Retrofit of a Multifamily Mass Masonry Building in New England

Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity (MVHfH) has partnered with Building Science Corporation to provide high performance affordable housing for 10 families in the retrofit of an existing brick building (a former convent) into condominiums. The research performed for this project provides information regarding advanced retrofit packages for multi-family masonry buildings in Cold climates. In particular, this project demonstrates safe, durable, and cost-effective solutions that will potentially benefit millions of multi-family brick buildings throughout the East Coast and Midwest (Cold climates). The retrofit packages provide insight on the opportunities for and constraints on retrofitting multifamily buildings with ambitious energy performance goals but a limited budget. The condominium conversion project will contribute to several areas of research on enclosures, space conditioning, and water heating. Enclosure items include insulation of mass masonry building on the interior, airtightness of these types of retrofits, multi-unit building compartmentalization, window selection, and roof insulation strategies. Mechanical system items include combined hydronic and space heating systems with hydronic distribution in small (low load) units, and ventilation system retrofits for multifamily buildings

Byggmeister Test Home: Cold Climate Multifamily Masonry Building Condition Assessment and Retrofit Analysis

This report describes a retrofit project undertaken by Building Science Corporation and partner Byggmeister on a multifamily brick row house located in Jamaica Plain, MA. This project studied the row house to determine the right combination of energy efficiency measures that are feasible, affordable, and suitable for this type of construction and acceptable to homeowners

Digital billboards dynamic luminance measurements

In the opinion of the drivers, digital billboards and telebims are a potential threat to road traffic. Multimedia content with dynamically changing luminance level over time is often presented on emission media. The problem was highlighted when trying to regulate the requirements for dynamic media in law. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Development is in the process of drafting regulations aimed at limiting the emission parameters of light commercials used in the road environment. The limitation is to apply to the maximum luminance parameters emitted during the daylight and night, with the limitation to the built-up area and outside the built-up area. It is also proposed to limit the switching time of the image sequence and its luminance level. In the article have been describe the test procedure with presented sample measurement results. The object of research was medium-size advertising, where the illuminating surface was made with the use of semiconductor LED light sources. Obtained results undoubtedly indicate that there is a problem with measuring the parameters of advertising luminance with dynamically changing content

Lighting design ofpedestrian crossings

Oświetlenie przejść dla pieszych stanowi istotny element infrastruktury drogowej. Prawidłowo dobrane warunki oświetleniowe wpływają na poprawę widzialności sylwetki pieszego na przejściu dla pieszych, a w efekcie na poprawę poziomu bezpieczeństwa ruchu drogowego. Wybór odpowiedniego systemu oświetlenia instalowanego na przejściu dla pieszych odgrywa kluczową rolę w zapewnieniu właściwych warunków oświetleniowych wszystkim uczestnikom ruchu drogowego. Wiedza dotycząca istniejących warunków oświetleniowych w obszarze przejścia dla pieszych oraz właściwościach fotometrycznych danej oprawy może przyczynić się do zastosowana optymalnego rozwiązania. W artykule przedstawiono procedurę projektowania oświetlenia przejść dla pieszych. Zaprezentowane rozwiązanie spełnia wymagania fotometryczne i zapewnia prawidłowe warunki widoczności w porze nocnej.Lighting of pedestrian crossings is an important element of road infrastructure. Properly matched lighting conditions influence the improvement of visibility silhouette of a pedestrian at pedestrian crossing, and as a result to improve the level of road safety. Selecting the right lighting system installed at a pedestrian crossing plays a vital role in ensuring the appropriate lighting conditions for all road users. Knowledge about existing lighting conditions in the area of pedestrian crossings and photometric properties of the luminaire can contribute to apply the optimal solution. The article presents the design procedure of lighting pedestrian crossing. The solution complies with photometric requirements and ensure the proper conditions for visibility at night

Digital billboards dynamic luminance measurements

In the opinion of the drivers, digital billboards and telebims are a potential threat to road traffic. Multimedia content with dynamically changing luminance level over time is often presented on emission media. The problem was highlighted when trying to regulate the requirements for dynamic media in law. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Development is in the process of drafting regulations aimed at limiting the emission parameters of light commercials used in the road environment. The limitation is to apply to the maximum luminance parameters emitted during the daylight and night, with the limitation to the built-up area and outside the built-up area. It is also proposed to limit the switching time of the image sequence and its luminance level. In the article have been describe the test procedure with presented sample measurement results. The object of research was medium-size advertising, where the illuminating surface was made with the use of semiconductor LED light sources. Obtained results undoubtedly indicate that there is a problem with measuring the parameters of advertising luminance with dynamically changing content

Byggmeister Test Home: Cold Climate Multifamily Masonry Building Condition Assessment and Retrofit Analysis

This report describes a retrofit project undertaken by Building Science Corporation and partner Byggmeister on a multifamily brick row house located in Jamaica Plain, MA. This project studied the row house to determine the right combination of energy efficiency measures that are feasible, affordable, and suitable for this type of construction and acceptable to homeowners

Retrofit of a Multifamily Mass Masonry Building in New England

Merrimack Valley Habitat for Humanity (MVHfH) has partnered with Building Science Corporation to provide high performance affordable housing for 10 families in the retrofit of an existing brick building (a former convent) into condominiums. The research performed for this project provides information regarding advanced retrofit packages for multi-family masonry buildings in Cold climates. In particular, this project demonstrates safe, durable, and cost-effective solutions that will potentially benefit millions of multi-family brick buildings throughout the East Coast and Midwest (Cold climates). The retrofit packages provide insight on the opportunities for and constraints on retrofitting multifamily buildings with ambitious energy performance goals but a limited budget. The condominium conversion project will contribute to several areas of research on enclosures, space conditioning, and water heating. Enclosure items include insulation of mass masonry building on the interior, airtightness of these types of retrofits, multi-unit building compartmentalization, window selection, and roof insulation strategies. Mechanical system items include combined hydronic and space heating systems with hydronic distribution in small (low load) units, and ventilation system retrofits for multifamily buildings