Building Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Building Services - Essay Example Thermal: If rooms are too hot or too cold the occupants obviously feel uncomfortable and their performance efficiencies are diminished. Excessive cold or heat may also create health problems. Since all the rooms have controlled mechanical ventilation systems it is advisable that, if the climate is too cold, a heat recovery system be installed. Convectional loss can be reduced by having windows with glass panes so that heat loss is contained while natural lighting is made available. The rooms should also be otherwise airtight and the fenestration performance of the building envelope should also be highly efficient. Air change per hr at 0.25 cfm/sq ft of building envelope measured at 50 Pascal is recommended for the building envelope to assure comfortable indoor thermal ambiences. Visual: Inadequate lighting may create eye problems over extended periods of time and headaches and visual problems over shorter ones. Natural lighting of spaces, as for the rooms with external walls, should be considered prior to specifying electric illumination systems. Acoustics: Noise is specifically the most distracting influence on occupants. It can cause undue stress and loss of performance efficiency, especially in a delicate learning environment like the lecture room. The general office will also be susceptible to high noise levels. Noise irritates in two ways - it impairs hearing and it deprives of speech privacy. The second is more irritating than the former. The following ways can reduce noise pollution, specifically in relation to the lecture and general office rooms: Maximum unoccupied noise levels should be kept down to 45 dBA. 0.6 sec reverberation time maximum for unoccupied areas should be maintained. Exterior noises from sources like