Part 2 History of Radiant Heating & Cooling Systems

Abstract

The history of the radiant heating and cooling systems is discussed. There is anecdotal reference to early 8th century radiant cooling using snow-packed walls in buildings constructed in Mesopotamia in Turkey with cooled water and much later in 20th century Europe. Pre-World War II radiant cooling included 'The historic Reichstag building the German parliament was at the time of its inauguration in December of 1894 one of the most sophisticated and technically advanced buildings of its time. Since the later part of the 20th century, industry has developed better understanding of controls for radiant-cooled environments and with dedicated outdoor air systems and improved controllability larger applications of cooling developed in extreme climates like Bangkok with its cooled Suvarnabhumi Airport system. It is also reported that since 2005, the number of commercial radiant system specifications has increased by 36% with 7.5% of new construction specifying radiant systems, a number expected to double by 2013.

Full text

50 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org February 2010
Part 1, published in January, covered developments of radiant heating and cooling in Asia.
F rom the third century B.C., ancient Europe developed an underfloor heat-
ing system called Hypocaustum.1 The system was defined by the furnace
(hypocausis) and a series of flue passages realized under the floor by means of
pillars carrying a slab and then exhausted through cavities in the walls.
Roman oyster farmer, Gaius Sergius
Orata was commonly thought to have in-
troduced or developed this type of heating
during the first century B.C. However, “Hy-
pocausts of the third and second centuries
B.C. are known, for instance, at Gortys in
Greece and at Gela, Megara Hyblaea, and
Syracuse in Magna Graecia.”2 Additionally,
the use of floor heating in ancient European
and Middle Eastern lands was widespread
with variations of the hypocaust found in
Afghanistan,3 Syria,4 and other countries.5
With the exception of late antiquity
hypocaust type systems in the Middle
East, Europe’s use of floor heating went
into hibernation for many centuries while
systems in Korea, China and parts of Japan
continually evolved.
Rebirth in Europe
Between the 12th and 17th centuries,
open fires were used in Europe, the
Middle East and North America. The
Russian Fireplace, the Steinofen and
Kachelofen in Europe, and the Tandoor
with Tab-khaneh (other spellings include
tanur/taba khana) in Afghanistan6,7 lead
up to the development of the 18th century
By Robert Bean, Member ASHRAE; Bjarne W. Olesen, Ph.D., Fellow ASHRAE; Kwang Woo Kim, Arch.D., Member ASHRAE
About the Authors
Robert Bean is a registered engineering technolo-
gist (building construction) with Healthy Heating in
Calgary, AB, Canada. Bjarne W. Olesen, Ph.D., is
director, professor, International Centre for Indoor
Environment and Energy, Technical University of
Denmark in Lyngby, Denmark. Kwang Woo Kim,
Arch.D., is a professor of architecture at Seoul
National University, Seoul, Korea.
History of
Radiant Heating
& Cooling Systems
Part 2
Hypocausts were used from the
third century B.C. in ancient
Europe.
This article was published in ASHRAE Journal, February 2010. Copyright 2010 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. Posted
at www.ashrae.org. This article may not be copied and/or distributed electronically or in paper form without permission of ASHRAE. For more information about
ASHRAE Journal, visit www.ashrae.org.

