Vital Signs Case Study
University of Oregon
Arch 491, ECS 1, Fall 2000

Group members:
Summer Young
Heather Beck
Denise Stewart
Kurt McCulloch

Professor:
Alison Kwok
James Wasley

Abstract

Brushfire is a paint-it-yourself pottery shop in Eugene, Oregon.  The main space of the building is a 1,000sq.ft. studio where customers choose and then decorate pre-cast ceramic items.  The second area of the building is a small room behind the cashier where three ceramic kilns are kept for firing and finishing those items. 

The kilns (Audrey, Bertha, and Char) produce a large amount of heat, yet because the studio space must be mechanically heated in the winter (and cooled in the summer), we assumed that the heat from the kilns was not being utilized.  We then questioned where the heat was going.  We formed our hypothesis on the assumption that poor insulation of the building envelope allowed the rising heat of the kilns to escape through the roof rather than infiltrating into the studio space. 

To prove (or disprove) our hypothesis, we employed a number of methods to determine where the heat from the kilns was being lost.  By using HOBO temperature data loggers, a Raytek pyrameter, and various tables to determine R-values of the building envelope, we discovered that our hypothesis was incorrect.  While it is true that heat from the kilns does not infiltrate the studio space to any significant degree, we found that it escaped to the outdoors not through the roof, but through open vents in the North facing wall.  With this information, our recommendation is that two simple and low-cost fans be added to the kiln room to blow warm air into the studio space in winter and outside in the summer, reducing the cost of heating and cooling year-round