ASHRAE Journal - May 2009 - 5

ASHRAE 19 50 59–2009 YE A R S JOURNAL COMMENTARY Air movement can be an energy-efficient alternative to air cooling, but thermal comfort standards have mostly limited its use because of concerns about drafts. These limits have changed in the updated version of ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 55, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy. The changes are based on research that shows most occupants prefer more air movement than currently provided. This preference holds regardless of whether a space is perceived as warm, neutral or slightly cool. The changes in Standard 55 allow designers to use fans, stack effect or window ventilation to offset mechanical Fred Turner cooling, or supplant it entirely in some climates. This article was written by the chair and longtime members of the Standard 55 committee. It covers the ASHRAE-sponsored research that assembled a database of occupant studies and the procedures for establishing a comfort zone for temperature, radiation, humidity and air movement. It also covers criteria for options with and without local control. FOR SOME time, we’ve been working on marrying print and digital publishing. Our latest example is this issue’s article, “Equal Friction Solution for Duct Sizing.” The article uses the Colebrook equation to provide a simple equal friction solution to calculating duct diameter and pressure loss. What’s different is that members can go to www.ashrae. org/ashraejournal and download the live spreadsheets. We’ll be doing this again with another article later this year. Let us know if this is something you find helpful. Improving Comfort Speak Up Quieter Fellows Programs and speakers on societal issues were once common in ASHRAE meetings, and often reported in ASHRAE Journal. One such debate in 1959 was over the responsibility or irresponsibility of engineers who participate in “peaceful use of the atom by industry.” While the specific debate on nuclear power generation is not reported in the Journal, it must have been heated. Writes Journal Editor Edward Searles in the commentary in the May 1959 issue: “Speak up quieter fellows and have your say. The noisy ones who pretend to have all the answers may be only smoke-screening their ignorance, and in their sound and fury may be committing you and generations to come to untold folly and irreparable damage.” THIS MONTH’S historical feature is “System Application and Design for School Air Conditioning” from the October 1966 issue. The author is Robert W. Flanagan, Fellow ASHRAE, who colleagues say was a visionary in variable air volume, load matching of chiller plants, and the design of building automation and control systems. He was active in TC 9.1 (formerly TC 6.2). He also served in many ASHRAE offices, including state chair, national director and regional chair, and was chair of the ASHRAE Journal Committee. He received the Distinguished Service Award in 1972. He died in 1989 at age 63. Flanagan’s article is followed by a postscript by Tom Durkin, P Member ASHRAE. .E., Other articles in this edition cover side-by-side comparisons of the energy use in relocatable classrooms in three climates; and use of time-of-day scheduling to save energy in existing buildings. A SHRAE ® Journal | 1791 Tullie Circle NE | Atlanta, GA 30329-2305 | Phone: 404-636-8400 | Fax: 404-321-5478 | A SHRAE Online: www.ashrae.org Publisher W. Stephen Comstock Editor Fred Turner | fturner@ashrae.org Managing Editor Sarah Foster | sfoster@ashrae.org Associate Editors Rebecca Matyasovski | rmatyasovski@ashrae.org Charlotte Tubbs | ctubbs@ashrae.org Christopher Weems | cweems@ashrae.org Copy Editor Jeri Eader | jeader@ashrae.org Publishing Services Manager David Soltis Production Jayne Jackson Tracy Becker Advertising Sales Manager Greg Martin | gmartin@ashrae.org Advertising Production Coordinator Vanessa Johnson | vjohnson@ashrae.org Circulation Specialist David Soltis | dsoltis@ashrae.org ASHRAE OFFICERS President William A. Harrison President-Elect Gordon V.R. Holness, P .E. Treasurer Lynn G. Bellenger, P .E. Vice Presidents Jim Fields Andrew Persily, Ph.D. Vincent Tse Thomas Watson, P .E. Secretary & Executive Vice President Jeff H. Littleton POLICY GROUP 2008 – 09 Chair Publications Committee Julia A. Keen, P .E. Washington Office washdc@ashrae.org Member of the Audit Bureau of Circulation May 2009 ASHRAE Journal 5

ASHRAE Journal - May 2009

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - May 2009