Architectural Science

(HVAC)

Basic Thermal Concepts

 Intro to Architectural Sciences
 The story shaping the future of architecture is
sustainability
 Critical factors for the study of architectural
science:
 Cost
 Resource
 Energy
 Environment
 Efficiency / Productivity
 Cont.
 One of the vital needs human beings
constructed a shelter is comfort.
 Comfort is concerned with: personal factors,
health and wellbeing, thermal relief, indoor
air quality, Visual aspects, noise nuisance,
ergonomics etc.
 Earlier, energy for heating and cooling was
less expensive
 Cont.
In cold climates people use layers of clothing
and heating mechanisms like fire places and
heating devices.
Whereas in hot climates people preferred
outdoor spaces or mechanical cooling
implements.
Energy, Limited Resources, Efficiency and
Sustainability are pressing issues of our time.
 Cont.
 Architectural thermal design is concerned with the
heat transfer processes that take place:
Within a building, and
Between the building and its surroundings and the
external climate
 Thermal design therefore includes consideration
of:
 Climate
 Building form and fabric
 Building environmental services, and
 Occupants and processes contained within the building.
 Heat and temperature
 Heat: is a form of energy, contained in substances
as molecular motion or appearing as
electromagnetic radiation in space.
 Temperature (T) is the symptom of the presence of
heat in a substance.
 Specific Heat (Cp): provides the relation between
heat and temperature
 Specific Heat is the ratio of the thermal capacity of a
substance to the thermal capacity of water.
 It is the quantity of heat required to elevate the
temperature of unit mass of a substance by one degree,
thus it is measured in units of J/kg.K
 Cont.
 Water has the highest
Specific Heat value of all
common substances:
4176 J/kg.K. (1.00
Btu/lb.˚F)
 Masonry materials
(brick, concrete) have
relatively higher Specific
Heat value than metals.
 Higher specific heat of a
substance refers higher
thermal capacity.
 Cont.
 Sensible Heat (Q): Type of heat can be measured by a thermometer
or felt by our skin. It is associated with a change in temperature of a
substance.
 When heat energy is added to or taken away from a substance,
the resulting changes in temperature can be detected by the
sense of touch, or sensibly.
 Heat loss from skin or clothing through convection and
radiation, respiration
 The quantity of sensible heat energy can obtained from:
Q = MCp (t2-t1)
Q: sensible heat, M: mass, Cp: specific heat, (t2-t1): changes in
T˚
 The sensible heat of a substance is associated with a sensible
change in temperature.
 Cont.
 Latent Heat: is heat associated with the change of state
(phase) of a substance, e.g. from a solid to a liquid (ice to
water) or from a liquid to a gas (water to steam vapor)
 Latent heat taken up or released at a fixed temperature
during a change of phase e.g. from liquid to gas
 Evaporation of sweat
 Evaporation of moisture during respiration
 In other words it’s amount of heat (energy) absorbed by
unit mass of the substance at change of state without any
change in temperature. It is measured in J/kg
 Conversely at a change of state in the reverse direction the
same amount of heat is released. This heat removal and
change of state is called Condensation.
 Cont.
 Total Heat (Enthalpy): Sum of the sensible and
latent heat in a substance above an arbitrary
datum, usually 32˚F or 0˚C.
 It is also equivalent to the sum of its internal
energy plus its ability or capacity to perform
work:
 PV/J, where P: pressure of the substance, V: volume,
and J: mechanical equivalent of heat
 Specific enthalpy is the heat per unit of weight, in
J/kg or Btu/lb
 Heat transfer
 Heat flow from a high to a low temperature zone can
take place in three forms:
Conduction, Convection, and Radiation.
 The magnitude of such heat flow can be measured in
two ways:
1. Heat Flow Rate /Heat Flux/ (Q):
The total flow per unit time through a defined area or
within a defined system,(in J/s or W). (other rates as
horse power & kW)
2. Heat Flux Density:
The rate of heat flow through unit area of a body or
space, in W/m2 or KW/m2.
