MEMO OF TRANSMITTAL

To: Tony Garcia, Building Service Engineer Supervisor, Cal Poly Facilities
From: Sachin Shenoi
Cc: Cal Poly Facilities Staff
Date: November 27, 2016
Subject: Solution to lack of air conditioning in older Cal Poly buildings
The purpose of this memo is to provide an overview of a recommendation report conducted to
solve the problem of the lack of air conditioning in older buildings across Cal Polys campus.
Discussion
Background
San Luis Obispo can get very hot during the warmer months, with temperatures reaching as high
as 108 degrees Fahrenheit during the 2016 Fall Quarter. Many of Cal Polys buildings were built
in or before the 1960s, and most of these buildings do not possess building-wide air conditioning.
As a result, students in classrooms are forced to endure extreme temperatures, which can
negatively affect their health and learning.
Methods
The research used in this report is as follows. First are my primary methods:
-

Interview with Tony Garcia, Building Service Engineer Supervisor

Survey of Cal Poly Students

Next are my secondary methods:

-

Cal Poly Administration & Finance Document

Two peer-reviewed journal articles

Possible Solutions
This report considers two possible methods of cooling: conventional HVAC cooling, which uses
a central A/C unit and air ducts, and RAC cooling. Conventional RAC cooling uses cold water
distributed through buildings in pipes, while the newer thermoelectric RAC cooling (TE-RAC)
uses thermoelectric panels. Due to problems with condensation and thermal response times that
are experienced with conventional RAC cooling, only TE-RAC will be considered in this report.
Action
My recommendation is for the university to implement TE-RAC cooling in older buildings. This
can be done by doing an initial test run in a small area to determine feasibility, and then expanding
to retrofitting entire buildings with TE-RAC panels. Cal Poly should look into working with
ASHRAE, the HVAC club, on this project.

Table of Contents
Introduction1
Methods...2
Results.3
Conclusions.5
Recommendation6
Glossary..7
References...8

Table of Figures
Figure 1..3
Figure 2..4
Figure 3..4

Introduction
Purpose
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was founded in 1901, and as a result there are quite a few old buildings
on campus. These buildings, such as the Alan E. Erhart Agriculture building which was built in
1959, do not have air conditioning. Recent temperatures in San Luis Obispo have reached a
blistering 108 degrees Fahrenheit, creating extremely hot and stuffy atmospheres in the poorly
ventilated older buildings. In an online survey of Cal Poly students that I conducted, I found that
73% of Cal Poly students said they had taken a class in a room without A/C, with an additional
19% saying they were unsure [1]. An overwhelming 92% said they had felt uncomfortably hot in
class before, and 65% of these students said that they believed the heat had a negative effect on
their learning [1].
The purpose of this report is to find feasible solutions to the problem of students being subjected
to excessively high temperatures in older classrooms without A/C. The two solutions I have
proposed are installing conventional HVAC cooling (central A/C unit with cold air distributed by
a system of ducts) and installing TE-RAC cooling (thermoelectric panels that use radiant cooling
to cool the air around them).The client I am preparing this report for is Tony Garcia, the
Mechanical Trades Building Supervisor for Cal Poly Facilities. The Mechanical Trades division
of Cal Poly Facilities is responsible for, among other things, the installation of new HVAC systems
and the maintenance of current HVAC systems around campus.
Background
Solutions to this problem so far have included personal fans that students would bring themselves.
In my building 38 calculus class, a student brought a personal fan to class each day to keep himself
cool during lecture. However, his fan required an outlet, and there are not enough outlets in each
classroom for 30 or more students to bring personal fans that plug into the wall. Battery-powered
fans provide a solution to this, but another issue I noticed was that the fan took up already limited
desk space, and the student once had his notes shredded by his fan when he was not paying
attention to the blades. The fan was also a minor classroom distraction, partially due to the novelty
of a student with the desktop fan, but partially due to the noise. The noise from 30 or more fans
running in a classroom would disrupt the professors ability to effectively convey information
through lecturing. While personal fans may work as a temporary escape from the heat for a few
students, they do not represent a real solution to the problem of an overheated classroom. To create
any real improvement in classroom conditions, Cal Poly needs to invest in some sort of air
conditioning for its older classrooms.
Organization
In the next section, I will be discussing the methods I used to obtain the necessary information for
my report. After that, in the results section, I will be discussing the information I obtained from
my sources. Next, in the conclusion section, I will be analyzing the information in order to create
a recommendation for my client. Finally, in the recommendation section, I will specify the final
recommendation to solve the problem.

