Home performance - Correct Answers -is the systematic approach to improving the
comfort, health, safety, energy efficiency, and durability of a home.
The Big 3: - Correct Answers -Heat, Air and Moisture
Difference in temperature and humidity between areas inside the house, and between
the inside and the outside of the house, are exerting some sort of subtle influence on
the conditions in the home.
Home Performance also includes: - Correct Answers -Occupant health and safety
Indoor air quality and occupant comfort
Durability of materials
Building Science - Correct Answers -taken from physics chemistry and thermodynamics
Whole-building home performance contractors - Correct Answers -those professionals
whose job is to improve home performance - need to understand building science.
House-as-a-system: - Correct Answers -holistic view: the whole-house approach and it's
another way to define building science
Four general categories of building science: - Correct Answers -Building
Mechanicals
Environment
Occupants
Building Envelope: - Correct Answers -Foundation
Walls
Roof
Windows
Doors
Mechanicals: - Correct Answers -Heating and cooling and ventilation
Electrical Systems Lighting and appliances
Plumbing Systems
,Environment: - Correct Answers -in this context, refers to managing the indoor
environment as the exterior environment is changing (keeping the interior temperature
and relative humidity within acceptable levels, and ensuring indoor air quality with an
adequate amount of fresh air and little to no pollutant concentrations
Importance of Occupants at a component of buildings - Correct Answers -Home
performance primarily deals with existing, occupied homes. Occupants are the
beginning and the end of the system: they may do things in a house that affect the other
components, and they are certainly on the receiving end when things like comfort and
indoor air quality are affected
Interacting relationship - Correct Answers -an action taken on one component causes
reactions or changes in other components, or worsens certain pre-exiting conditions
(and increases their likelihood of producing negative effects
Ice dams - Correct Answers -occurs when warm air melts snow on the roof directly
above, but does not melt snow on the overhangs. Water from the melted snow flows
down into the gutters, where it freezes. This prevents any further melting snow from
draining properly. Ice dams can damage the roof and everything beneath it.
Mechanical ventilation (bathroom fan) - Correct Answers -could cause air pressure
differences between the inside and outside of the home. If air leakage is present, this
could cause the house to leak air at a faster rate, which, in turn, would create the need
for the thermostat to be adjusted more often
Cathedral ceiling - Correct Answers -Has the same pitch as a roof
vaulted ceiling - Correct Answers -does not have the same pitch as a the roof; can
consist of one or two straight slopes, or it can be arched. in the case of straight slopes,
one wall of the room is taller than the opposite wall, and the ceiling slopes downward
toward the shorter wall.
Drawbacks to noon-standard types of ceilings - Correct Answers -hard to clean, pain,
and change light bulbs
cost more to heat and cool
expensive to install
Rafter - Correct Answers -a sloped framing member that supports the roof
Joist - Correct Answers -horizontal framing member that supports a ceiling or floor
Stud - Correct Answers -a vertical framing member that supports an interior or exterior
wall
Bay - Correct Answers -the space between and the size of the wood influence the cavity
or bay (indicates the amount of insulation)
, Thermodynamics Definition - Correct Answers -an are of science that looks at the
relationship between heat and other kinds of energy
1st Law of Thermodynamics - Correct Answers -energy moves from place to place;
energy changes form one form to another; energy cannot be created or destroyed
Energy moves around and changes form.
2nd Law of Thermodynamics - Correct Answers -energy flows naturally from high
concentrations to low concentrations
HEAT moves from warmer to cooler; AIR moves from higher pressure to lower
pressure; MOISTURE moves from wetter to drier
Potential vs. Kinetic Energy - Correct Answers -Potential energy is stored energy. Think
of firewood, or a battery.
Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. Burn the firewood, and its potential energy is
converted to kinetic energy in the form of heat.
dry-bulb Temperature (ambient air temp) - Correct Answers -measure the amount of
heat in t he air
wet-bulb temperature - Correct Answers -takes moisture into account; usually lover than
dry bulb bc of moisture content
Sensible heat - Correct Answers -the amount of energy added to or removed from an
object that causes a change in the object's temperature.
Latent heat - Correct Answers -the amount of energy absorbed or released by a
substance as the substance changes its state
Delta T - Correct Answers -Change in temperature; the greater the temperature
difference (delta T) between the two spaces, the faster the heat will move
BTU - Correct Answers -1 BTU is equal to the amount of heat required to raise the
temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit (sensible heat)
Heat transfer - Correct Answers -the movement of heat
Three ways heat is transferred - Correct Answers -conduction, convection, and radiation
Two primary types of spaces inside the building envelope - Correct Answers -
conditioned and unconditioned
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