In 1974, when I first entered the building controls business, electronic hardware was more costly than the labor to install it. Here, 34 years later, that comparison inverts – installation is more costly than the hardware. Emerging wireless technologies now eliminate network cabling. We will always have localized wiring between controllers, sensors and actuators.
Rockwall Controls uses and has used a variety of wireless technologies. In the late ‘80’s we installed and service power-line carrier technology by Honeywell, that is until the advent of electronic fluorescent ballasts. Non-linear loads, like electronic ballasts, introduce harmonics that easily defeat older power-line carrier products.
Anytime one chooses to deploy wireless control systems, he/she must consider time - time to convert measured variables, time to process that variable and time to reposition a final control element (valve, damper, etc.). It is entirely possible to have all the pieces in place and be unable to achieve desired results due to latency in analog-to-digital (ADC) conversion, digital-to-analog (DAC) conversion and data transmission.
Over the last fifteen years, our choice for local control networks has been LonMark FTT-10 (EIA-709), a creation of the Echelon Corporation. Our real passion is open-systems protocols, better described as non-proprietary protocols like LonMark, BACnet and MODBUS. We are dispassionate about which open architecture we use, although LonMark products have the greatest global market share. Naturally, at the top of the heap is the IP network.
Products we successfully used recently for critical indoor climate control of a zoological facility are the 2.4 GHz Nico wireless temperature-relative humidity transmitters. Distance is the most important limitation. We could only separate transmitters from receivers a maximum thirty feet, but the receiver readily connects to an existing FTT-10 network. After several months of use in a hostile (humid, lizards) environment, they continue working reliably.
Until recently, long-range (> 5 miles) IP connectivity demanded costly (as in $20,000 per point) microwave equipment. Low-noise, low-cost IP microwave connectivity cost is now under $1,000 per point. Low-power equipment operates license-free and powers over Ethernet (POE) to simplify installation.
IP tunneling routers and switches have for some time encapsulated and transported low-level LonMark data over existing facility local area network cabling, thereby eliminating costly hard-wired networks. Nevertheless, it gets even better with the new Sedona FrameworkTM technology announced by Tridium May 19, 2008. Tridium plans to open-source the protocol and programming. Target markets are embedded appliance products. Hill-Rohm, the largest manufacturer of hospital beds, chose Tridium JACE controllers with Sedona FrameworkTM for its next generation bed products. Bed controllers wirelessly and automatically associate all manner of portable equipment (pumps, monitors, etc.) with the patient with the objective of improving nursing efficiency and accuracy. Because Sedona uses IP communications, data freely moves over the hospital network routers and switches without need for tunneling.
Showing posts with label energy management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy management. Show all posts
Monday, July 7, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Fulton Mansion - Advanced Construction in Early Texas
Brief History [frontal view]
Cattle baron, George W. Fulton constructed a Second Empire-style mansion in Rockport, Texas (USA) where it overlooks Aransas Bay (Gulf of Mexico). The Fultons constructed their mansion between 1874 and 1877. Following George’s death, his widow moved away. It served as private residence and restaurant until 1976 when the State of Texas purchased the property.
Mr. Fulton, a bridge engineer, worked under Roebling on the Brooklyn Bridge project.
The Texas Historical Commission owns and operates the site and offers guided and self-guided tours.
George and Harriet Fulton lavishly furnished the home with costly items. Although nothing of original materials remained when the State of Texas purchased the home, historians replicated furniture and other items from information gleaned from Harriet’s meticulous records and receipts. She retained receipts from all her purchases.
For its time, the house incorporated many interesting features. Pocket doors, gaslights, hot and cold running water, Coleman warm-air heating system and indoor flush toilets were unusual and advanced features uncommon for the age. Door hardware came from a friend who had a hardware store in Chicago.
Self-guided Tour
Welcome
Library
Parlor
Dining Room
Sitting Room
Holden Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Bathroom
Water System
Text on an information placard at the southwest corner
“Although the exact use of this room is unknown, it probably contained a pump mechanism for the water system in the house.
Rainwater collected from the roof was diverted into one of the large storage cisterns in the basement for wash water or into the outdoor cypress cistern, which stood on the circular foundation behind you. This cistern, containing layers of (oyster) shell, charcoal and sand, filtered the water into the second of the basement cisterns for drinking water. The two basement cisterns had a combined capacity of almost 16,000 gallons.