February 2010 ASHRAE Journal 51
c. 1600, France,
heated ues in oors
and walls used in
greenhouses.
c. 1800 Beginnings of
the European evolu-
tion of the modern
water heater/boiler
and water based pip-
ing systems including
studies in thermal
conductivities and
specic heat of materi-
als and emissivity/
reectivity of surfaces
(Watt/Leslie/Rumford
[shown]).
c. 1864, ondol type
system used at Civil
War hospital sites in
America. Reichstag
building (shown above)
in Germany uses the
thermal mass of the
building for cooling and
heating.
Photo credit: Daniel Schwen
c. 1700 Benjamin
Franklin studies the
French and Asian cul-
tures and makes note
of their respective
heating systems lead-
ing to the development
of the Franklin stove.
Steam based radi-
ant pipes are used in
France.
c. 1904, Liverpool
Cathedral (England)
heated with system
based on the hypo-
caust principles.
Image credit: Smithsonian Institution
Image credit: U.S. National Park Service
Franklin Stove, which became a preferred heating system in
many buildings.8
Floor heating in Europe reappeared during this era. “John Ev-
elyn, writing in 1691, indicated that heating greenhouses by the
radiation from flues in floors and walls was by no means a novelty,
(and it) is…believed that the technique was a survival from clas-
sical times in Russia but had been lost in the rest of Europe.”9,10
From Stetiu, “…(the) hot water boiler was introduced around
this time, together with its system of large pipes through which the
hot water was carried. The first known such design is attributed
to Sir John Stone, who installed a heating system
of pipes in the Bank of England in 1790.”11,12
However, a parallel evolution existed in other
countries with time lines offset by only a few
decades. Also at this time was the development
of the understanding of radiant heat transfer.
“John Leslie discovered in 1801 that the dimin-
ished output of James Watts’ 1784 tin plate steam
radiator had to do with its emissivity, discover-
ing that a coat of pigment to a metallic surface
greatly enhanced its output.”13
Benjamin Thompson, who determined the
specific heats of various substances and thermal
conductivities of insulating materials, observed
in the 1800s:
Close to the windows it will indeed be possible to feel the
heat caused by the calorific radiations; but nothing can
hinder the currents of air, caused by the cooling, which
takes place through the panes of glass, from spreading
over the entire extent of the room. But when the windows
are double layer, the layer of air which is enclosed between
the two windows being an excellent non-conductor of heat,
the inside window is well protected from cold from without
and the descending currents of air just mentioned no longer
existing, it would be easy, with good stoves moderately
heated to establish a pleasant and equable temperature.13
Today’s thermally activated building systems are foreshad-
owed in this quote: “…a Mr. Hay of Edinburgh proposed an
early form of thermal storage to heat a building using steam
to heat stone-filled pits in each room. The stones were heated
once a day as required.”13
Two significant patents leading up to modern-
day fluid based systems were issued during this
century to Angier March Perkins. The first in
1839 was for an “apparatus for transmitting heat
by circulating water, and the second in 1841 was
for an “apparatus for heating by the circulation
of hot water; construction of pipes for such and
other purposes.”14
Also during this period we see the beginning
of the end for hypocaust type systems when King
Edward VII laid the foundation stone in 1904 to
what was to become Liverpool Cathedral.“The
whole floor of the Nave, Transept and Chancel
forms one large radiator and it was reputed to be
the largest single radiator in the world.”15 Then just a few years
later: “The modern development of radiant heating started in
1907(8), when Arthur H. Barker, a British professor, discovered
that small hot water pipes embedded in plaster or concrete
formed a very efficient heating system.”16
Hypocaust flues from Ro-
man baths.

52 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org February 2010
c. 1905, Frank Lloyd
Wright makes rst trip
to Japan, later incor-
porates various early
forms of radiant heat-
ing in his projects.
c. 1907, England,
Prof. Barker granted
Patent No. 28477 for
panel warming using
small pipes. Patents
c. 1930, Faber in
England uses water
pipes to radiant heat
and cool several large
buildings.
c. 1933, explosion
at England’s Imperial
Chemical Industries
(ICI) laboratory during
a high pressure experi-
ment with ethylene gas
results in a wax like
substance – later to
become polyethylene
and the beginnings of
PEX pipe.
c. 1937 Frank Lloyd
Wright designs the
radiant heated Herbert
Jacobs house, the rst
Usonian home.
later sold to the
Crittal Company who
appointed representa-
tives across Europe.
A.M. Byers of America
promotes radiant
heating using small
bore water pipes. Asia
continues to use tradi-
tional ondol and kang
– wood is used as the
fuel, combustion gases
sent underoor.
Photo credit: James Steakley
Image courtesy of Dan Holohan
An earlier 1800s version is the John Soane house and
museum, “Here the architect, after trying a number of expedi-
ents, turned to the newly developed Perkins high pressure hot
water system…he could conceal the small bore pipes under
the bases of the marble antiquities in the Belzoni Chamber,
place a coil of pipes under the table in the Monk’s Room, and
run a circuit of piping around the base of his many skylights
to counter the flow of cold air….”9 Patent No. 28477 was
granted on Barker’s system of heating, which was called
panel warming.17
This patent was later sold to R. Crittal & Company Limited
who used the concepts to heat the Royal Livre building in
Liverpool in 1909. Crittal appointed representatives in several
countries including Sulzer Brothers of Winterthur, Switzer-
land. It conducted extensive long-term studies with the Swiss
National Research Laboratory.18 During this era, systems were
installed in an open air school in Amsterdam (1929), a private
residence in Germany (1930) and a large department store in
Zurich (1936–38).17 At this time came the impetus for a reevalu-
ation of radiant piping systems stemming from an accidental (re)
discovery of polyethylene by Gibson and Fawcett in 1933 at the
ICI laboratories in England, which later led to the development
of PEX pipe and a solution to many challenges associated with
earlier piping materials.18
Introduction of Radiant Cooling Systems
There is anecdotal reference to early 8th century radiant
cooling using snow-packed walls in buildings constructed
in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq),19 in Turkey with cooled
water11 and much later in 20th century Europe where “After
the war, the Bank of England got a nice new hydronic radi-
ant heating system that was installed under the direction of
a fellow named Dr. Oscar Faber. Dr. Faber’s system used
copper pipes embedded in concrete floors and plaster ceil-
ings and it was used to cool the building in the summer and
heat it in winter.”20
Pre-World War II radiant cooling included “The historic
Reichstag building—the German parliament—was at the time
of its inauguration in December of 1894 one of the most so-
phisticated and technically advanced buildings of its time. The
design incorporated central heating, humidification and summer
‘cooling’ with the help of thermal mass.”21
Solving the Issue of Latent Loads
“Most of the early cooling ceiling systems developed in the
1930s failed…because condensation often occurred…. Subse-
quent studies showed that this problem could be avoided if the
radiant system was used in conjunction with a small ventilation
system designed to lower the dew-point of the indoor air. This
combination proved successful in a department store built in
1936-1937 in Zürich, Switzerland and in a multi-story building
built in the early 1950s in Canada.”11
Since the later part of the 20th century, industry has developed
a better understanding of controls for radiant-cooled environ-
ments and with dedicated outdoor air systems and improved
controllability larger applications of cooling developed in
extreme climates like Bangkok with its cooled Suvarnabhumi
Airport system.22
North America
In the 18th century, Benjamin Franklin studied radiant floor
heating in Asia and French technology to develop his Franklin

