S . E . C . T . I - O .

N • 1

INTRODUCTION TO
RADIANT SYSTEMS
 CHAPTER 1
EXAMPLES OF RADIANT
SYSTEMS

The earth is heated radiantly. Almost everyone worldwide identifies with the warmth
of the sun. Whether welcoming the sun on a cool spring day or seeking shelter from
the sun on a hot summer day, everyone has developed a response to the sun. In fact,
many daily activities are planned around the presence or absence of sunshine. Yet,
few people think in terms of the sun being the earth's heating system. Perhaps,
because the sun is such a dependable, reliable, and predictable heat energy source,
people take it for granted.
Few people, whether laypeople or professionals, make the connection between
natural radiant heating and cooling in the great outdoors and environmental condi-
tions for human occupancy in the built environment. But they really can be made to
function very similarly. The objective is to capture the best of outdoor comfort for
creation in the built environment whenever desired or required. To understand what
may be involved, it is instructive to examine just how and why nature's heating sys-
tem actually works.
To the best of our current knowledge, only the earth is dynamically positioned in
relation to the sun to enable exploitation of its resources to support life as we know
it. The daily rotation of the earth during its annual orbit around the sun results in
the simultaneous 24-hour routine we know as day and night and the climatic
change we know as seasons that fans out from the equator. In the natural environ-
ment, shelter, insulation (fur, clothing, or structural), life-cycle change, and migra-
tion are a few of nature's responses to changing daily and seasonal environmental
conditions.
The reason for changing the climate in the built environment is to provide
for building use, occupant comfort, and safety of the building and its contents. Yet,
to do this in a cost-effective manner requires that the entire structure be viewed
as a system in support of the relevant preceding objective. Building design and
environmental siting impact the performance of heating and cooling design.
The focus of efficiently and effectively heating and cooling a building should
include a comprehensive analysis of all the relevant interactions, whether natu-
ral or manmade, to ensure that the energy balance is optimized in relation to
the objective. The same system logic feeds concern about global warming due to
a change in any one of the components in the complex web of environmental
balance.

1.3
1.4 I N T R O D U C T I O N T O R A D I A N T SYSTEMS

1.1 NATURAL THERMAL ENVIRONMENT

We find in nature all of the elements that are applied and controlled in the built
environment. Radiation, convection, conduction, condensation, evaporation, and
the resulting influences of each action are described in detail in the Handbook as we
seek to harness the laws of physics for application to the built environment. The per-
formance of a radiant environment contrasts with that where air is used to deliver or
extract heat. To better understand the radiant built environment we will look at a
few examples of how the natural radiant environment operates.
A look at the normal agricultural cycle in the continental United States tells us
that soil temperatures, essential to plant growth, are the main determinant of the
planting period. Actual soil temperatures are a direct result of radiant heat charge
and discharge. A look at the time lag involved is instructive to understanding the
performance of building mass in radiant heating and cooling. The other variable also
at work is the change in angle and intensity of the sun. The winter solstice, or short-
est day of the year, is December 21, when the sun cycle is shortest and weakest.
The coldest part of winter in the United States normally occurs in January, when
the days are actually lengthening and the earth is moving closer to the sun. The
recharging of the earth mass continues for more than 4 months before the soil tem-
perature is at levels required for seed germination. In fact, the longest sun exposure
and greatest potential radiant intensity occurs at the summer solstice on June 21.
Although sun intensity and length of exposure then decrease until the occurrence of
the winter solstice on December 21, it is not unusual to have warm days through the
end of October without a killing frost. These same areas may experience tempera-
tures of 0°F or below by, or even before, January.
Lengthy charging and discharging periods are characteristic of high-mass radiant
heating and cooling. The resulting thermal stability is a unique characteristic of radi-
ant heating that yields rich design alternatives, ranging from passive solar and earth
thermal storage to an array of cooling strategies. The time constants involved in the
built environment relate to the building structure, natural external exposure, and
radiant panel selection. Whether occurring naturally or by design, the harnessing of
radiant energy for the provision of thermal comfort and energy conservation differ-
entiates the design of radiant heating and cooling systems from natural and mechan-
ical convection systems.

1.2 APPLICATION OF NATURAL PRINCIPLES

Public awareness of outer space exposure to the impacts of radiation heat transfer
was sparked by the launch of the first Soviet Sputnik satellite. Although commercial,
combat, and reconnaissance aviation required resolution of radiant heat transfer
impacts, human travel in outer space required a comprehensive resolution of radiant
heat transfer impacts over the full range of human exposure. The vision of a man
walking in the environment on the moon graphically conveyed how far the manage-
ment of energy transfer had come. The space suit provided greater freedom of move-
ment at -300°F (-184.1°C) than the first commercially sewn, bulky down snowsuits
provided at 0°F (-17.4°C).
Recognition of the application's potential for materials exploiting basic radiant
heat transfer principles spurred extension of reflective insulation into common
everyday use. One dramatic comfort and conservation application for the building
 E X A M P L E S O F R A D I A N T SYSTEMS 1.5

