Tropical Design Flashcards
The replacement of the volume of air contained within a room with an equivalent volume of fresh air within a given period of time. Often used to specify ventilation standards.
Air-change
The angular elevation of a celestial body above the horizon.
Altitude
A wind motor-driven fan for assisting the natural flow through an attic space.
Attic Ventilator
A screen (usually of louvers) placed on the outside of a building to shield windows from direct sunlight.
Brise-soleil
The tendency of air or gas in a shaft or other vertical space to rise when heated, creating a draft that draws in cooler air or gas from below.
Chimney Effect
The transfer of heat from the warmer to the cooler particles of a medium or of two bodies in direct contact. Occurring without perceptible displacement of the particles themselves.
Conduction
The transfer of heat by the circulatory motion of the heated parts of a liquid or gas owing to a variation in density and the action of gravity.
Convection
An opening (as in a wall) serving as an outlet for air, smoke, or the like.
Vent
The range of dry-bulb temperature, relative humidity, mean radiant temperature and air movement judged to be comfortable by Americans and Canadians. Also called comfort envelope.
Comfort Zone
The circulation of fresh air through open windows, doors, or other openings on opposite sides of a room.
Cross Ventilation
Either of the two times during the year when the sun crosses the plane of the celestial equator and when the length of day and night are everywhere approximately equal. Occurring about Mart 21 (spring) and September 21 (autumn).
Equinox
The angular distance north and south from the equator of a point on the earth’s surface, measured in degrees along the meridian passing through the point.
Latitude
The angular distance east and west on the earth’s surface, measured from the prime meridian at Greenwich, England, to the meridian of a given and expressed either in degrees or a corresponding difference in time.
Longitude
A great circle on the earth’s surface passing through both geophysical poles.
Meridian
The process of ventilating a space by natural movement of air rather than by mechanical means.
Natural Ventilation
The process in which energy in the form of waves of particles is emitted by one body, passed through an intervening medium or space and absorbed by another body.
Radiation
A manually or electriclaly controlled exterior Venetian blind for protecting a building interior from solar gain and glare.
Shutter Blind
A louvered awning the metal fins of which are angled to shade a window from direct sunlight and glare while preserving the outside view and admitting soft, diffused light.
Shutter Panel
Energy derived from the sun in the form of solar radiation.
Solar Energy
The placing of a building in relation to the path of the sun, either to maximize the amount of heat gained from solar radiation during the coldest months, or to minimize the amount of heat gained in the warmest months.
Solar Orientation
A graphic depiction of the path of the sun within the sky vault projected onto a horizontal plane.
Solar Path Diagram
A panel of miniature external louvers for shading a window from direct sunlight and glare while allowing a high degree of visibility, daylighting, ventilation, visual daytime privacy and insect protection.
Solar Screen
The time of the year, on or about June 21 when the sun reaches its northernmost point on the celestial sphere, marking the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere.
Summer Solstice
Any of various exterior devices for regulating the amount of solar heat and sunlight that enters the window, consisting of moveable horizontal or vertical fins controlled manually or operated automatically with time or photoelectric controls.
Sun Control
Any various exterior devices consisting of fixed horizontal or vertical fins angled to shield a window from direct sunlight.
Sunshade
Human comfort as determined by the ability of the body to dissipate the heat and moisture it produces by metabolic action.
Thermal Comfort
A motor-driven fan for pulling stale air from the living areas of a house and exhausting it through attic vents.
Whole-house Ventilator
The time of the year, on or about December 21, when the sun reaches its southernmost point on the celestial sphere, marking the beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere.
Winter Solstice
To provide a room with fresh air to replace air that has been used or contaminated.
Ventilate
A louvered opening or motor-driven fan for replacing stagnant air with fresh air.
Ventilator
