BE134_09-10.doc.docVIP

s School of Environment and Technology Semester 1 Examinations 2009 - 2010 BE134 INDOOR ENVIRONMENT AND BUILDING SERVICES 1 Instructions to candidates Time allowed: TWO hours Answer any FOUR questions Each question carries 25 marks. June 2010, 2 hours Question 1 (a) The human body maintains itself in thermal equilibrium through a combination of conductive, convective, radiant and evaporative heat exchange with its surroundings. Discuss how these four modes of heat transfer are affected by conditions in the room. (10 marks) (b) Identify the units used to quantify the subjective parameters of clothing and activity of building occupants and discuss their impact on thermal comfort. (8 marks) (c) Define ‘dry resultant temperature’ and describe why it is a useful measure of thermal comfort. (7 marks) Question 2 (a) The external wall of a house is constructed from 125mm brick, 170mm Glasswool insulation, 150mm block and 15mm of lightweight plaster. Calculate the overall thermal transmittance (U value) of this wall and discuss its thermal performance with respect to current building standards. (12 marks) Material Conductivity (W/mK) Brick 0.84 Glasswool insulation 0.04 Blockwork 0.19 Lightweight Plaster 0.16 Surface Resistances m2K/W Internal 0.12 External 0.06 Table 2.1 Thermal properties of materials (b) Determine the thickness of Glasswool insulation required to meet a target U-value of 0.15 W/m2K. (8 marks) (c) Define the terms ‘fabric heat loss’ and ‘ventilation heat loss’ and describe the process of calculating the steady state heat loss of a building. (5 marks) Question 3 (a) Discuss the differences between dB and dBA as used in environmental noise monitoring. (7 marks) (b) Calculate, using table 3.2 or otherwise, the sound pressure level in dBA of a noise with the analysis shown in table 3.1. Centre frequency in Hz 12.5 63 125 250 500 1000 2000 6000 SPL in dB 58 60 65 68 67 70 63 61 Table 3.1 Table 3.2 (6 marks) (c) Describe w