Building by Lynn Piotrowicz

Science 101
and Scott Osgood

Save money, energy, and resources by getting a

better understanding of how your building works

A
s you enter your building on research on how to make your building more energy effi-
a snowy morning, do you cient, then you have probably already made a few inexpen-
marvel at the beautiful ici- sive and basic changes in your building. A few behavioral
and physical changes will provide you with some immedi-
cles that drip down from the ate savings with little or no money invested. These
roof? As you look out your office win- changes do not require any contractors, special installation
dow, do you express childish glee instructions, or understanding of building science; they
are simply changes in habit and small hardware.
over the work of Jack Frost on your
panes? Do staff members suddenly 1. Install programmable thermostats (cost:
look thinner in April because they’ve under $100 each).
n  Buy thermostats that allow for both weekday and
started removing the multiple layers weekend programming (unless your hours of operation
of their winter wardrobe? Does your are the same all seven days of the week).
n  Choose thermostats that allow you to lock them with
library offer the same summer reading
a password.
program every year, “Reading in the n  Installation is simple: Replace every old dial thermo-
Tropics,” because then shorts, T-shirts, stat with a new programmable one by removing the old and
and sandals are the approved “uni- following the instructions for wiring.
n  Remember that the recommended money-saving
form” for employees working in a thermostat setting is 65–67 degrees during the winter and
building that feels like the rain forest: 78 degrees in summer.
n  Change the battery in the thermostat annually; make
hazy, hot, and humid?
it part of your tune-up routine with your heating and cool-
While many librarians accept responsibility for their town ing contractor.
libraries, a good number do so based on the merits of our
experience providing excellent library service. Few of us 2. Look up at your ceiling fans if you have them.
have any experience managing the physical plant: the n  Are you using your ceiling fans correctly? Ceiling
structure of the facility, the building, the bones. Sure, we fans circulate air; they don’t provide any cooling relief. Use
may have helped shovel snow, put up storm windows, or ceiling fans in the winter to push the warm air that sits on
open vents, but those acts do not constitute knowledge of your ceiling down to the floor. Run fans on low to do this.
a building. n  Turn on the fans and look up. In winter, fans should
be rotating in a clockwise direction. In summer, fans should
Changes in habit be circling in a counterclockwise direction. If this isn’t the
As building managers, we can examine our facilities to look case, change it.
for things that are causing the HVAC systems to run n  Look up at your ceiling fans again. Are they flush
harder, longer, and less effectively. If you have done any against the ceiling? If you have high ceilings, fans against
 The children’s room at Almaden
Branch Library in San Jose,
California, uses MechoShades
and low-e heat-reflecting glass
the ceiling won’t provide any for sun control.
circulating assistance. Hire
someone to install an extension
to bring the fan down. that the tolerable tempera-
ture for washing hands was
3. Inspect your windows. still not hot enough to kill
n  Have you put down your bacteria.
storm windows? Are your sash n  The FDA scientists re-
locks in the closed position? ported that hot water is more
While this may seem simple, likely to cause excessive drying
many times people close win- of the skin, which makes it
dows and never use the sash harder to remove bacteria
lock. If your windows are rattling in the wind—a sign of because of the extra cracks and grooves in dry skin. This, the
openings for cold air—check the locks to see that they are researchers felt, would lead to painful hand-washing and
closed. This simple solution is a free and easy way to keep therefore less thorough scrubbing. As a rule, the best water
the cold, drafty air out of your workspace. If the sash locks temperature with which to wash hands is the warmest tem-
aren’t functional, replace them. perature that you find comfortable.
n  To keep heat out during hot and humid weather, keep n  Make energy-smart choices when replacing small
windows and doors closed. Open windows at night to let appliances, computers, lights and light bulbs, HVAC,
the cool air in, but close them before the sun is at its hot- roofing, windows, and window treatments.
test.
Beginner building-
4. Write a summer/winter rule for using your science lessons
window treatments. Okay, librarians: Brace yourselves, because we are going
n  For cold climates, purchase the most energy-saving to discuss the physics of your building. Some of the con-
window treatments you can afford—ideally, double or cepts we understand intuitively. We remember watching
triple cellular blinds, which are the most energy effi- our grandmothers closing the windows and heavy curtains
cient. early on a hot August day and opening them after dark. We
n  An alternative window treatment for warm climates never quite understood why she did this, but we enjoyed
is window film. sitting in her cool living room during those dog days of
summer. It is the goal of this section to impart a little
5. Have your HVAC units serviced knowledge about why these old strategies make sense.
before use each season.
n  Annual service should include cleaning and/
or replacing all filters; filters should also be cleaned
and/or replaced every month. Doing so allows We may have helped shovel snow, put up
HVAC units to run more efficiently, since air can storm windows, or open vents, but those acts
pass more freely through the systems. The added
do not constitute knowledge of a building.
bonus of clean filters is less dust particles blowing
through the environment—less allergens and
dirt.
n  Your HVAC professional will check all components Lesson 1: East, west, north, south—
of your system and guarantee that all settings are for and what that means
maximum energy savings. Look at your building. Orient yourself with the equator.
april 2009

Start using the terms north, south, east, and west to iden-
6. Unless you are taking showers or doing tify the geography of your facility. Using these directional
laundry at your library, consider turning the terms is the first step in understanding exactly how your
Photo: Field Paoli Architects

hot-water tank temperature down to 105.

