Poplar Forest's underground fiberglass resin ducts were not quite connected to
the basement as of July 31, 2000. I guess the tubing running between the floor
framing for the heating system seemed mostly installed. I'm sure the Arch and ME
had fun coming up with the design. Personally, I was not pleasantly surprised at
what I saw but have not heard all of the logic behind the technology and the
installation. Bill can you tell us more or would is there a paper/report
available from Travis McDonald?

Inquisitive minds are asking, why?

Bryan
===

"William B. Rose" wrote:

> Yeah, yeah, I'm back one day from vacation and I have to de-lurk. Jeez.
>
> We're having trouble in ASHRAE cultivating good preservation MEs, and it's
> worse down south. There are about 4000 pages in the ASHRAE handbooks, and
> the first mention of "historic buildings" appeared in the 1999 version of
> Chapter 20 of the Handbook of Applications, on "Museums, Libraries and
> Archive Buildings".
>
> A year ago I reviewed an A/C design for Poplar Forest in Lynchburg VA.
> They're rebuilding the home to the way it was described in Jefferson's
> 1820s corespondence. No pipes, no wires, no ducts, no noise. They did an
> excellent job of rainwater evacuation away from the all-brick foundation,
> which is the key to what follows. The board decided they wanted heat. The
> preservation architect noted that the joists in the basement had had
> nogging, so they decided to build a vault 400 ft from the site, install a
> ground-loop heat pump, and circulate warm water through PEX piping under
> the floor. That was being installed when I was there. Then the board
> decided they wanted air conditioning. The architect and ME put their heads
> together and came up with what I thought was an ingenious plan, with a good
> chance of working. The building itself, with overhangs, shutters, opening
> and closing of windows, does a good job of sensible temperature reduction.
> They decided to run some fiberglass resin ducts below grade from the vault
> to two hidden spots in the basement floor. Then they do some serious
> dehumidification at the vault and send the air below grade into the
> basement. The low dew point in the supply air keeps mold from forming in
> the ducts, plus they're inspectable and cleanable. The exposed brickwork in
> the basement becomes a sort of dryness sink for the house. I have no
> updates, and I don't know if the system was installed for this summer. When
> it is installed, or when something is installed, I know they plan to
> experiment with manipulating all of the elements--windows, a fan,
> dehumidification--for different weather, and rely heavily on the staff to
> work the system. I'd give you the names of the the architect and the ME,
> but I don't have them in the office here.
>
> In general, step one seems to be to keep the foundation dry. Step two is
> allow the indoor temperature to float upwards in warm weather--good for the
> building and the artifacts, uncomfortable for regular occupants. Step 3 is
> dehumidification. The only damage I've seen done by air conditioning in
> historic buildings is done by the installation of air conditioning
> equipment. (Mt. Vernon) There's mold that grows on overly-chilled surfaces,
> but can't say I've seen that on old buildings with air conditioning.
>
> Bill Rose
> >
> >Can you recommend any preservation minded HVAC contractors and engineers in
> >the southeast?
> >
> >Also, I am looking for a project to hold up as an example of an historic
> >building in the south that has delt (successfully or unseccessfully) with
> >the installation of air-conditioning.
> >
> >Thanks for your help.
> >
> >John Leeke, Preservation Consultant
> >
> >mail: 26 Higgins St., Portland, ME, 04013, USA
> >Phone: 01-207-773-2306
> >email: [log in to unmask]
> >website: www.HistoricHomeWorks.com
> >
> >