Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-19

Ventilation has wide significance
when applied to the affairs of the hu-
man race, and represents desire lot
fresh air. supplied without discomfort
Efficiency has comparatively new use
| in the modern science of obtaining the
maximum returns for expenditure
of time and money, says a writer in
the New York Sun. If human being
was at all times breathing fresh air at
a comfortable temperature and If ev-
lerything was accomplished at an effi-
cheney of 100 per cent there would be
no use for these words. and they prob
ably would not have been coined.
| In the name of one or the other. many
mechanical and commercial mistakes
have been made. and a proposed scheme
for producing better ventilation or in
creasing efficiency Is not blindly &C
cepted, but starts with a handicap of
doubt or unbelief because of the many
failures that have been made by those
who have been supposed to be expert.
The relation between ventilation and
efficiency is close when the aim is to
! obtain the largest amount of work
from a human being in return for his
wages or salary. If it is provable that
proper ventilation can be provided for
Offices, factories. homes. etc, the mat
ter is of much interest to those who
are studying problems IN human EN-
in winter weather. has housed himself
in and provided means for heating
the Enclosures in which he lives. He
has arranged for the admission of day
light when available and the produc-
ton OF artificial light when daylight
fails. His desire for warmth has made
him afraid of the admission of fresh
unheated a ir during the colder months.
and so mechanical apparatus has been
designed with the object of delivering
fresh air heated by passing 1t over
steam pipes to the rooms occupied by
students, patients. workers or those
seeking amusement. Such apparatus
is expensive in first cost and also for
operating and upkeep. The use OF me-
chanical apparatus has therefore been
confined to schools, hospitals, theaters.
tauditoriums, factories and in some
cases congested Offices where the man
lagement believes that such an invest
ment will be profitable.
Millions for Ventilation.
| The expenditure for this purpose has
amounted to many millions of dollars.
and it is said that a very great per-
centage of installations of this nature
are not operated because of unsatis-
| factory results and excessive operating
charges Many attempts have been
| made to obtain proper ventilation by
| admitting air through the windows
| and devices of varying design have
| been placed on the market which adj
| nit a certain amount of air to the
rooms. but owing to their faulty de-
| sign and limited capacity they have
! failed to accomplish the results de-
sired.
1t has finally come to be accepted
hot hi tod pfr Sc ~
| the ills that cannot be avoided, and
that If the human being Is reasonably
| efficient without an hourly supply of
fresh air it is as much as can be ex
| pected under modern conditions. This
| belief is so prevalent that tenants
| seeking new quarters have heretofore
| considered advantages offered by the
| renting agents from every standpoint
| except that of ventilation. If the
agent, in addition to the many val
| add that each room will be supplied
with the proper amount of fresh air
| without drafts or discomfort to the oc-
| cupants. 1t will prove to be a valuable
| factor in his negotiations and perhaps
the deciding argument that obtains
! tenant for his building.
Aids in Renting.
| Owners and builders have long rec
| ognized that SUCH an inducement would
be of great value in rapidly renting
their new buildings or in keeping their
| tenants from changing their quarters,
but the excessive cost of placing me-
chanical apparatus in the cellars and
| Easements and the cost not only of the
| ducts, but of the rentable floor space
occupied by them, has made the mat
ter Of ventilation prohibitive in cost.
| 1t is possible for comparatively
small amount of money to so install
simple deYicea In each room that the