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It's less about natural light than ventilation. If whatever ventilation systems the building uses breaks down, interior rooms without opening windows are a lia
by kbenson 2y ago
It's less about natural light than ventilation. If whatever ventilation systems the building uses breaks down, interior rooms without opening windows are a liability.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 2y agoThis seems wrong... are people opening windows on the 60th floor? What about those buildings whose design precludes easy retrofitting to openable windows? I'm not being rhetorical, I'd like answers.
- kbenson 2y agoI figured looking up tall residential building and seeing what they do would be a good indicator of norms. The tallest Residential building in New York is Central Park Tower at 98 above ground floors: The residential stories have casement windows, within the curtain wall, that can swing up to 4 inches (100 mm) outward. In addition, some condominium units have motorized windows at least seven feet (2.1 m) above the floor.[1] The condominiums start on the 32nd floor, according to the same article. If building can't easily be retrofitted to allow openable windows, then I would assume they either can't be used for residential or they could try to get some sort of exemption if they can prove it's safe. I'm mostly going off what I know about building codes and what I've read previously on the topic when it's posted and it's delved into what the actual problems are in converting to residential. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_Tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_Tower
- JackFr 2y agoOpening windows on high floors is great -- you don't need screens cause most urban insects stay much closer to ground level. (Although admittedly I haven't opened any windows higher than 20)
- quickthrowman 2y agoOffice towers do not have windows that open, aside from some very old ones might have windows that open. Commercial building windows in general do not open at all.
- kbenson 2y agoMy understanding is you have to fix this when changing to residential. There are building codes requires to be met for residential housing, and normally that includes openable window space for both ventilation and egress in an emergency. Maybe they'll make an exception for egress, but I doubt they will for ventilation.
- WalterBright 2y agoWhat good is an egress window 30 stories up?
- kbenson 2y agoExactly why I would expect them to make an exception for it. Unless the local laws have been changed specifically to allow for that situation, I doubt the laws started out that way though. I don't imagine the people designing building codes for residential living put a lot of thought to extremely tall buildings initially.
- throwup238 2y agoThe secret to flight is throwing yourself at the ground and missing.
- amanaplanacanal 2y agoI don’t understand building codes. It’s not safe for people to sleep there, but it’s safe to work there for eight to twelve hours a day? Something is off.
- asalahli 2y agoPresumably because you're awake while working and can notice problems when they happen. Not so much when you're sleeping.
- MatmaRex 2y agoI mean… yes? I don't see what's so confusing. In an office building, if anything goes wrong, an alarm goes off and everyone leaves, and insurance pays for damages. In a residential building, you have people sleeping, sick, possessions they might not be willing to leave behind, babies, pets… It makes sense for the safety requirements to be different.
- valenterry 2y agoIsn't ventilation most of the time built into offices and hence much better than what you can get in most residentual buildings?
- dv_dt 2y agoI would think that the people density that an office space is built for is higher than residential density. Even a studio apt is more individual space than many shared office layouts.
- kbenson 2y agoWhen it works, sure. You don't generally sleep for extended periods in an office though, so would probably notice it getting stuffy. Sleeping or bedridden people might not notice or be able to easily do something about it though if oxygen levels drop.
- valenterry 2y agoSleeping produces less co2 than working. Therefore, if you don't feel it getting stuffy (without opening windows) at work time, then sleep time should be no issue. Besides, offices have to deal with more people than residential buildings. And air quality depends on the number of people (and what they do).
- kbenson 2y agoThe difference when sleeping compared to resting or low activity work is that sleeping is about 60%-65% of resting from what I've found.[1] I'm not sure why we should assume that shouldn't be a problem. We could be close to a low oxygen situation prior to sleep, and then start sleeping and have hours for it to get worse. We don't generally design safety regulations around "should" and averages, but instead when edge cases happen, as the magnitude of the outcome is very important to take into consideration. I'm not sure what you're trying to express with your comment. 1: https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/co2-persons-d_691.html https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/co2-persons-d_691.html
- WalterBright 2y agoModern skyscrapers do not have openable windows, so the building ventilation system is totally relied on anyway.
- kbenson 2y agoSee my cousin comment about Central Park Tower. Modern commercial skyscrapers seem to not have openable windows.
- jandrewrogers 2y agoOne of the newest and tallest skyscrapers in Seattle, Rainier Square, not only has openable windows throughout but on some high floors has massive sliding windows that open up to a sheer drop (widely recognized as a bit of a potential safety risk).
- ceejayoz 2y agoClosed windows won't necessarily save you. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Garry_Hoy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Garry_Hoy > While giving a tour of the Toronto-Dominion Centre to a group of articling students, he attempted to demonstrate the strength of the structure's window glass by slamming himself into a window. He had apparently performed this stunt many times in the past, having previously bounced harmlessly off the glass. After one attempt which saw the glass hold up, Hoy tried once more. In this instance, the force of Hoy slamming into the window removed the window from its frame, causing the entire intact window and Hoy to fall from the building.