THERMAL ANALYSIS OF THE AQUATIC AND FITNESS CENTER - AQUATIC VENUE
Eighteen students, who were enrolled in their first Environmental Systems
Control course, participated in the instrumentation, data analysis, and
construction materials investigations required in this study. The
faculty advisor was Donald
E. Dougald.
ABSTRACT
Completed in mid-1996, the Aquatic and Fitness Center is host to a variety of activities that include recreational and competitive swimming, exercise and fitness, social, and administrative. This case study focused on environmental performance issues of the aquatic wing - a 120’ x 253’ space that contains a 50 meter pool and three therapy pools. Although the air mass in the pool area is laden with water vapor, there has been no observed condensation forming on the inside surfaces of the building envelope through the first winter season.
The intent of the student investigations was to determine how the interrelated
performances of the mechanical system air supply and building envelope
materials created a successful solution. Fourteen HOBO data loggers
were placed at selected locations to continuously monitor dry bulb temperature,
relative humidity, dew point temperature, and absolute humidity over a
four week period during the winter, 1998. The recorded water vapor
conditions and thermal profiles of the internal and external environments
provided the basis for analyzing the envelope material assemblies.
These analyses confirmed the successful design integration decisions,
as intended by the architects and engineers.