ASHRAE Journal - February 2010 - 52

An earlier 1800s version is the John Soane house and museum, “Here the architect, after trying a number of expedients, turned to the newly developed Perkins high pressure hot water system…he could conceal the small bore pipes under the bases of the marble antiquities in the Belzoni Chamber, place a coil of pipes under the table in the Monk’s Room, and run a circuit of piping around the base of his many skylights to counter the flow of cold air….”9 Patent No. 28477 was granted on Barker’s system of heating, which was called panel warming.17 This patent was later sold to R. Crittal & Company Limited who used the concepts to heat the Royal Livre building in Liverpool in 1909. Crittal appointed representatives in several countries including Sulzer Brothers of Winterthur, Switzerland. It conducted extensive long-term studies with the Swiss National Research Laboratory.18 During this era, systems were installed in an open air school in Amsterdam (1929), a private residence in Germany (1930) and a large department store in Zurich (1936–38).17 At this time came the impetus for a reevaluation of radiant piping systems stemming from an accidental (re) discovery of polyethylene by Gibson and Fawcett in 1933 at the ICI laboratories in England, which later led to the development of PEX pipe and a solution to many challenges associated with earlier piping materials.18 Introduction of Radiant Cooling Systems ant heating system that was installed under the direction of a fellow named Dr. Oscar Faber. Dr. Faber’s system used copper pipes embedded in concrete floors and plaster ceilings and it was used to cool the building in the summer and heat it in winter.”20 Pre-World War II radiant cooling included “The historic Reichstag building—the German parliament—was at the time of its inauguration in December of 1894 one of the most sophisticated and technically advanced buildings of its time. The design incorporated central heating, humidification and summer ‘cooling’ with the help of thermal mass.”21 Solving the Issue of Latent Loads There is anecdotal reference to early 8th century radiant cooling using snow-packed walls in buildings constructed in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq),19 in Turkey with cooled water11 and much later in 20th century Europe where “After the war, the Bank of England got a nice new hydronic radiImage courtesy of Dan Holohan “Most of the early cooling ceiling systems developed in the 1930s failed…because condensation often occurred…. Subsequent studies showed that this problem could be avoided if the radiant system was used in conjunction with a small ventilation system designed to lower the dew-point of the indoor air. This combination proved successful in a department store built in 1936-1937 in Zürich, Switzerland and in a multi-story building built in the early 1950s in Canada.”11 Since the later part of the 20th century, industry has developed a better understanding of controls for radiant-cooled environments and with dedicated outdoor air systems and improved controllability larger applications of cooling developed in extreme climates like Bangkok with its cooled Suvarnabhumi Airport system.22 North America In the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin studied radiant floor heating in Asia and French technology to develop his Franklin c. 1905, Frank Lloyd Wright makes first trip to Japan, later incorporates various early forms of radiant heating in his projects. c. 1907, England, Prof. Barker granted Patent No. 28477 for panel warming using small pipes. Patents 52 later sold to the Crittal Company who appointed representatives across Europe. A.M. Byers of America promotes radiant heating using small bore water pipes. Asia continues to use traditional ondol and kang – wood is used as the fuel, combustion gases sent underfloor. c. 1930, Faber in England uses water pipes to radiant heat and cool several large buildings. c. 1933, explosion at England’s Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) laboratory during a high pressure experiment with ethylene gas results in a wax like substance – later to become polyethylene and the beginnings of PEX pipe. c. 1937 Frank Lloyd Wright designs the radiant heated Herbert Jacobs house, the first Usonian home. ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org February 2010 Photo credit: James Steakley

ASHRAE Journal - February 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - February 2010