February 2010 ASHRAE Journal 53
c. 1939 rst small
scale polyethylene
plant built in America.
c. 1945 American
developer William
Levitt builds large
scale developments
for returning G.I.s (see
photo above). Water
based (copper pipe)
radiant heating used
throughout thousands
of homes.
c. 1950, Korean War
wipes out wood sup-
plies for ondol; popu-
lation forced to use
coal. Developer Joseph
Eichler in California
begins the construc-
tion of thousands of
radiant heated homes.
c. 1951 Dr. J.
Bjorksten of Bjorksten
Research Laboratories
announces rst results
of what is believed to
be the rst instance
of testing three types
of plastic tubing for
radiant oor heating in
America.
c. 1965, Thomas
Engel patents method
for stabilizing polyeth-
ylene by cross link-
ing molecules using
peroxide (PEX-A) and
in 1967 sells license
options to a number of
companies.
Stove. Edgerton shares a story of Franklin writing to a friend
in Boston about stoves he had seen in the Bank of England.
By means of an elaborate down draft, the smoke was drawn
through tubes in the center of the stoves themselves and out
under the floor by means of ducts to the chimneys. This tech-
nological feat intrigued Franklin and he thereupon designed
his own interpretation, which consisted of an urn on a ped-
estal, all within a cast-iron niche in the chimney. He added
another idea which the French had actually explored before,
of having the smoke consumed as it passed through the fire.
The smoke which collected in a tile
urn was drawn down through the
stove, burned, and the unadulter-
ated hot air went under the floor,
warmed up the hollow niche, and
radiated into the room.23
Roughly a century later, rudimen-
tary forms of radiant heating were
used during the American Civil War:
The plan which…gave the utmost
satisfaction, was that known as
the California plan. A pit was dug
about two-and-a-half feet deep
outside the door of the hospital
tent; from this a trench passed
longitudinally through the tent, terminating outside its
farther or closed extremity. At this point a chimney was
formed by barrels placed one upon the other, or by some
other simple plan. The joints and crevices of this chimney
were cemented with clay. The trench in the interior of the
tent was roofed over with plates of sheet-iron issued for
that purpose by the Quartermasters Department. A fire
was built in the pit, and the resulting heat, radiating from
the sheet-iron plates, kept the interior of the tent warm
and comfortable even in the coldest weather.24
The description is remarkably similar to versions used in
ancient Asia. One could speculate that the term “California
Plan” came from the west coast Chinese immigrants who
influenced those around them during those times leading up
to the civil war.25 According to J. Lawrence, project coordina-
tor of Sheridan’s Field Hospital at Shawnee Springs, there is
some evidence that the heating system was adopted from the
frontiers during the gold rush in the 1840/50s.26
Most Chinese immigrants entered California through the
port of San Francisco...(they) formed part of the diverse
gathering of peoples from throughout the world who con-
tributed to the economic and population explosion that
characterized the early history of the state of California…
(and) brought with them to the United States traditions and
practices that were integral to their daily lives.25
Following the Civil War era, the
A.M. Byers Company published that
“In 1909 a small school was con-
structed in the Village of Glen Park,
Indiana. Pipes carrying steam were
suspended between the floor joist,
over which conventional wood floors
were laid.” “…in 1911, wrought iron
heating coils were placed behind steel
plates in the walls of certain rooms
in the Phipps Psychiatric Clinic in
Baltimore. This institution is part of
John Hopkins Hospital.”
The influence of early British
systems is shown with these words
from the Chase Brass & Copper Co.: “The early successes of
Radiant Heating on the Continent and in England so aroused
the interests of certain engineers in the United States as to lead
Professor Theodore Crane of the Yale School of Fine Arts to
undertake in 1910 the design and installation of probably one
of the first of this country’s technically designed systems.”27
Another important radiant heated project in the U.S. was the
British Embassy in Washington.27
It was during this time American architect Frank Lloyd
Wright popularized the use of radiant heating. As Franklin be-
fore him, Wright was influenced by Asian architecture and radi-
ant heating even before he made his first trip to Japan in 1905.
It is interesting that I, an architect supposed to be con-
cerned with the aesthetic sense of the building, should have
invented the hung wall for the w.c. (easier to clean under),
Image courtesy of Dan Holohan
Levittown house built by developer William Levitt as
part of the first mass-produced suburb in U.S.

