ASHRAE Journal - February 2010 - 54

and adopted many other innovations like the glass door, steel furniture, air-conditioning and radiant or ‘gravity heat. Nearly every technological innovation used today was ’ suggested in the Larkin Building in 1904.28 Wright was a pioneer in radiant floor heating, using it in many of his projects such as the Johnson Wax Building (1937) and the Jacobs Residence. Following the end of World War II, the U.S. had its first large-scale multi-building project heated with radiant systems realized with copper pipes embedded in a concrete slab in historic Levittown.29 In all there was to be 2,000 homes built in the New York project with radiant heating using copper pipe. Thousands more were built, including those later constructed by California developer Joseph Eichler.18 In Canada, the use of radiant heating found application in the early 1960s home of an NRC researcher who writes, “Decades later it would be identified as a passive solar house. It incorporated innovative features such as the radiant heating system supplied with hot water from an automatically stoked anthracite furnace.”30 Market Acceptance Larkin Administration Building, Buffalo, N.Y. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, it was one of the first to use radiant floor heating. References 1. D’Ambrosio, F.R., et al. 2006. “Sulla termotecnica in epoca romana.” Proceedings of Storia dell’Ingegneria. 2. Fagan, G.G. 1996. “Sergius Orata: inventor of the As noted in Part I, almost all buildings in Kohypocaust?” Phoenix 50(1):56 – 66. rea (95%) and Northern China (85%) use radiant 3. Rashti, C., et al. 2007. “Urban Conservation and floor heating31 with strong growth showing in Area Development in Afghanistan,” pp. 10, 12. Aga Japan. In Europe, fluid-based systems dominate Khan Historic Cities Programme. the construction industry.32 Unlike Asia and 4. Kennedy, H. 2005. “From Polis to Madina: urban Europe, the combined general market share for change in late antique and early Islamic Syria.” Past residential hydronic/steam systems in Canada and Present (106). and the United States is a nominal 5% with the 5. Chennaoui, Y. 2009. “Architectural correlation analysis of the hammams of Cherchell, Algeria: volume closely following on the rise and fall of linear vs aggregate space in the traditional bath.” building permits. The exception is when home International Journal of Architectural Research owners become directly involved in the HVAC 3(1):151, 167. decision-making process resulting in a 10% to 1950s controls for radiant 6. Emadi, H. 2005. Culture and Customs of Afghani12% use. Approximation based on hydronic data systems. stan, pp.128. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press. available from Stats Canada and U.S. Census 7. Yoldas, C. 2004. A Prototypical (School) Design Bureau. It is also reported that since 2005, the number of com- Strategy for Soil-cement Construction in Afghanistan, Ph.D. thesis, mercial radiant system specifications has increased by 36% with Kansas State University. 7.5% of new construction specifying radiant systems, a number 8. Manley, J.K. 1954. Radiant Heating, Radiant Cooling. School of Architecture, Pratt Institute. expected to double by 2013.33 Image credit: Dan Holohan c. 1970 evolution of Korean architecture leads to multistory housings. Flue gases from coal based ondol results in many deaths leading to the removal of the home based flue gas system to a central water-based heating plant. Oxygen permeation becomes corrosion issue in Europe. 54 c. 1980 The first standards for floor heating are developed in Europe. Waterbased ondol system is applied to almost all residential buildings in Korea. c. 1985 floor heating becomes a traditional heating system in residential buildings in Middle Europe and Nordic countries, and applications in nonresidential buildings increase. c. 1995 The application of floor cooling and TABS (Thermo Active Building Systems) in residential and commercial buildings are widely introduced into the market. c. 2000 The use of embedded radiant cooling systems in Middle Europe becomes a standard system with many parts of the world applying radiant based HVAC systems as means of using low temperatures for heating and high temperatures for cooling. February 2010 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org Photo credit: Jerome Puma private collection

ASHRAE Journal - February 2010

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