she never left the testing room, only 45% of participants maintained their support of that alibi once informed that the confederate had confessed (vs. 95% when participants believed the confederate had denied involvement). Even fewer (20%) maintained their corroboration when the experimenter insinuated that their support of the alibi might imply their complicity. The presence of a confession also decreased participants' confidence in the accuracy of the alibi and their belief in the confederate's innocence. These findings suggest that a police-induced confession can strip an innocent confessor of a vital source of exculpatory evidence. This effect may well explain the often-puzzling absence of exculpatory evidence in many cases involving wrongful conviction.

The Diamond Light Source.

This Current Commentary was prompted by a recent talk given by Laura Holland, at Reading Skeptics in the Pub, about the Diamond Light Source, where she is the Outreach and Events Manager. Skeptics in the Pub (1) is a growing, informal network of (usually) monthly meetings, where the invited speaker presents a topic of interest in a pub, which is followed by a discussion. A broad range of subjects is aired, covering various aspects of science and technology, and such diverse matters as philosophy, homeopathy, the media, education, electric cars, GM crops, the paranormal, and depletion of the Earth's resources (which I have spoken about to various Skeptics groups). Skeptics in some respects resembles Cafe Scientifique, although the latter meetings (2) tend to be more particularly focussed on features of science and technology. Diamond (3) (Figure 1) is the UK's national synchrotron science facility, and is situated on the Harwell campus in Oxfordshire, which also houses the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. The campus is owned by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the Health Protection Agency. It is managed by Harwell Oxford Developments Ltd. The Diamond synchrotron can produce intense beams of light, said (3) to be 10 billion times brighter than the sun. Here, the term does not only refer to the region of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to humans (namely wavelengths in the 400-700 nm range), since Diamond generates synchrotron light, which is a spectrum of electromagnetic radiation spanning X-rays to microwaves. The UK led the world with the first second-generation light source, the SRS at the Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire, which opened in 1981. The SRS proved how vital synchrotrons are to researchers from a wide range of disciplines and, when it had expanded as much as it could, scientists and engineers began designing a third generation synchrotron for the UK. Diamond is the largest scientific facility to be built in the UK, since the Nimrod proton synchrotron at the Rutherford Appleton laboratory (RAL) in 1964. Nimrod was converted into the (ISIS) neutron spallation source in 1977. ISIS is not an acronym, but is both the name by which the River Thames is known locally, and a goddess of Ancient Egypt who could restore life to the dead: this seemed appropriate since the ISIS facility was partially constructed from cannibalised equipment from the Nimrod and NINA accelerators. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] In contrast, DIAMOND is an acronym: Dipole And Multipole Output for the Nation at Daresbury, as derived by Mike Poole, who inaugurated the DIAMOND project. Since the facility is no longer at Daresbury, it is said that the name now reflects the fact that the synchrotron light is both 'hard' (as in the hard X-ray region of the electromagnetic spectrum) and bright, similar to those qualities of a diamond. The Diamond facility cost an initial 260 m [pounds sterling] to build, including the synchrotron building, the accelerators, the first seven beamlines and the adjacent office block, Diamond House. 86% of Diamond's funding comes from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) and 14% from the Wellcome Trust. More than 3,000 research workers carry out experiments using synchrotron radiation at Diamond, and are assisted by some 500 permanent staff there. Features of synchrotron radiation 1. A wide energy-range of the electromagnetic spectrum, spanning X-rays to microwaves. 2. The very intense beam of photons means that crystals that scatter radiation only weakly may be studied, and experiments can be done rapidly. 3. Due to a small divergence and small size source (spatial coherence), a highly collimated beam is obtained. 4. A source stability is obtained at the sub-micron level. 5. Both linear and circular polarisation are possible. 6. …

Two case histories relating to the transmission of noise from mechanical equipment rooms to adjacent noise sensitive spaces

Two recent noise control projects related to the reduction of noise from mechanical equipment rooms to an adjacent conference room and to an adjacent office. For both of these situations, the noise control procedures to be implemented involved the determination of the most significant noise transmission path; air borne noise transmitted through a concrete floor slab or structurally transmitted noise due to lack of proper chiller and pipe vibration isolation in the conference room case, or for the office case airborne noise transmitted through a wall constructed of gypsum wall board and flanking through common floor slabs or structurally transmitted due to lack of suitable pump and piping vibration isolation. A method for determining the most significant noise transmission path and the resulting noise reduction for these two cases will be described.

Occupant comfort in naturally ventilated and mixed-mode spaces within air-conditioned offices

Contemporary concerns for improving environmental performance in buildings have led to an increased interest in natural ventilation (NV) either on its own or in combination with air-conditioning (mixed mode (MM)) as an alternative to traditional heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) systems. HVAC systems are widely used because they avoid many of the problems encountered with NV or MM—noise, dust, insects, odours, temperature extremes—and readily conform to steady-state conditions of thermal comfort. However, it is possible that NV or MM can provide improved indoor air quality precisely through variations associated with external climatic conditions. This article introduces an ARC (Australian Research Council) funded project evaluating comfort conditions in MM spaces, using field studies from two buildings. The first, a University campus building in Sydney, offers MM perimeter offices with air-conditioned central spaces, while the second, a commercial building in Melbourne, offers a series of MM spaces that can be used by workers from adjacent air-conditioned office spaces. The aim of the project is to evaluate the feasibility of using MM either in place of or in association with traditional HVAC systems. The outcomes of the project will be used to elaborate the justifications for inclusion of NV spaces and/or NV periods within contemporary office environments. This article presents preliminary results of the fieldwork at each location.

