Skip to main content

Window Pain

At just another regular day of meetings at school district office, I (Ellen) just had to laugh.  Even with well-informed architects in the building, there was one room with the heater on and another room with the door open and the air conditioner pumping away.  Yap, we have a problem. 

It brought flashbacks to a day I met with the facilities staff at a school district. They told me, in no uncertain terms, there will be no operable windows in the District. What no operable windows?!? We are in California.  Fall, spring and lately half of winter, big savings could come from using what Mother Nature is providing by opening a window. 

They added, not so jokingly, if only we could control the doors too.

At the time I was beside myself.  Today, however, on some level, I understand. This is not the first meeting I have been in where doors and windows are open with the air conditioner on and it is hotter outside than in.  Still, I don’t think total crackdown is the best answer.  Apparently Education does not help much, considering that the architects in the room contribute to the issue.  

An answer may be two fold.  

First, don’t take away the ability to use passive ventilation. Instead advance it with windows and ceiling fans and other means of air circulation.  Educate the students and the teachers on how it works. If the students understand they will make good choices. In turn, we prepare the next generation to be energy aware.   

Second, give everyone the tools to understand the implications of “all systems on” and include them in the curriculum as a “real life” lesson. Tools may include:
  • Inside and outside thermometers
  • Technology that shuts off conditioning or heating when windows and doors are open
  • Real time energy usage meters that can be seen by users, graphed over time and detailed to show costs of energy
  • Create room and building envelope diagrams to show heat transfer and the effects of an open door or window


So what is the policy in your District about opening windows? Do you have any innovated ways of providing natural venation? 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Define: Facility Needs

Getting bogged down by the jargon on 21 st century learning? You are not the only one.  One of my first tasks in starting a relationship with a District is discovering the District’s terminology for departments and special programs.  Special education is always an area where terms like Special Day Class can mean a whole host of different things and require different type of spaces.  Different approaches to learning and the world of technology have exploded the learning vocabulary to the point there needs to be a dictionary.   A Dictionary For 21st Century Teachers: Learning Models & Technology Creating common language is key to making any organization work.   One of the unsung heroes of a facilities master plan is the cross pollination of jargon, philosophy and purpose different departments have in an organization and how they affect the final environment.    Teachers will ask why they can’t paint their classroom a different color and the...

Changing an Icon

Changing an Icon I draw. Little doddles cover cards and note pads at large and small gatherings. It was a note taking technique I was taught and gratefully adopted early in my career. The reason, beyond my lack of spelling talent, is really to distill the spoken word into the most basic pictorial concept because when gathering information from so many, it needs to be contained and expressed in the most condensed form. The smallness allows all input to be displayed at once. Most of the drawings are well accepted icons to today’s texters, our culture’s emogies. These symbols hold strong association. A “house” is often drawn with gable roof and two symmetrical windows on either side of the door in the middle. We faithfully hold that image in our head even though very few, if any, have ever lived in a house that looks like the icon. We have many of these connections imprinted on our brains. Think of trains, building types, flowers and genders, which all have the easy mental imag...

Why is it designed that way?

Why is it designed that way?  It can be a common question when touring facilities on assessment or in a recent case during an interview. Still I wonder why more people do not ask that question on a day to day basis.  I do.  It is common fascination when touring facilities.  Looking a strange cabinetry and realizing the room was originally for a sewing class or once in Mexico, showing a whole group of guys that you need to pull a pin out to release the spare tire from under our stuck vehicle.  Designers normally do not place things willy nilly yet understanding the function of a design can be elusive.  No matter the effort in programing and design, new users are always present for when the building opens, who don’t know why decisions were made on the placement of switches and amenities or arrangement of spaces.  On the operational side, including servicing heating and air conditioning and cleaning finishes, there are manuals that are created, but,...