What Today’s Architects Can Learn From a Lost Ventilation System Used in 19th-Century Building Design

By revamping a forgotten heat recovery technique used in the design of Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital, McGill University researchers say modern design of temperature control and ventilation could be transformed.

As the COVID-19 pandemic raises questions about the effectiveness of ventilation and the climate crisis threatens to exacerbate extreme temperatures, efficient building design is a priority for today’s architects. But what can we learn from architectural techniques developed over 100 years ago?

A group of researchers from the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture at McGill University attempted to answer this question by examining the original ventilation system of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.

In the conclusions presented in an article published in iScienceResearchers say that by revamping the lost technique, modern thinking about temperature control and ventilation could be transformed.

“This historical knowledge could help us design less equipment-heavy solutions today with a new approach to energy-efficient architecture and healthy indoor environments,” said co-author Professor Salmaan Craig.

In the drawings of the Royal Victoria Hospital, first built in 1893, the team discovered a precedent for ventilation heat recovery, an efficiency measure that recovers heat from exhaust air so that stale indoor air can be constantly replenished with fresh outdoor air. without needing a lot of additional energy to heat up this incoming flow.

“Heat recovery through ventilation is vital for healthy, energy-efficient buildings, but requires miles of ductwork. Supporting infrastructure causes substantial emissions during manufacturing, maintenance and disposal,” said Anna Halepaska, Ph.D. candidate and first author of the study.

Through archival research and laboratory experiments, the researchers verified the ventilation rate and the amount of heat recovered. They discovered that by modernizing 19th-century technique by eliminating ducts and fans, it was possible to recover heat through partitions and floors while maintaining a constant flow of ventilation.

Shedding new light on 19th century environmental motivations

By following a paper trail of correspondence between clients, consultants, architects and engineers, the McGill team discovered how and why the system was originally designed the way it was. Many researchers assume that heat recovery is a 20th-century invention, but the study shows that engineers experimented with it in the 19th century, before electrification and the widespread use of mechanical fans.

“Fuel economy and indoor air purity were real concerns in the 19th century, particularly in hospitals. However, this first innovation in heat recovery responded to the rigors of the Canadian winter in a very pragmatic way. It provided a way to preheat the outside air, which stopped the piping. in the air heating system from freezing during cold snaps,” Craig said.

By re-reading archival documents, the researchers were also able to clarify the role of British hospital specialist Henry Saxon Snell, who mysteriously withdrew from the project after developing his original designs. The board of governors pushed Snell to resign after local consultants said his ventilation system was unsuitable for winter cold.

The researchers proved the governors right, finding precisely why Snell’s system was inadequate while revealing the innovative heat recovery method that replaced it.

“It is also surprising that much of the ventilation design was inspired by a completely different type of building, namely the Canadian Parliament building. Architectural historians sometimes consider hospitals unique, but this work shows these crucial connections,” said co-author Professor Annmarie Adams. and architectural historian.

The discovery of these early days of heat recovery sheds new light on the environmental ideas that motivated 19th-century engineers and architects in Canada and abroad.