industry in hot climates is the reduction in attic temperatures achieved through the
application of low-emissivity surface to the underside of roof panels to reduce radi-
ant heat transfer from the hot roof to the attic floor or ceiling below. Considerable
study revealed that attic ventilation was ineffective in reducing the air-conditioning
heat load caused by radiant heat transfer from the roof above and, in fact, could
increase the air-conditioning load by increasing the exfiltration of mechanically
cooled air.
The development of window films and spectrally selective coatings responds to
the need to harness the visible and invisible infrared spectrum to provide safety,
comfort, and energy conservation. The development of high-performance windows
has proceeded to the point where so little heat is transferred to the outer glass sur-
face that condensation can occur at night due to nocturnal radiation. To get a sense
of the magnitude of nocturnal radiation through the atmosphere, think of how much
warmer the air remains on a calm, cloudy night versus a calm, clear night. The dif-
ference is caused by the role the cloud cover plays in lessening energy escape, which
may reduce the day-night temperature range by 10° to 30°F or more. A second
example is the ability to freeze water in the desert at night when the ambient tem-
perature is much higher than 32°F (0°C). A pan of water radiates more heat to the
clear night sky than it receives from the surrounding air. Hence, the equilibrium tem-
perature of the water drops below the freezing point, even though the surrounding
air temperature is actually above the freezing point.
The discomfort caused by heat loss from the human body to a cold window is well
understood, hut the application of the same principles for cooling by use of a low-
temperature cold-radiant panel is still relatively uncommon. Yet, primitives sought
relief from the heat in caves and other places with cooler surface temperatures,
where radiant cooling supplanted evaporation as the main agent of temperature
reduction. In arid climates, evaporative cooling of the air is cost-effective, as is evap-
orative cooling of roof surfaces that are misted, thereby cooling water that is recov-
ered for use as the cooling fluid for radiant panels or to lower the temperature of
building mass.
The ability to sunbathe on a calm 60°F (15.9°C) spring day is a dramatic example
of the role that radiant energy can play in providing thermal comfort at a lower
ambient dry-bulb air temperature. Another equally striking example is that of skiers
in swimsuits on days when the air temperature is in the 40°F range and the snow is
still crisp and fresh. The relatively high metabolic rate; dry, clear, thin high-altitude
air; strong late-spring sun; and snow covered surface all combine to enable the high-
intensity radiant field make the human body feel comfortable in otherwise cold con-
ditions. These examples are illustrative of the important role that radiant heat
transfer can play in providing human thermal comfort.
Greenhouses are designed to make use of radiant energy from the sun. However,
most people do not understand why a greenhouse can absorb more radiant energy
than it loses and, therefore, develop significantly higher inside temperature than the
surrounding outside air. The answer lies in the spectral characteristics of the radiant
energy from the sun and also of glass. A substantial percentage of the radiant energy
from the sun is at short wavelengths. Glass is transparent to short-wavelength radia-
tion; therefore, the greenhouse glass allows most of the radiant energy from the sun
to enter the greenhouse. The radiant energy that is emitted within the greenhouse is
at long wavelengths, and it happens that glass is opaque to long wavelength radia-
tion. Hence, the radiant energy trying to leave the greenhouse is stopped by the
glass.These are the same reasons that the enclosed interior of a car sitting in the sun
can become quite warm inside on a calm, sunny 0°F (-17.4°C) winter day. As you
will discover in Sec. 2, long- and short-wavelength radiation come from low- and
1.6 INTRODUCTION TO RADIANT SYSTEMS

high-temperature sources, respectively. This concept will have some application in

the employment of radiant heating systems.
The creation of heat from radiation leads to another natural phenomenon, the
movement of air we know as wind. Anyone who has ever sat in Wrigley Field, which
is located on the shore of Lake Michigan, has basked in the warm midday zephyr
breezes only to find the wind suddenly shifting from the West to the East off a cold
Lake Michigan. The hot air from the warmed agricultural plains west of the city and
the draft from the hot, level concrete and asphalt city surfaces draw in the cooler air
off of the Lake, suddenly shifting the airflow. The air replaces the rising air heated by
the thermally charged high mass of the city as it continues to discharge heat and until
the plains cool through nocturnal radiation to a temperature below the surface tem-
perature of the Lake water and the process begins anew. The lesson here is that air
movement is driven by temperature gradients, and that it is not heat that rises, but
hot air. This is a truth of physics that is often confused, but must be sorted out to
understand the significance of radiant panel location and sizing and comfort design.
Condensation, or dew, is a common natural occurrence that we seek to eliminate
in the built environment. For many heating and cooling systems, relative humidity
within normally acceptable limits is inherent to the system. Natural relative humidity
varies from as low as 0 percent below freezing to 100 percent over the range of tem-
peratures above freezing. The entrance of outside air into the built environment may
require the addition or removal of moisture from the air. These conditions are most
evident in the winter when people complain of nasal passage or sinus dryness and in
the summer when mold and mildew appear due to excess moisture. Radiantly heated
and cooled homes normally experience significantly lower rates of infiltration and
exfiltration, reducing the impact of casual outside air on the indoor environment.The
role of indoor and outdoor temperature is as important a determinant in the signifi-
cance of natural building pressure differences as the influence of mechanical air dis-
tribution balance and pressure protocol is on determining its parasitic influence on
infiltration and exfiltration.
The orientation, material selection, grade, and elevation design, as well as land-
scaping are among the design decisions that impact the role of natural and designed
radiant heating and cooling. These decisions should be made in conjunction with the
review of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning alternatives. Yet, whatever deci-
sion is made will include all three elements of heat transfer. In essence, all analyses
of the structure and occupant as a system are incomplete unless they recognize that
comfort is achieved through management of the entire range of dynamic thermal
transfer. The objective of this Handbook is to empower the reader to identify the
role of each and to develop the exact blend or combination of each that best serves
the design application.