54 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org February 2010
c. 1970 evolution of
Korean architecture
leads to multistory
housings. Flue gases
from coal based ondol
results in many deaths
leading to the removal
of the home based ue
gas system to a central
water-based heating
plant. Oxygen perme-
ation becomes corro-
sion issue in Europe.
c. 1980 The rst
standards for oor
heating are developed
in Europe. Water-
based ondol system is
applied to almost all
residential buildings in
Korea.
c. 1985 oor heating
becomes a traditional
heating system in
residential buildings
in Middle Europe and
Nordic countries, and
applications in non-
residential buildings
increase.
c. 1995 The applica-
tion of oor cooling
and TABS (Thermo
Active Building
Systems) in residential
and commercial build-
ings are widely intro-
duced into the market.
c. 2000 The use
of embedded radi-
ant cooling systems
in Middle Europe
becomes a standard
system with many
parts of the world
applying radiant based
HVAC systems as
means of using low
temperatures for heat-
ing and high tempera-
tures for cooling.
and adopted many other innovations like the glass door,
steel furniture, air-conditioning and radiant or ‘gravity
heat.’ Nearly every technological innovation used today was
suggested in the Larkin Building in 1904.28
Wright was a pioneer in radiant floor heating, using it in many
of his projects such as the Johnson Wax Building (1937) and
the Jacobs Residence.
Following the end of World War II, the U.S. had its first
large-scale multi-building project heated with radiant systems
realized with copper pipes embedded in a concrete slab in his- in his-
toric Levittown.29 In all there was to be 2,000 homes built in
the New York project with radiant heating using copper pipe.
Thousands more were built, including those later constructed
by California developer Joseph Eichler.18
In Canada, the use of radiant heating found application
in the early 1960s home of an NRC researcher who writes,
“Decades later it would be identified as a passive solar house.
It incorporated innovative features such as the radiant heating
system supplied with hot water from an automatically stoked
anthracite furnace.”30
Market Acceptance
As noted in Part I, almost all buildings in Ko-
rea (95%) and Northern China (85%) use radiant
floor heating31 with strong growth showing in
Japan. In Europe, fluid-based systems dominate
the construction industry.32 Unlike Asia and
Europe, the combined general market share for
residential hydronic/steam systems in Canada
and the United States is a nominal 5% with the
volume closely following on the rise and fall of
building permits. The exception is when home
owners become directly involved in the HVAC
decision-making process resulting in a 10% to
12% use. Approximation based on hydronic data
available from Stats Canada and U.S. Census
Bureau. It is also reported that since 2005, the number of com-
mercial radiant system specifications has increased by 36% with
7.5% of new construction specifying radiant systems, a number
expected to double by 2013.33
Larkin Administration Building, Buffalo, N.Y. Designed by Frank
Lloyd Wright, it was one of the first to use radiant floor heating.
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Image credit: Dan Holohan
Photo credit: Jerome Puma private collection

February 2010 ASHRAE Journal 55
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