Waverley Mansion - Building Test Results

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Vital Signs Project: Waverley Mansion

(Background) (Methodology) (Building Results) (Model Results) (Conclusion) (References).

Building Test Results

Temperature readings were taken on and between all floors every 30 minutes from 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M. The average outside temperature was measured to be 65.8 deg F. The average temperatures vertically through the atrium are shown below.

Floor	Temperature (deg F)
4th floor (cupola)	67.9
	67.0
3rd floor	66.8
	66.9
2nd floor	66.8
	66.5
1st floor	66.3

Results from the air motion testing are provided in the table below and in Figure 11 below. Figure 11 emphasizes the results of condition three because it as the test to which the most time was devoted. The results are based on observation, not measurements. The table and figure provide the best average results; i.e. a pinwheel said to have spun continuously might only have spun 90% of the testing time. The colors used in Figure 11 do not correspond to actual rotational speeds of the pinwheels; instead, they show how pinwheel rotation compared from floor to floor and test to test. The yellow color can best be described as representing the amount of air flow past a person walking at a moderate pace on a still day. Pinwheel activity labeled as green is shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Moderate Pinwheel Speed.

1.	12:00 P.M. (Fig.11.b)	All windows, doors, and transoms to the outside were closed. Inside doors remained open.	Air motion on each level was slight. All pinwheels were usually still. When air currents did cause a pinwheel to move, it could be on any floor.
2.	12:30 P.M. (Fig.11.c)	The southern door on the first floor was opened, as were all inside doors. Other windows, doors, and transoms remained closed.	Air motion increased considerably. The pinwheels on the second floor spun all of the time. About half of the pinwheels on the third floor spun regularly, although with generally less speed than those on the second floor. There was only slight pinwheel activity on the fourth floor.
3.	1:00 P.M. (Fig.11.a)	All operable windows, doors, and transoms were opened.	The most air motion of the day was seen on the fourth floor; some pinwheels where lifted from their vertical hanging positions to horizontal positions. Air motion on the first floor was continuous while only about half of the pinwheels on the second floor spun at any given time. Activity on the third floor was noticeably less than on the second floor.
4.	4:00 P.M. (Fig.11.d)	Only the operable cupola windows were opened. Inside doors were closed.	Activity on the fourth floor lessened from condition three; although, the air motion was still fast and continuous. Movement on the third floor increased, while movement on the second floor decreased.

Figure 11: Results of Air Motion Tests Conducted at Waverley.

Figure 12: Electric Light in Atrium.

Conclusions

The temperature data shows that hot air is rising in the 52 foot tall atrium space. Between the second and third floors, the temperature measurements rose and then fell again. This contradicts what was expected, but does not invalidate the data. The most likely cause of this "hot spot" is the electric light which hangs in middle of the atrium at the second floor level (Fig.12).

The average relative humidity indoors and outdoors are almost the same. At 1:00 P.M., relative humidity outside equaled relative humidity inside. By 4:00 P.M, humidity inside was 1% less than humidity outside. This suggests that the increased ventilation somehow reduced the amount of moisture within the house.

The air motion tests conducted under conditions one, two, and four yielded expected results. When there were no openings in the buiding's envelope, there was no air movement. When windows and doors were opened at the top or bottom, the most motion occurred nearest the opening. What was not expected was the slow air movement on the third floor during condition three testing. In fact, if the air was moving vertically due to thermal buoyancy, as was hypothesized, there should be more activity on the third floor because there were no openings to outside through which it could escape. Based on the results of all four test conditions, it was concluded that cross ventilation played a larger roll in passively cooling Waverley than did stack effect.

Comments to author: vitalsigns@
ced.berkeley.edu

Created: 04/08/97
Revised: 09/09/02

VITAL SIGNS
http://www-archfp.ced.berkeley.edu/vitalsigns/workup/waverly/waver_result1.html