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building is impacted by its location on the horizon.

american libraries 

n  The belief about hand- washing used to be the hotter During the winter months, the sun travels closer to the
the water the better, but the FDA recently changed the horizon or at a lower angle to your building. This means
recommended temperature from 120 to 105F degrees, as that sun coming in the south windows of your building can
researchers discovered that higher temperatures did not provide a significant solar heat gain. On sunny winter days,
improve the efficacy of hand- washing. In fact, it was found open those southern window treatments and let the heat
57
 stream in. Keep your window treatments closed on the inside temperature of your building and the outside tem-
north, east, and west sides of your building since there is perature of the neighborhood. Convection goes hand-in
no opportunity for this heat gain. -hand with the stack effect, which involves how your
In summer, morning sun saturates the east side of your building responds to the varying temperatures and how it
building, adding a significant amount of heat. The same interacts with your mechanical ventilation system. Your
thing happens on the west side late in the day. Ideally, building is waging a constant battle between hot and cold
there are shade trees or exterior awnings to help alleviate air, and who wins the battle depends on the inside/outside
some of the solar heat gain; if not, keep your window temperature and the presence of leaks that allow one
treatments closed to block some of this heat. Since the force an advantage over another.
sun is at its highest during the summer, solar heat gain To better understand this concept, let us assume that
through southern windows is minimal, so you can again our buildings are permeable vessels that contain 100
use these windows to let natural light in without significant pounds of air. If the temperature outside is 65 degrees and
heat gain. the temperature inside is 65 degrees, the difference is
Hint: It is easier to communicate with contractors in zero. This means your building is under a constant pres-
these terms rather than using the names of the rooms sure and the vessel remains filled with 100 pounds of air
within your building. “The windows in the Spectacular that is 65 degrees. During winter, the inside of your build-
Room need to be caulked” leaves the contractor stymied ing is 65 degrees and the outside temperature is 10 degrees.
about where the job needs to be done. Specifying “the The difference between the two temperatures is 55 degrees,
northeast corner of the building” assures an immediate and this difference causes an increase in pressure in your
understanding. building; so the cold air in the lower levels of your build-
ing has more influence than the hot air and pushes the hot
Lesson 2: Heat transfer air up and out through your attic and roof. So the 100
Heat transfer is simply the movement of heat in your build- pounds of air is made up of more cold air than hot, and
ing. In winter, heat moves from indoors to outdoors. In your furnace works overtime to heat the cold air.
summer, heat moves from outdoors to indoors. There are During the summer, the inside temperature of your
three mechanisms by which heat transfer occurs: conduc- air-conditioned building is 75 degrees and the outside
tion, convection, and radiation. temperature is 95 degrees. The difference between these
Conduction is the process by which heat is directly two temperatures is negative 20 degrees. This means your
transmitted through a substance when there is a difference building is in a state of low pressure, and the superheated
of temperature between adjoining regions, without move- air from your attic is drawn down by the cool air in your
ment of the materials. lower levels, displacing the cool air that leaks out through
That heat rises is not exactly accurate. Heat flows through the openings of the lower levels. In this case, the 100
solid materials toward the cold in every direction. Insulation pounds of air in your building is made up of more hot air
helps stem the effects of conduction, or what is called con- than cool, so your air conditioners must work harder,
ductive heat loss. trying to cool the hot air that is being pulled down through
How air moves through your building is called convec- your building.
tion. Think of convection as an interaction between the Radiation is the third force acting on your building.
Radiation is the direct transfer of energy between two
points. During the winter, radiation or solar or thermal
Expansive window heat coming through your southern windows warms
walls draw light at the room and feels good, while in the summer the thermal
the Belmont (Calif.)
Library, which was heat that comes through your window is more intense.
designed to wrap A basic understanding of the forces acting on your
around a grove of
heritage oak trees. building can help you make simple and inexpensive
april 2009

changes that will save money and energy.  z

LYNN M. PIOTROWICZ, director of the

Tucker Free Library in Henniker, New
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Photo: Field Paoli Architects

Hampshire, has been a librarian in old

american libraries 

buildings for 17 years. She has a BA in

psychology, an MA in organizational
psychology, and an MLS from the University
of Pittsburgh. SCOTT OSGOOD is a civil
engineer with over 30 years in the building
construction industry. He is director of facilities and capital projects for
the seven-campus Community College System of New Hampshire. Their
book, Building Rescue, will be published by ALA Editions in 2010.
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