Book Description

Observations were made of the thermal environment in the basement portion of a box shaped reinforced concrete 200 person shelter when the shelter was supplied with a minimum quantity of ventilation air. Also, an evaluation was made of the distribution of the ventilation air in the shelter as measured by variations in effective temperature, when the air was supplied through a duct system and through a single point source. Ventilation air conditioned to simulate a 1% design day in the Washington, D.C. area (i.e. air at dry bulb and wet bulb temperatures which will not be exceeded more than 1% of the time), was supplied to the shelter area tested. Approximately 100 simulated occupants were placed in the shelter basement to generate the same amount of heat and moisture as 100 human occupants. When conditioned air was supplied at a minimum rate of 3 cfm per person, effective temperatures as high as 90 deg were attained and maintained within the shelter. Based on current standards for the thermal environment in shelters, it is concluded that a minimum ventilation rate of 3 cfm is not adequate for cooling this shelter space.