Methods
I used both primary and secondary sources in my research. Sources included information from oncampus in the form of survey and interview questions, as well as information from external
sources.

Primary Methods
Interview
I contacted Tony Garcia, whose contact info I found on the Cal Poly Facilities webpage. I was able
to conduct an interview with Garcia regarding HVAC systems around campus.
Tony Garcia
Building Service Engineer Supervisor
Cal Poly Facilities
Survey
I created an online survey that I sent to peers and posted in the Cal Poly Facebook group. I received
104 responses. The questions were as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Have you ever taken a class in a classroom at Cal Poly that did not have air conditioning?
Have you ever felt too hot in a Cal Poly classroom?
If yes, do you think that the heat affected your learning?
Would you support funding for increasing the availability of air conditioning in classrooms
on campus?

Secondary Methods
Cal Poly Administration & Finance Division
I used a document from the Administration & Finance Division that contained information about
various buildings around campus.
Journal Articles
I found a peer-reviewed journal article titled Effects of Classroom Ventilation Rate and
Temperature on Students Test Scores by Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy and Richard J.
Shaughnessy. The article was published in the PLoS ONE scientific journal in 2015.
I found another peer-reviewed journal article titled Investigation of a Novel Thermoelectric
Radiant Air-conditioning System by Limei Shen, Fu Xiao, Huanxin Cheng, and Shengwei
Wang. The article was published in the Energy & Buildings journal in 2013.

Results
Primary Methods
Interview
I asked the following questions while Interviewing Tony Garcia:
1. Has Cal Poly tried to address the lack of air conditioning in older buildings in the past?
Response: Yes, but because of costs, most buildings have been left without A/C.
Other factors such as the fact that classes could be disrupted by construction also
played a part.
2. What are some of the obstacles preventing air conditioning from being added to older
buildings?
Response: funding restrictions, logistics of installing large-scale HVAC systems
while buildings are in use, high continuing costs due to increased energy use,
federal restrictions on energy use due to the fact that Cal Poly is federally funded
3. What are the existing HVAC systems in older buildings (such as 38, 10, etc.)?
Response: Most older buildings have heat and some ventilation, but the
ventilation in buildings such as Building 38 is not very good.
4. Have any older buildings without air conditioning had air conditioning added to them?
Response: Not on a large scale. Some areas may have cooling, but the buildings
as a whole remain mostly uncooled.
Survey
I had 104 Cal Poly students respond to my survey. Of the 104, 76 had taken a class in a
classroom without air conditioning. This number could be even higher, since 20 students said
that they were unsure whether or not they had taken a class without A/C. Figure 1 shows this
information in a pie chart, illustrating that the majority of Cal Poly students have taken class in a

Have you ever taken a class in a classroom at Cal

Poly that did not have air conditioning?
20, 19%

8, 8%
76, 73%

Yes

No

Not Sure

room without A/C.

Figure 1: Students who have been in classes without A/C [1].
3

96 of the 104 said that they had felt too hot in class before. Of these 96, 62 said that they
believed that the heat had had a negative effect on their learning in the class. Figures 2 and 3

Have you ever felt too hot in a Cal Poly classroom?

8, 8%

96, 92%

Yes

No

Figure 2: Students who have felt too hot in class [1].

If yes, do you think that the heat affected your

learning?

30, 31%
62, 65%
4, 4%

Yes, negatively

Yes, positively

No

Figure 3: Students who felt the heat had affected their learning [1].
show these data. 64 of the 104 students said that they would support funding for increasing the
availability of A/C in classrooms on campus.

