Environmental solution logo

This website features work from the completion of Phase 1 of the SCALES Project.

We are currently seeking partnerships for Phase 2.

Lab

  • Assignment 10

    Please read Chapter 3 (sections 1-6 and 10 only), Chapter 5 (sections 1-12 only, unless you are ambitious), and Chapter 7 of our textbook, Joseph Murdoch's Illuminating Engineering. 

    Please take a set of base-case measurements in your Gujarati house.

    Read more: Assignment 10
  • Assignment 6

    The second week of our airflow lab focuses on airflow measurements and analysis.

    Read more: Assignment 6
  • Assignment 2

    The second phase of our first lab consists of three parts: 

    1.  Please calculate the thermal time constant, in minutes, from your experimental data, using the three methods to be given in lab this week.
    2. Construction of solar building. Please complete the construction of your solar building, using the design specifications given in lab last week.
    3. Estimation of air temperature inside your house.
    Read more: Assignment 2
  • Assignment 1

    While you are free to construct your house entirely on the basis of your design and modeling skills and your physical intuition, please consider making use of provided software to guide you in choices about windows and insulation. We will use several versions of this software throughout the lab to compare prediction with performance. The elf house should be ready next week to be placed on the roof for an initial, one-week test period. Please come to lab next week prepared to finish the construction during the first half of our session. We’ll then activate and insert the temperature loggers and place the houses on the roof . We’ll also work with the data from the potatoes and continue to work with the software. 

    Read more: Assignment 1
  • Visual and Thermal Comfort (Assignment 3)

    The objectives of this assignment are for you to develop a feeling for indoor environmental variables that have an impact on thermal comfort and to compare your personal sensation to comfort predictions based on thermal and lighting standards. The assignment is split into two components:  

    • Task A: Using a data logger, measure “your life” on a psychrometric chart over a couple of days.  
    • Task B: Measure indoor environmental conditions in two spaces that you find comfortable and uncomfortable and compare your assessments to that of current thermal comfort standards. 
    Read more: Visual and Thermal Comfort (Assignment 3)

Notice something that doesn’t seem right? Want to make a suggestion or provide feedback about how something is classified? 
Please reach out to esi [at] mit.edu and include SCALES Website in the subject of your email.
Feedback and any actions taken with regards to the feedback, will be shared as they are addressed.