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Forums > Green Building Technologies > Windows/Doors and Interior/Exterior Finish > Subject: Engineering Project

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RAWRUser is Offline
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Posts:1
09/25/2008 1:46 PM  

Hello,

    I am currently taking an engineering class and am in my senior year of high school.  I, along with two other students, am designing a device to quickly and easily open and close house windows.  In order to do so, we need to know which type(s) of windows are most common in people’s homes.  Here is our survey (only 4 questions). My group and I would greatly appreciate any feedback that you can give us. Thank You

 

1.     What type of windows do you have in your house/place of business?

                                                                                            Sliding

      Hopper                                                            Open by sliding one sash          

Has a hinge at the bottom                                     horizontally past the other.

and opens outward.                                                                             

 

Casement                              

                                                Has a hinge at the side

            and cranks out to open.

                                                (Double or Single)

 

 

Double or Single-Hung

Open by sliding one sash                                   Awning                                    Center Pivot

vertically past another.                      Has a hinge at the top

                                                             and opens outward.

                                                 

2. Do you have double pane or single pane windows?

         

Circle one:                      Single                 Double

 

3. Do you find quickly opening and closing multiple windows a problem?

 Ex. If it starts Raining, or if you must leave your house in a hurry

 

4. Would you be interested in an application for your windows that would open or close them quickly at the push of a button?

a.      Ex. If the house was on Fire or other kinds of emergencies

Bruce FreyUser is Offline
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09/28/2008 4:40 AM  
Good luck with your project!  From a personal use standpoint, opening and closing windows are not a problem because, due to my wife's allergies, we almost never open them.  Operators would be useful for skylights or clerestory window applications that are hard to reach.

If you do not know of them, you should check out this website http://www.somfy.com/nam/index.cfm and get their Commercial Building Brochure.  There is a section about window operators.

I work for a commercial real estate developer and we use operable windows in many of our European office projects because the local markets want them (this is largely cultural).  My personal opinion is that the only HVAC systems many Europeans are familiar with are old and so bad that operable windows are really needed.  Good HVAC in modern office buildings may change their habits over time (we are seeing this trend).

Operable windows present a challenge for commercial building air conditioning systems and it is desireable to shut down the HVAC in an area where a window has been opened to prevent condensation and excess energy use.  Depending on the type of HVAC system, this can be easy or hard.  Operable windows also have much higher air infiltration/exfiltration rates than fixed windows.

An open window can cause water damage if it rains and in the winter could cause a frozen sprinkler head.  An open window can also create a stack effect problem in the winter in a tall building.  Accordingly, window operators with both local and "global" controls that are interlocked to the HVAC system are the best way to go.  All of this is really expensive.  We have also done manually opening windows where the cleaning crew that comes in at the end of the day checks for open windows.

The types of windows that work best with operators are "awning," "hopper" and "casement" types.  In offices we limit the opening range to a few inches for safety reasons.  Sliding windows are a bit harder to do, although we have done some odd custom applications.

Again, good luck.

Bruce
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