Secondary Methods
Cal Poly Administration & Finance Division
I used a document posted by the Administration & Finance division that contained information
about buildings around campus that had been named in honor or in memory of someone. The
4

document included the year that the buildings had been built. I used the year 1966 as a
benchmark to find buildings on campus that are 50 or more years old. While not all campus
buildings were included in this document, I learned that Buildings 2, 10, 28, 34, 42, 44, 45, 60,
115, 116, 117 were all built before 1966. The oldest on the list, Building 60, was built in 1928.
There are many more unnamed buildings on campus, such as Building 38, which were built at
the same time and in the same style as some of the pre-1965 buildings on the list.
Journal Articles
In Effects of Classroom Ventilation Rate and Temperature on Students Test Scores, the
authors measured the ventilation rates in 140 fifth grade classrooms in the Southwestern United
States. They found that for each increase in one liter per second per person of ventilation, the
mean math test score of the class increased by 0.5 percent. This was on a range of 0.9-7.1 liters
per second, indicating a maximum increase in scores of about 3.1 percent. The trend remained
when class data from previous years was used, strengthening the claim that the increase in score
was caused by the ventilation. For temperatures ranging from 20 to 25 Celsius (68 to 77
Fahrenheit), the authors discovered that a decrease in one degree Celsius in classroom
temperature also led to an increase in mean math test score of about 0.5 percent. At 68 degrees
Fahrenheit, students performed 2.5% better than their peers working at 77 degrees Fahrenheit.
The authors concluded that adequate ventilation and cooling in classrooms could lead to
significantly better academic performance.
In Investigation of a Novel Thermoelectric Radiant Air-conditioning System, the authors
examined the viability of thermoelectric radiant air-conditioning (TE-RAC) as an alternative
method of cooling. Using information from a previous study, the authors stipulated that
traditional cold water RAC systems could produce the same thermal comfort as a traditional
HVAC system, but with 30 percent less energy use. The authors then performed a mathematical
analysis of the proposed thermoelectric panels and determined that TE-RAC cooling was
functional on the same scale as HVAC and RAC cooling, and could potentially provide energy
savings over the two. The TE-RAC system also had better thermal response times and
condensation control, which were the two main issues with cold water RAC.
Conclusions
It is imperative that Cal Poly acts on the extremely widespread problem of older buildings being
unequipped with air conditioning in a timely fashion. In a document detailing only a small
selection of buildings on campus, 11 of the buildings were built before the year 1965. Multiple
buildings were built before 1930 [3]. All of these buildings have old HVAC systems that do not
include A/C, showing that the problem is not isolated to a small part of campus. In fact, 92% of
Cal Poly students say that they have felt uncomfortably hot in class, and almost two-thirds of
them believe that the heat has negatively affected their learning [2]. A separate study published
in the PLoS ONE science journal examined the effects of excessive heat on students test scores
and found that students performed significantly worse the further the classroom temperature rose
above room temperature [4]. I have come up with two potential solutions to the universitys
problem. For these solutions, HVAC will refer to conventional air conditioning that utilizes a
5