 Cont.
 Thermodynamics is the science of the flow of heat and
of its relationship to mechanical work.
1. The first law of thermodynamics is the principle of
conservation of energy. Energy cannot be created nor
destroyed (except in subatomic processes), but only
converted from one form to another.
2. The second law of thermodynamics states that heat
(or energy) transfer can take place spontaneously in
one direction only: from a hotter to a cooler body
 Cont.
A. Conduction
 Within bodies in contact, by the ‘spread’ of molecular
movement
 Conduction is dependent on the conductivity of the
material
 Conductivity(λ) measures the heat flow density (W/m2) in a
1m long thick body
 Materials with fibrous or porous structure are less
conductive but very sensitive to moisture content
 The corresponding conductive property of a physical body
(e.g. a wall) is the Conductance (C) where its opposite
property is Resistance (R).
Cont.
 Cont.
B. Convection
 The transport of heat from one surface to another by a moving
fluid (air or water) which, briefly speaking, is ‘a mass transfer’
 Convection could be natural or forced
 The magnitude of convection heat flow rate depends on:
i. Area of contact (A in m²) between the body and the fluid
ii. The difference in temperature (∆T, in K) between the surface
of the body and the fluid
iii. Convection coefficient (hc) measured in W/m2K.
 Thus the heat transfer by convection,
Q=A×hc×∆T (in watts,W)
 Cont.
C. Radiation
 Transfers heat in a wave form from a warmer body surface
to a cooler body.
 The transfer occurs independently of any material between
the two bodies.
 Thermal radiation is a wavelength band of electromagnetic
radiation. The temperature of the emitting body
determines the wavelength.
 Interception of this long wave by solid matter will convert
the radiant energy back to heat energy.
 The sun is a huge radiator heating the earth.
 All materials radiate and absorb radiation energy in
different levels
 Cont.
 Black or dark-body materials absorb more energy
better than light colored or shiny materials.
 Rough textured surfaces are more absorbers of
radiation
energy than smooth & shiny metallic surfaces
 Materials with lower absorbance values are called
reflective
 Glass is relatively transparent to short-wave radiation
while opaque to long-wave radiation. More hotter
bodies emit rays of shorter wavelength.
 Cont.
Radiation can transfer heat in
two forms:
 Absorption followed by
Conduction/Convection/
Radiation
 Transmission of radiant energy
 Cont.
Cooling by Evaporation
 If there is no external source of heat, and evaporation
occurs, then water itself is providing necessary heat of
vaporization.
 In other words a portion of the sensible heat in the liquid
will be converted into the latent heat of vaporization.
 As a result, the temperature of the liquid remaining will
drop.
 This cooling with no external heat added or removed by the
process of evaporation, is called Adiabatic cooling.
 Cont.
Heating by Condensation
 When a volume of moist air is cooled some of the
moisture condenses and appears as a liquid.
 If no heat is removed by the condensation, then the
latent heat of vaporization of the water vapor will be
converted to sensible heat in the air, with a resultant
rise in temperature.
 Thus, an increase in temperature is often accomplished
by the formation of fog, e.g. when rain or snow begins
to fall.
Cont.
Cont.
 Cont.
Heat transfer and thermal comfort
1. Thermal radiation
2. Air temperature
3. Humidity
4. Air movement
5. Thermal properties of surfaces
contacted by the body

As shown : When the floor surface is heated by the sun, it

warms the air above itself, radiates heat to the human
body, and conducts heat to the human foot that
contacts it. The warmed air rises above the
surrounding air, creating a convective circulation, and
the air’s relative humidity is reduced as its
temperature is raised.
Heat flow is quantified by:
Qi = Internal heat gain
Qc = Conduction heat gain or heat loss
Qs = Solar heat gain
Qv = Ventilation heat gain or heat loss
Qm = Mechanical heating or cooling
Qe = Latent heat gain or loss
Qi + Qc + Qs + Qv + Qm + Qe = 0