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T THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, ¥. € UOCTOBER 12, 1930. Science Plans “Blind” Buildings for Health Windowless Sky- scrapers, in Which Light, Tempera- ture, Humidity and Air Circulation Are All Mechani- cally Supplied, Are Proposed by Engi- neers to Promote More Health ful Conditions. AVING taught mankind the health- ful and healing properties of sun- light, promoted and praised out- door life as invigorating and stimulating to the human body, proposes windowless buildings as the most eco- nomical, efficient and desirable structures and more beneficial to the present habits of civilized Science is not trying to discard nature. But, baving torn materials out of the earth to erect buildings into the sky and polluted the air, en- gineers, chemists and physicists are now eon- trolling an artificial world. Steps to shut ourselves away completely from nmncht and natural air have already been m Atlantic City Convention Hall is the hrgstmominthewofld—spacimuenouhh ,000 persons—and there is not a win- the support of practical men who see the great advantages in walls of stone with the sunlight tric fans and have gone so far in the art of mmhmmzmmemmm and Dan C. Lindsay, former expert in the Bu- reau of Standards in Washington, expreases the opinion that the use of air-conditioning systems in large hotels and theaters may result in the erection of many windowless buildings within the next 10 years. The development of air conditioning led to a study of the leakage of air around windows, ealling attention to the necessity of inventing airtight frames as air conditioning was impaired of air leaked in around each window each minute. With the discussion of airtight frames for windows, the question of eliminating glass in favor of artificial light came to the fore. Electric light can supply as good illumina- than that which now enters through our windows. Bulldings without windows would cost less to in his opinion, would be easier to heat in wmter and easler to keep cool in Summer, While the average man considers a window as & valuable source of light and air, Mr, Lindsay says the only use is the view it affords. Windows, declare building experts, let in the cold and let out the heat. As skyscrapers grow taller, large sections of every bullding are doused in constamt: gloem,’ and nobody will P A e T Y iy e 'H" r'm' it rin 10 IHII I olin mnl Buildings with blank walls are cheaper to con- struct and the expense of lighting such struc- tures probably would be offset by a saving in required artificial heat, elimination of window washing and the absence of much dirt. suffer if walls replace such windows and arti- ficial light which has the value of daylight is provided. Everybody who has observed the conditions think of the lighting expense when suggesting that illumination by electricity is costly, but the engineer points out that there are savings which more than offset extra use of current. Flat walls without windows are much cheaper poor daylight or a combination of daylight and artificial light,” declares Mr. Lindsay. “The central heating systems now employed are less than 20 per cent efficient because the windows in buildings allow the warm air to escape.” He pointed to the Woolworth and Equitable Buildings, the first with 2,500 and the second with 5,500 windows, as examples of useless ex- travagance. He referred to the cost of wash- ing these windows and cited the money that could have been saved in construction cost if The school room is dependent on artificial light and venulatwu, the windows being merely for appearance, and the scene behmd them is painted on a solid wall. less buildings, the problem of adding ultra- violet light to indoor illumination became of prime importance and such experiments are now under way. The use of special glass which passes the ultra- violet rays of the sun has been used as a method of providing this vital element for indoor workers near a window, but the remainder of the room still suffers from the lack of the rays. Special glass would be most beneficial in the Winter time, for that is just the period when people are indoors for than in the Summer, but unfortunately, the sun does not deliver a major percentage of ultra-violet rays at this season and the scant portion of ultra-violet rays which would be received does not seem to justify the expense. Besides, it is said that our present habits keep people in the open air in the warmer months for periods which give them a maximum benefit from the vital rays. The illumination experts have succeeded in diffusing electric light without shadow and glare; they are able to supply it in daylight shades, brilliant or mellowed with faint colors as desired, and when they are able to perform the trick of adding to it just the proper per- centage of ultra-violet rays beneficial to health from some form of sun lamp, the problem of the windowless building will be virtually solved. future evolution of artificial lighting will, in all probability, deal with knowledge hitherto acquired concerning the varied mental and physical effects of light on the human race. ‘This comparatively new field of study—termed “light biology” by German scientists—is attracte ing unusual attention throughout the world, and numerous institutions have devoted con- siderable resources to its study, both in America and in Europe. The Smithsonian Instit tion, in Washington, . D. C.,, has created a d’* " "m of radiation and organisms, which, alth: 1 at present confining its attention to the efTects of radiant energy on plant life, will later make similar studies of its effects on animal life. Artificial atmosphere conditions appeal strong- 1y to the sufferers from hay fever. Using a newly invented apparatus which screens out all pollen from the air, persons to hay fever may work with ease in an office free from the irritating motes of protein. ” he declares, “this idea can be ap- plied to department stores. We ¢ ‘2 n"w plane nihg such a structure. The feasibility of the idea as applied to stores will be readily seen, for shops now supplied with windows generally keep them shaded, as ordinary rays of light give wrong impressions to persons trying to match and determine shades, while the right type of artificial lighting presents them correctly.” That the most difficult problems in the way of ventilation and providing healthful atmos- phere can be solved is suggested by the fact that engineers have been able successfully to operate a plant to regulate temperature and air in a gold mine at Nova Lima, Brazil, that is more than 6,000 feet below the surface of the earth. Here the temperature of the rocks is about 120 degrees Fahrenheit and the moisture content of the air is also The condition= ing plant cools and dries the air and is the only thing that makes it possible for men to work in such location. Having manufactured weather, it was only a question of time bef: some scientist would attempt to learn if he could make a more healthful atmosphere than the kind which na« ture has provided for the human race. Dr. J. Willard Hershey of McPheérson College, Kansas, has been arranging atmospheres for more than six years arid in a report to his fel low scientists he told what happened when he subjected animals to various artificial atmou- pheres which he controlled. It -has generally Jbeen supposed that the air Continued on Twenly-second Page