The filtered water was pumped from the basement to a small tank above the tower room. From there gravity provided pressure to supply water to the lavatories and toilets throughout the house. Water was also piped down to a heater attached to the cookstove in the kitchen and then back up to the bathrooms. Waste water ran down through a pipe next to the central vent shaft and out through the basement wall to a septic tank.” [Water System Diagram]
Waste Management
A septic system treated sewage. Technical information is unavailable.
Heating and Ventilation System
Text on an information placard at the southeast corner
“The fuel storage room is conveniently located across the hall from the furnace room. Wood or coal was loaded into this room to be stored until needed.
In the furnace room, air heated by the cast iron furnace rose into ducts and was carried throughout the house. Duct openings were set into the floor or in the mantelpieces resembling fireplaces in the rooms. The ventilation system within the rooms provided a draw to bring the heated air into each room. A duct on the north side of the house supplied fresh air to the heating chamber, and a separate chimney flue vented the combustion fumes from the furnace.”
Fulton constructed fireplaces of slate painted to appear like marble.
Oral history says W. C. Coleman, founder of the Coleman Company, Inc., designed and built this system. I cannot verify this fact. [Heating and Ventilation System Diagram]
Lighting System
Elegant gaslights provided illumination. A complex system used gaseous gasoline for power. [Lighting System Diagram]
Structural
Mr. Fulton, an engineer, used laminated pine boards for walls and floors. Anecdotal and credible history from a tour guide of a few years ago, said a ship from the bay, during a hurricane, struck the house. The collision purportedly destroyed the ship. When you see the diagram, you can readily appreciate the house’s structural strength.
Clever shutters, installed on the inside of windows, fold back into a “pocket” when not in use.
Architectural Drawings
Front View
Basement Floor Plan
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Third Floor Plan
Floor and Wall Construction
Botanical Features
During initial construction, building design called for an L-shaped porch wrapping from the front (east side) around to the south side. At some point in time, Harriet discovered conservatories and insisted George use the Southside leg of the porch as a conservatory. Flowering plants thrived in flowerpots suspended on ornate cast-iron hinged hangers. [Photographs: Interior Exterior]
A Wardian case set by a north-facing window of the second-floor sitting room served as a conversation piece. Dr. Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, a physician with a passion for botany, invented the case bearing his name. You will know the case as a terrarium. [Wikipedia link]
Modern Kitchen
The basement housed a modern kitchen, complete with evaporative cooling and dumb waiter that delivered food to a butler’s pantry behind the first-floor dining room.
Text from northeast window of kitchen
“This was the food preparation center for the mansion. Food cooked on the stove, which stood against the opposite wall, was taken to the serving pantry, the small room to the right. Here, a “dumb waiter” carried meals up to the dining room on the first floor.
Perishable foods were kept in the larder or milk room accessible through the doorway across the room. Protected from direct sunlight by the shaded breezeway, the larder caught the prevailing southeasterly breezes.
Concrete troughs, with circulating water, lined the walls of the larder. Large crocks and bowls holding perishable items were placed in the water and covered with damp cloth. Meat hung from the ceiling was also covered by damp cloth. The breezes evaporated the water, keeping the air and the food cool.”
Summary
The Fulton Mansion compares to contemporary LEEDS projects, with respect to water system, HVAC, flush toilets, dumb waiter and creative botanical features. In an era of rising energy costs and the slow pace of power-generation plant construction, structures of this kind demonstrate practical rudimentary home design opportunities.
Cattle baron, George W. Fulton constructed a Second Empire-style mansion in Rockport, Texas (USA) where it overlooks Aransas Bay (Gulf of Mexico). The Fultons constructed their mansion between 1874 and 1877. Following George’s death, his widow moved away. It served as private residence and restaurant until 1976 when the State of Texas purchased the property.
Mr. Fulton, a bridge engineer, worked under Roebling on the Brooklyn Bridge project.
The Texas Historical Commission owns and operates the site and offers guided and self-guided tours.
George and Harriet Fulton lavishly furnished the home with costly items. Although nothing of original materials remained when the State of Texas purchased the home, historians replicated furniture and other items from information gleaned from Harriet’s meticulous records and receipts. She retained receipts from all her purchases.
