Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1897-04-30
SCHOOL BUILDlAGS.
POINTS ON VENTILATION, HEATING
AND LIGHTING.

Comfort and Health Of Pupils Are Of Vital
Import.nee-structu of More Than
Two stories Not Desirable-Each Scholar
Needs 1000 Cubic Feet Of Air Per Hour
Among the interesting papers read at
the recent meeting of the Associated
Health Authorities of Pennsylvania at
Harrisburg none excited so much atten'
ton as that Of A. M. Sloan, president
of the Greensburg board of health, upon
the advisability Of regulating the erec.
ton of school buildings by act of legls
lature. He said in part:
Schools are public institutions Chill
dren of certain age are compelled to at
tend. Then, most certainly the welfare
of more than 900, 900 Of children, at
fecting, as it must, not only the present
but reaching out into the future, do
serves and demands the best thought
and highest wisdom of al enlightened
commonwealth.
Admitting that the state should by
law provide for the proper construction
thereof, think it will be conceded thai
this supervision should consist OF few
general rules, and therefore should cover
the following propositions:
First.-At least ID square feet of fooi
space and 1000 cubic feet of air pei
hour shall lie provided for each pupil.
This air should be delivered into the
room near the ceiling, allowing the all
to diffuse itself on the top of the room
and there settle down, thus coming IN
contact with the heads of the pupils
first, and in pure state, without beiLe
contaminated by their clothing or the
dust from their desks or the floor Of the
room. This amount of dir $4,000 cubic
feet to each pupil is just the amount
that the lungs require to keep the pupil
in healthy condition and is fully as
important to him as is nourishment ana
suitable food.
Second. The heating apparatus, suffi'
cient to warm this amount of air, must
be placed in the basement, and 1t must
be of sufficient capacity to heat the re-
uuired amount Of air to the desired tenn
perature to warm the room to 20 de-
grees in the coolest weather, and at nc
time nor under any circumstances
should the air be subjected to redhot
surface. This is to say competition
sometimes is SO sharp as in many caset
to induce cheap rather than good CON
struction Small furnaces have beeI
used in which the temperature Of the
exterior must be kept SO high, il
order to meet the demands for heat,
that two evils NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. gases
will pass through redhot iron, where
they will not through iron that is no,
heated to the point Of redness, and red
hot iron burns up part Of the oxygen il
the air and makes it unfit to breathe.
Third. That the light should enter
the room so that it shall come from the
left of the pupil, and it should never b.
less than one seventh of the floor space
The windows should be so constructed
that there will be little Or no shadow.
Fourth The size of the halls anc
stairs should be regulated. There shoulc
be one entry for each 100 pupils These
entrances should be vestibuled, and al
steps leading to the hall should not b.
less than six inches wide, and all stair.
made fireproof. The hall space SHOULD
be equal to one-sixth of the room space
Foot warmers should be placed in eacl
hall, so that the children may dry thei
feet in wet weather.
Fifth. cloakrooms should b,
heated and air changed therein at leas
four times an hour.
Sixth.-The thickness of the wall
should be regulated in order that tn
building may possess the requisit
strength. No doubt, oftentimes, in cut
ting down the estimates in order t
erect large building with the mean
at hand the walls are weakened and tn
building rendered unsafe.
In the ventilation and heating O
buildings the following requirement
shall be complied with:
First. the apparatus will, wit
proper management, heat all the rooms
including corridors, halls and cloak
rooms, to 10 degrees F. i'll any weather
Second THAT with the rooms at 2
degrees and difference of not less thai
40 degrees between the temperature O
the outside air and that of the air en-
tering the room at the warm air inlet
the apparatus will supply at least 8
cubic feet Of air per minute for eac
scholar accommodated in the rooms.
Third.-That the supply of air will s
circulate in the rooms that no uncom
Portable draft will be felt, and that tn
difference in temperature between an
two points on the breathing plane in tn
occupied portion of room will not ez
coed 8 degrees.
Fourth. vitiated air, in amour
equal to the supply from the inlets. wi
be removed through the ventiducts.
Fifth THAT the sanitary appliance
will be so ventilated that no odors there
from will be perceived in any porto
Of the building.
All buildings more than one story
height shall be constructed of brick {
stone There shall be at least two flight
OF stairs at distance from each othei
so that both shall be accessible from o,
cry room in the building.
No building shall be erected to
greater height than two stories. exclusi1
of the basement. Where brick Or sto1
is used in the construction of buildint
having more than one story all carryir
walls below the first story shall be
least 30 inches in thickness; that IL
carrying walls of the first story abo,
the basement shall be at least l6 inch
in thickness.
The basement shall be at least on
half to three-fifths of its height abo,
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