Highlight
New Test House Quickly Becomes Invaluable Research Facility
Achievement/Results
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program in Indoor Environmental Science and Engineering at The University of Texas (UT) has allowed for the development of a test house facility (UTest). The test house is one of only a few at U.S. universities, is unique in its design, and will be used extensively for IGERT-related research on indoor air quality. The 1,200 square foot UTest House is located at the J.J. Pickle Research Campus of The University of Texas. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 independent heating and cooling systems, and features consistent with typical American homes. Thanks to the outstanding efforts of IGERT faculty participants Jeffrey Siegel and Atila Novoselec, as well as Program Coordinator Dori Eubank, the UTest House has been specially designed to accommodate state-of-the-art research with built-in sensor technologies and easy retrofits for studying different pollutant source scenarios and indoor pollution control strategies.
The UTest House will be used for laboratory scale-up research, full-scale testing of pollution transport, fate, and control, and demonstrations for program-associated courses and public workshops. Some of the measurement capabilities are listed below:
Air flow measuring systems for analysis of infiltration and air follow between rooms: Remotely controlled seven port CO2 injection systems (one port for each room/zone of the house) with mixing fans for tracer gas tests; Eight channel CO2 concentration monitoring system (7 in different building rooms/zones + 1 external) with data acquisition system; Two weather stations that measure wind velocity (one in the vicinity of the house and one further from the house); Eight channel omni-directional ultrasonic velocity sensors to measure wind velocity in near- vicinity of house; Ten channel differential pressure monitoring system for measuring pressure distribution on each external house façade, and for measurement of pressure difference between rooms/zones.
Measuring systems for monitoring of HVAC system performance: Eight port temperature measuring system (one for each building rooms/zones + 1 external); System for monitoring airflows in both air handling units with sensors for temperature humidity of return and supply air. (2 flow stations and 4 Temperature and RH sensors); External weather station for temperature, humidity and solar insolation measurements; Four channel electric power measuring system (two for compressors/external units and two for indoor units); Ten channel differential pressure monitoring system for measuring filter and coil pressure drops, and supply and return pressures.
System for occupant activity simulation: Heat and humidity source simulators with programmable daily schedule; Shower operation control with programmable daily schedule.
Portable and laboratory-based instrumentation: Ozone (5 single and dual-beam UV analyzers); VOCs and aldehydes (2 PIDS, GC/MS, GC/FID); Particles (size resolved 0.003 – 0.7 µm with scanning mobility particle sizer, size-resolved 0.5 – 20 µm with aerodynamic particle sizer, size resolved 0.1 – 2 µm with laser optical particle counter, size-resolved 0.3 – 10 µm with Aerotrak handheld counters (4 units), 0.02; 1 µm number concentration with P-Trak (2 units), and PM1 to PM10 mass concentration with handheld nephalometer (2 units); High-precision rapid response anemometers (17 units) – SF6 (2 GC/ECD units).
This equipment is housed in nearby laboratories and is deployed to the test house as needed.
Address Goals
The UTest House described above is research infrastructure as it is one of a handful of dedicated test buildings in the United States. The breadth and quality of instrumentation is unique and has numerous benefits for our IGERT trainees and affiliates, including a controlled environment to extend bench-scale and chamber research, a learning tool that is integrated into course activities and public outreach, and an opportunity explore complex indoor environments at full scale.
Currently four trainees and affiliates are engaged in discovery that is essential to theses/dissertations in the test house on topics as diverse as developing novel DNA-based techniques to explore the indoor microbiological community and exploring the use of ceiling fans and building materials as multifunctional/passive control strategies for ozone.
The test house has also been critical research infrastructure for several proposed and externally-funded research projects by IGERT faculty including projects funded by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the State of Texas, and NSF.
The learning benefits of the UTest House extend to a greater university community than just the IGERT affiliates and trainees, as approximately 200 undergraduate students/year (primarily from the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering) will conduct coursework and laboratories in the UTest House. The general public will also engage in learning activities at the UTest House including the annual Explore UT Open House, recruiting activities for K-12 and minority student groups, and public outreach activities conducted by IGERT trainees and affiliates.
