Ashrae Journal - October 2008 - 75

09/05 – 10/08 (P) Iowa State University Principal Investigator: Michael Pate TC 8.9, Residential Refrigerators and Food Freezers Co-Funding: $5,000 Viking Range Corporation Research Strategic Plan Goals Supported: A4, D4, E1 1320-RP The Impact of Household Refrigerator Storage Conditions on Shelf-Life of Fruits and Vegetables The main function of a refrigerator is to preserve food.Both the equipment manufacturers and the consumers will benefit if additional value is delivered to consumers through refrigerators that preserve food better and longer.A reasonable estimate of the value of refrigerated food that is discarded in a typical U.S. household due to spoilage is $2 per week.With approximately 104 million households in the U.S., this amounts to $208 million per week, or $10.8 billion per year for the national cost of food lost in households due to spoilage in the refrigerator.In addition to food spoilage costs, the risk of the spread of food-borne illnesses increases as the storage conditions deviate from accepted guidelines.Equipment developers and designers can most effectively improve the food preservation performance of refrigerators with access to research results showing how food preservation can be influenced by storage conditions.A substantial body of research is in the public domain regarding the effect of food merchandizing storage conditions on food preservation, but there is little research work done in the area of household refrigerators, where humidity is lower, temperature fluctuations are greater, and exposure to condensation is more common.The results of this research can be an important addition to the ASHRAE Handbook in the form of guidance for design engineers, helping them understand the impact of their design decisions on food shelf life.It is expected that the guidance generated from this research will provide long term benefits since it is not based on any particular technology that might become obsolete in the future. Modeling VOC Sorption of Building Materials and Its Impact on Indoor Air Quality—Phase II (Second Phase of 1097-RP) The ultimate goal of this project is to move forward the current understanding of building material sorption, and obtain a useful and reliable VOC sorption model for building materials that can be used for indoor environment design. Based on the results and recommendations from Phase I, the objectives of Phase II are (1) to further investigate the mechanisms of the effect of different environmental conditions (e.g., air temperature, humidity and airflows) on building material sorption, (2) to develop a mechanistic VOC sorption model for building materials, and (3) to demonstrate the use of the sorption model for IAQ design. Productivity and Perception Based Evaluation of Indoor Noise Criteria This project will assess various indoor noise criteria systems which are currently used to evaluate the acceptability of background noise level in buildings, often caused by mechanical systems.Subjective experiments will be run to test productivity and human perception of background noise for individuals exposed to: (1) discrete tones and (2) time-varying fluctuations in background noise spectra. The goal is to determine how the current noise criteria systems correlate to productivity and psychoacoustic perception under the variety of systems-induced indoor noise situations.Based on the results, suggestions or modifications to noise criteria systems may be proposed to allow the rating systems to account better for the subjective results.The final results will directly impact the information provided in the ASHRAE Fundamentals and Applications Handbook volumes on how mechanical system designers should quantify and diagnose background noise in spaces. Static/Dynamic Equipment Testing and Certification The specific objectives of this research are: 1. Determine force amplification (impact) factors for generic ASHRAE-type isolators/restraints for different equipment types subjected to earthquake motions. 2. Determine acceleration amplification factors for equipment hard mounted and/or supported on generic ASHRAE-type isolators/ restraints subjected to earthquake motions. 3. Investigate the relationship between static capacities determined according to the draft testing protocols developed by ASHRAE SPC-171 and actual dynamic capacities for various supported equipment and/or restraint types. 4. Suggest modifications to the ASHRAE SPC-171 draft testing standards to allow dynamic system evaluation from individual component static testing results. Principal Investigator: Jensen Zhang TC 4. 