News
Natural Ventilation or Geothermal?
August 26, 2010
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| How realistic is natural ventilation in a northern climate like Chicago, where winters are frigid and summers are sweltering?Judson University in Elgin has a test case in its new Harm A. Weber Academic Center. USGBC members toured the 88k SF, four-story building on Tuesday to see how it worked. Judson's Keelan Kaiser explained that cool air comes in through dampers in the base of the building and is pushed up through the atrium and released through a chimney system in the upper part of the building to aid in the heating and cooling, especially in fall and spring. | |
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| But Keelan is unsure if the system is working better than a ground-based geothermal system might in a northern climate, especially with how the humidity of summer would affect ventilation. One aspect of the building that is definitely working well is the daylighting. The building's office windows are designed to reflect more light into the rooms, saving on electricity. Photovoltaic panels near the roof provide energy for the mechanical system to ventilate the building. |
