ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - 49

REFRIGERATION APPLICATIONS
COLUMN

Andy Pearson

History of Air Conditioning
BY ANDY PEARSON, PH.D., C.ENG., FELLOW ASHRAE

I was privileged at the start of December to hear a talk presented by Dr. David
Arnold, Fellow ASHRAE, past president of CIBSE and a regular attendee at ASHRAE's
annual conferences. David was giving a sneak preview of his book " 20th Century Air
Conditioning, " which will be published by ASHRAE later this month.

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY DIGITAL COLLECTIONS. 1903.
HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/Y48QQW5V

One of the fascinating facts that I discovered listening
on the corner of Grand Street and Morgan Avenue in
to David was that the term " air conditioning " originally
Brooklyn, during the summer of 1902 to improve print
referred to the conditioning of cotton by using humidiquality in humid weather.
fied air to treat it. This means it's not the condition of the
Later that year it was installed in the New York Stock
air that is in question, but of the subject to which the air is
Exchange (NYSE) building to keep the traders cool.
applied. " This means you, " as the old army recruiting post- This was the first use of mechanical air conditioning for
ers and a million passive-aggressive memes tend to say.
comfort cooling. The following year Frank Lloyd Wright
The precursors to air-conditioned buildings in the 19th designed the Larkin Building in Buffalo, a five storey
century were large theaters and concert halls. Air was
administration block with a central atrium open to
blown through ducts built into
every floor and incorporating a
the building fabric using huge
host of modern design features.
centrifugal fans. Cooling, when
In 1906 Stuart Cramer applied
included, was achieved by blowthe humidity control process to
ing the air over blocks of ice. The
a yarn spinning factory having
ice would typically be harvested
identified the optimum moisture
during winter from frozen lakes
content for the air in the spinand rivers, stored for months
ning room and called his process
in crudely insulated sheds and
" air conditioning. "
shipped to the city for sale for
Sadly the Larkin Building was
The Sackett & Wilhelms building, where it all began.
domestic and commercial use.
demolished in 1950 in an act of
The cooling of people at work in
cultural vandalism that hopefully
offices and factories was not a priority but during their
today would not be countenanced for such an architecleisure time, when increased comfort could be equated
turally significant building. The site has never been redeto increased spending on drinks and candy, cooling was
veloped and is now a parking lot. Of course the famous
paramount.
NYSE building still occupies its spot on Wall Street, but
When ventilation and cooling were applied to manuI was amazed to discover that the Sackett and Wilhelms
facturing facilities it was for process control, not human
building also still exists-even the iconic smokestack from
comfort. One of the main priorities in the dirty cities
the boilerhouse. It now houses a mix of small businesses
th
of the early 20 century was pollution control. Richard
ranging from picture framing and neon
Thomas patented an air washer in 1900 and two years
sign manufacture, to film and TV lighting
later Willis Carrier made improvements to the air
hire and a street photography collecwasher that enabled the control of humidity through the tive. It would be a great pity if it went the https://bit.ly/3aC5wVH
Rate this Column
apparent paradox of dehumidifying the air by bringsame way as the Larkin.
ing it into contact with more moisture. Carrier's system
Andy Pearson, Ph.D., C.Eng., is group managing director at Star Refrigeration in
Glasgow, UK.
was applied to the Sackett and Wilhelms printing plant,
FEBRUARY 2021

ashrae.org

ASHRAE JOURNAL

49


HTTPS://TINYURL.COM/Y48QQW5V https://www.bit.ly/3aC5wVH http://ashrae.org

ASHRAE Journal - February 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - February 2021

Contents
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - Intro
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - Cover1
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - Cover2
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - 1
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - Contents
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - 3
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - 4
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - 5
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - 6
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - 7
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - 8
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ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - Cover3
ASHRAE Journal - February 2021 - Cover4
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