The open office privacy calculator: A value engineering tool for acoustic professionals

Open-plan spaces consistently challenge architects and acoustic consultants to achieve reasonable speech privacy and low inter-office distraction. This paper presents a computerized tool to optimize design decisions, maximizing speech privacy while minimizing design effort and implementation cost. Speech privacy can be estimated through real-time calculation of the Speech Privacy Index (SPI) at a grid of points in a given simulated open office plan. The Open Office Privacy Calculator graphically shows how much workers in that open office would be distracted by any single speaking person and the impact of office environmental parameters on the level of distraction. The tool provides a direct graphical link between design decisions, cost, and acoustic performance for partition height, ceiling height, ceiling type, and the addition of sound masking. Further, this tool introduces the Distraction Index (DI), a measure of how many adjacent office talkers that a given office worker can routinely be distracted by (SPI=70%). The combination SPI/DI Calculator allows acousticians and architects to make informed value judgments, choosing design elements which have the greatest impact on speech privacy. The Calculator has been validated with measured data and by comparison with other existing and accepted models for predicting SPI in office spaces.

Structural Floor Vibration and Sound Isolation Design for a Magnetic Resonance Imaging System

This is a case study about noise and vibration control problems, and the design constraints and solutions for a proposed installation of a magnetic resonance imaging system (MRI) in an existing medical research facility. Manufacturer's data indicated that airborne sound level emissions over a broad frequency span could exceed permissible noise criteria for nearby occupied rooms. The building structure also required reinforcement to accommodate the MRI magnet's concentrated load, but invasive disturbance to a transgenic research mouse vivarium on the floor below was prohibited. The structure borne vibration paths needed attenuation or isolation. Design parameters included structural strength, stiffness and the specific platform resonant frequency (non-coincident with known vibration sources or building structure). In addition, acoustical containment was required for anticipated noises from the magnet room, to prevent excessive or annoying and distracting noise in the MRI control room or other adjacent (but unrelated) research, animal holding and office spaces. Structural “de-tuning” and architectural “decoupling” concepts were employed. A resonant frequency criterion was recommended for the new structural floor design. A combination of vibration spectrum analysis, dynamic analyses of alternate structural concepts and existing physical conflict constraints led to the design of an independent platform floor above the existing building floor. Post construction floor vibration measurements were compared to earlier measurement data to show quantitative change in performance. The modifications satisfied acoustical criteria and occupants' subjective evaluations.

On Art's Romance with Design

There always has been a rift between art and design in our culture. Yes, there has. Purists submit that the distance between art and design has to be preserved in the name of specificity; in an age where there is a multimedia meltdown, they warn that art must take care not to relinquish what is specific to it. Meanwhile, more nonchalant players insist that, on the contrary, to survive and be relevant in such an age, art needs to be more gregarious—it must reach out beyond its own confines—and design is surely one of its more suitable bedfellows. The sense of specificity that comes with an awareness of a discipline’s history, however, is as important to design art as the ability to make connections between disciplines. So perhaps both groups are partially misguided. Project, an installation by Jorge Pardo at Dia:Chelsea in New York in 2000, is a good example of why a comprehensive knowledge of the different disciplines is important. Pardo refashioned Dia:Chelsea’s ground-floor gallery, bookstore, and lobby in such a way that integrates these three formerly discrete areas into a flowing stream of vibrant tiles. Thus, to experience the installation is to be catapulted into a vertiginous world enveloping both the art gazer and book buyer alike. By way of reprieve, both ends of the space are coated with pastel-colored murals conceived by Pardo, and an adjacent office space is filled with his low-hanging lamps. A full-scale clay model of Volkswagen’s most recent Beetle took center stage in the gallery, while in the bookshop there is a seating area replete with delicately arranged chairs designed by Marcel Breuer and Alvar Aalto in the 1920s and 1930s. Pardo effectively preserved a sense of specificity in the installation through the decisive articulation of each space and object while, at the same time, striving to be gregarious by drawing the objects that constitute the installation from across art and design. Such installations have rendered design crucial to an understanding of contemporary art. So, too, have the flurry of recent group exhibitions devoted to design art. These include What If? Art on the Verge of Architecture and Design, at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, 2000; Against Design, at the Institute for Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2000; Beau-Monde: Toward a Redeemed Cosmopolitanism, Site Santa-Fe, 2001–2; and Trespassing: Houses x Artists at the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, 2003. Despite these exhibitions, extended critical commentaries on the trend have been noticeably lacking.

Structural vibration isolation design for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system

This structural vibration control case study presents problems, constraints and design solutions for existing magnetic resonance imaging system (MRI) installation in a medical office facility. Objective: Reduce MRI noise received in adjacent, unrelated spaces. Manufacturer’s data indicated that airborne MRI sound emissions could exceed permissible noise criteria for nearby occupied rooms. Experience with MRI systems indicated possibility of structure borne vibration that could result in radiated noise in other spaces. Structure borne vibration paths needed attenuation or isolation, to prevent excessive or annoying and distracting noise to adjacent office spaces. In addition, containment design was required for loud noises in the magnet room. Measurements revealed transient vibration of building floors, walls, and ceilings coincident with MRI operation. Measurements also revealed transient airborne noise levels consistent with radiated sound produced by vibration acceleration of large surfaces. Spectral analyses of noise and vibration led to design of a retrofit vibration isolation mounting scheme for the MRI on existing building floor. Design parameters included structural resonance of slab, manufacturer’s allowable vibration for MRI, and receiver room permissible criteria. Noise and vibration measurements will show building conditions before and after implementation of retrofit vibration isolation mounts. Plan and section drawings will illustrate design solutions.