For its time, the house incorporated many interesting features. Pocket doors, gaslights, hot and cold running water, Coleman warm-air heating system and indoor flush toilets were unusual and advanced features uncommon for the age. Door hardware came from a friend who had a hardware store in Chicago.
Self-guided Tour
Welcome
Library
Parlor
Dining Room
Sitting Room
Holden Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Bathroom
Water System
Text on an information placard at the southwest corner
“Although the exact use of this room is unknown, it probably contained a pump mechanism for the water system in the house.
Rainwater collected from the roof was diverted into one of the large storage cisterns in the basement for wash water or into the outdoor cypress cistern, which stood on the circular foundation behind you. This cistern, containing layers of (oyster) shell, charcoal and sand, filtered the water into the second of the basement cisterns for drinking water. The two basement cisterns had a combined capacity of almost 16,000 gallons.
The filtered water was pumped from the basement to a small tank above the tower room. From there gravity provided pressure to supply water to the lavatories and toilets throughout the house. Water was also piped down to a heater attached to the cookstove in the kitchen and then back up to the bathrooms. Waste water ran down through a pipe next to the central vent shaft and out through the basement wall to a septic tank.” [Water System Diagram]
Waste Management
A septic system treated sewage. Technical information is unavailable.
Heating and Ventilation System
Text on an information placard at the southeast corner
“The fuel storage room is conveniently located across the hall from the furnace room. Wood or coal was loaded into this room to be stored until needed.
In the furnace room, air heated by the cast iron furnace rose into ducts and was carried throughout the house. Duct openings were set into the floor or in the mantelpieces resembling fireplaces in the rooms. The ventilation system within the rooms provided a draw to bring the heated air into each room. A duct on the north side of the house supplied fresh air to the heating chamber, and a separate chimney flue vented the combustion fumes from the furnace.”
Fulton constructed fireplaces of slate painted to appear like marble.
Oral history says W. C. Coleman, founder of the Coleman Company, Inc., designed and built this system. I cannot verify this fact. [Heating and Ventilation System Diagram]
Lighting System
Elegant gaslights provided illumination. A complex system used gaseous gasoline for power. [Lighting System Diagram]
Structural
Mr. Fulton, an engineer, used laminated pine boards for walls and floors. Anecdotal and credible history from a tour guide of a few years ago, said a ship from the bay, during a hurricane, struck the house. The collision purportedly destroyed the ship. When you see the diagram, you can readily appreciate the house’s structural strength.
Clever shutters, installed on the inside of windows, fold back into a “pocket” when not in use.
Architectural Drawings
Front View
Basement Floor Plan
First Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Third Floor Plan
Floor and Wall Construction
Botanical Features
During initial construction, building design called for an L-shaped porch wrapping from the front (east side) around to the south side. At some point in time, Harriet discovered conservatories and insisted George use the Southside leg of the porch as a conservatory. Flowering plants thrived in flowerpots suspended on ornate cast-iron hinged hangers. [Photographs: Interior Exterior]
A Wardian case set by a north-facing window of the second-floor sitting room served as a conversation piece. Dr. Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, a physician with a passion for botany, invented the case bearing his name. You will know the case as a terrarium. [Wikipedia link]
Modern Kitchen
The basement housed a modern kitchen, complete with evaporative cooling and dumb waiter that delivered food to a butler’s pantry behind the first-floor dining room.
Text from northeast window of kitchen
“This was the food preparation center for the mansion. Food cooked on the stove, which stood against the opposite wall, was taken to the serving pantry, the small room to the right. Here, a “dumb waiter” carried meals up to the dining room on the first floor.
Perishable foods were kept in the larder or milk room accessible through the doorway across the room. Protected from direct sunlight by the shaded breezeway, the larder caught the prevailing southeasterly breezes.
Concrete troughs, with circulating water, lined the walls of the larder. Large crocks and bowls holding perishable items were placed in the water and covered with damp cloth. Meat hung from the ceiling was also covered by damp cloth. The breezes evaporated the water, keeping the air and the food cool.”
Summary
The Fulton Mansion compares to contemporary LEEDS projects, with respect to water system, HVAC, flush toilets, dumb waiter and creative botanical features. In an era of rising energy costs and the slow pace of power-generation plant construction, structures of this kind demonstrate practical rudimentary home design opportunities.
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