central A/C unit and air ducts. Although TE-RAC cooling technically falls under HVAC, we can
consider it a separate entity for the sake of this report.
The conventional solution to this problem is installing HVAC systems with air conditioning in
Cal Polys older buildings. HVAC has been around for decades and is tried and tested
technology. It can be counted on to be a good long-term cooling solution for campus buildings,
with the proper maintenance. That, however, leads to the many cons of HVAC. HVAC systems
contain fans, air filters, and other parts that require periodic maintenance. If traditional HVAC
systems were installed, annual building maintenance costs would rise significantly. Installation
of new HVAC systems in buildings will require new ducts that bring cool air to each room,
which, unless done during the summer, could potentially disrupt classes. The new air
conditioning systems across campus would also use a significant amount of energy; detrimental
to the university both from a financial and sustainability standpoint.
Before addressing the next solution, it is important to address why conventional RAC cooling is
not being considered as a solution. Conventional RAC cooling utilizes cold water in pipes to cool
buildings. However, since water has a high specific heat capacity, the system has a high thermal
response time, which is detrimental to building occupants comfort. Additionally, the cold pipes
are prone to collect condensation. TE-RAC alleviates both of these problems, since the panels
are able to change in temperature much more rapidly than water. TE-RAC therefore has a much
lower thermal response time than traditional RAC, and sensors can be installed to shut panels off
when there is excessive condensation [5].
The unconventional solution is using TE-RAC cooling systems. TE-RAC is a fairly new concept,
although the technology has been around for years. A study published in Energy & Buildings
found that TE-RAC cooling was about as effective at cooling buildings as HVAC cooling, and
could actually provide the same thermal comfort levels at lower energy consumption [5]. TERAC uses radiant panels to cool the air, and as such there are no moving parts that need
maintenance. Each panel is an independent cooling unit that does not need to be connected to a
central unit like a traditional HVAC cooler, eliminating the need to install ducts. If Cal Poly
chooses to go with TE-RAC, my recommendation would be for the university to co-operate with
Cal Poly ASHRAE, the HVAC club. Since TE-RAC cooling is on the cutting edge of HVAC
technology, Cal Poly could benefit from ASHRAEs expertise on the subject to conduct further
tests and determine whether or not TE-RAC cooling is the solution they need. I think this is the
best route for Cal Poly.
Recommendation
After my research, I believe TE-RAC cooling is the best way for Cal Poly to implement air
conditioning in overheating older buildings. The university should look to cooperate with
ASHRAE in the upcoming quarter to pursue this solution.

Glossary
HVAC: Stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. For the purpose of this report,
conventional HVAC systems refer to systems that use a central air conditioning unit that
distributes cold air throughout a building through air ducts and fans.
RAC: Stands for radiant air cooling. Standard/conventional RAC cools air through cold water
that is pumped through pipes that can run through the ceiling, walls, or floor of a building and
absorb heat along the way.
Specific Heat Capacity: The amount of energy required to change the temperature of a substance.
TE-RAC: Stands for thermoelectric radiant air cooling. TE-RAC works the same way as RAC,
but uses thermoelectric panels instead of water pipes. These thermoelectric panels utilize a
phenomenon called the Peltier effect, which results in a temperature drop on one side of the
panel when electricity is conducted through the panel.
Thermal Comfort Level: The degree of comfort experienced by building occupants due to
temperature. In general, thermal comfort levels decrease as temperatures deviate from room
temperature.
Thermal Response Time: The time it takes for a cooling system to either adjust to changes in
room temperature, or the time it takes for the system to adjust to changes in the input (such as a
person adjusting the thermostat).

References
[1]"Named Buildings and Facilities," in Cal Poly Administration & Finance, 2012. [Online].
Available: https://afd.calpoly.edu/facilities/spacefacility/named.pdf. Accessed: Nov. 14,
2016.
[2]A. Garcia, "Interview Regarding Availability of A/C Across Campus," 2016.
[3]U. Haverinen-Shaughnessy and R. J. Shaughnessy, "Effects of Classroom Ventilation Rate and
Temperature on Students Test Scores," PloS one, vol. 10, no. 8, pp. 136-165, 2015.
[4]L. Shen, F. Xiao, H. Chen, and S. Wang, "Investigation of a novel thermoelectric radiant airconditioning system," Energy and Buildings, vol. 59, pp. 123132, Apr. 2013. [Online].
Available: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778813000145. Accessed:
Nov. 14, 2016.
[5]S. Shenoi, "Air Conditioning in Cal Poly Classrooms," Survey. 2016.
Figures Referenced
[1] Figure 1. Students who have been in classes without A/C, Survey. 27 November 2016.
[1] Figure 2. Students who have felt too hot in class, Survey. 27 November 2016.
[1] Figure 3. Students who felt the heat had affected their learning, Survey. 27 November
2016.