4, Building Materials and Building Envelope Performance Research Strategic Plan Goals Supported: A6, B1, B2, C1, C3, D3, E1 in building materials. ASHRAE Standard Committee 160P, Design Criteria for Moisture Control in Buildings is currently developing a methodology for moisture design analysis and concluded that weather data are needed that are appropriate for this purpose. ASHRAE has been a leader in the field of moisture control in buildings for many years. While the 2005 Handbook—Fundamentals has made significant progress in updating the moisture transport physics, especially on water movement due to rain wetting, corresponding weather data does not exist. ASHRAE has long recognized the importance of weather data in building design and has taken the lead in development of weather data for energy calculations. The development of analogous data for moisture analysis will assist ASHRAE members in the design of buildings and equipment to provide durable, healthy, and comfortable indoor environments. Application Manual for Non-Residential Load Calculations This project proposes to advance the state of the art for both new load calculation methods.The most current ASHRAE publications that address loads are the 1992 Load Calculation Manual (LCM), and the 1998 Load Calculation Principles (LCP).Neither of these publications can be used directly as a tool to complete a load calculation computation.Both of these publications offer well documented information on the theory behind the physics of the building load phenomenon.The 1998 LCP Manual supersedes the LCM and has an in-depth presentation of Heat Balance Method principles and provides an introduction to the RTS Method.This manual will allow presentation of HB developments not previously published.It will also expand the presentation of RTS significantly.This expanded presentation will allow the use of the RTS Method in a very hands-on manner and will serve as a tool for both teaching and practice. Flow Regime and Pressure Drop Determination for Two-Phase Ammonia Upward Flow in Various Riser Sizes The objective of this research project is to determine the minimum vapor velocity required to sustain vertical upward flow of liquid anhydrous ammonia when transported by vapor anhydrous ammonia in the same pipe. This velocity shall be determined for a range of pipe diameters, overfeed rates, and temperatures. The pressure drop per foot of pipe as a function of velocity, temperature, and overfeed rate will also be determined. 09/05 – 08/08 Oklahoma State University Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Spitler TC 4. 1, Load Calculation Data and Procedures Research Strategic Plan Goals Supported: A1, A6, C1, C3, D7, E1 1326-RP 09/07 – 08/09 Tsinghua University Principal Investigator: Xudong Yang TC 4. 10, Indoor Environment Modeling Research Strategic Plan Goals Supported: B2, C2 1321-RP 01/05 – 01/09 University of Nebraska Principal Investigator: Lily Wang TC 5.1, Fans Research Strategic Plan Goals Supported: A6, A7, B1, B2, C1, C3, C4, C5, D5, E1 1322-RP 04/07 – 10/08 Teknologisk Institut (DTI) Principal Investigator: Thomas Lund TC 10.3, Refrigerant Piping, Co-Sponsors: TC 10.1, Custom Engineering Refrigeration Systems and TC 1. 3, Heat Transfer & Fluid Flow Co-Funding: IIAR Research Strategic Plan Goals Supported: C6, D1 1327-RP 04/06 – 10/08 National Research Council Canada Principal Investigator: Kashef Ahmed TC 5.6, Fire and Smoke Control Research Strategic Plan Goals Supported: A6, B2, C1, C3, E1 1328-RP 04/05 – 01/09 University of Buffalo SUNY Principal Investigator: Andre Filiatrault TC 2. 7, Seismic and Wind Restraint Design Research Strategic Plan Goals Supported: A6, B2, D1, E1 1323-RP Algorithm for Smoke Modeling in Large, Multi-Compartmented Buildings The ability to analyze smoke transport in large, multi-compartmented buildings will be used for design analysis of smoke control systems. This will be particularly applicable to code equivalency designs and performance based code designs. Computer programs based on the algorithm of this research project could result in efficient smoke transport analysis allowing ASHRAE members to quickly simulate smoke transport and to develop cost effective designs of superior performance. Further, such a hybrid model could be used for research that would result in significant advancements including improvements in smoke control system concepts. 04/05 – 01/09 (P) Charlie Huizenga Principal Investigator: Charlie Huizenga TC 2. 1, Physiology and Human Environment Research Strategic Plan Goals Supported: A5, B1, 1332-RP Revisions to the ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Tool to Maintain Consistency with Standard 55-2004 In 1997, ASHRAE published the ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Tool (Fountain and Huizenga, 1997) to provide a simplified, consistent method for evaluating thermal comfort under a range of thermal conditions. The software is consistent with ASHRAE Standard 55-1992 and indicates whether a set of environmental conditions are in compliance with that standard. ASHRAE recently published ASHRAE Standard 55-2004, which incorporates several important changes from Standard 55-1992 (Olesen and Brager, 2004). The B2, C1, C3, C6, E1 purpose of this modest project is to make several important changes to the existing ASHRAE software so that it is consistent with the new standard. 1325-RP Environmental Weather Loads for Hygrothermal A
Ashrae Journal - October 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ashrae Journal - October 2008

Ashrae Journal - October 2008
Contents
Commentary
Industry News
Letters
ASHRAE HQ Dedication Booklet
ASHRAE Rebuilds HQ to Reflect Mission
Feature Articles
ASHRAE's Living Lab
Meetings and Shows
Sizing Pipe Using Life-Cycle Costs
Feature Articles
Energy-Efficient Data Centers: A Close-Coupled Row Solution
The Future of 90.1
Ventilation Standard for Health Care Facilities
Grosvenor Humidity Chart
ASHRAE Research Report
ASHRAE Honor Roll
Building Sciences
Special Products
Emerging Technologies
Product Showplace
Classified Advertisting
Advertising Index
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Contents