Ohio State nav bar

Insulation, Air Conditioning, and Electrical Work

July 16, 2013

Insulation, Air Conditioning, and Electrical Work

The chamber was cleared and cleaned of old junk by the first week of June, and work began immediately on the interior of the chamber.

To prepare the chamber to receive the new dome, seating, and projector system, three major projects are under way:

First the walls of the chamber behind the dome must be sealed and insulated.  The concrete blocks on the walls were cleaned and then sealed with a vapor barrier.  On top of this, a 10-cm thick layer of foam was applied.  This dull gray foam material acts as both thermal insulation and as an acoustic treatment that suppresses echos in the room.  The room is noticeably quieter with this insulation layer applied!  On top of this, a special pitch black paint will be applied that has particular fire spread suppression properties.  Part of the delay in getting the interior work started was finding a suitable vapor barrier, foam, and paint combination that met our needs for insulation, fire safety, and budget.  After much searching we finally found the perfect match of materials that met our technical and safety requirements.

Now that the insulation layer is down and set, work has begun on installing the new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.  The old HVAC system was legendary for having two settings: very hot and very cold.  The new system is being tied into the new modern HVAC system being installed in all of Smith Laboratory, and has much higher capacity, better control, and in particular for the planetarium it now has the right supply and return vents for a room of our size.  The air supply vents will be (as before) hidden behind the dome, while the new air returns will go all the way to the floor at the two back corners of the room.  This will give us the right vertical and horizontal airflow to make for a much more comfortable room!

Simultaneously the electrical contractor has been hard a work pulling out the old 1960s vintage wiring and running new (up to modern code) electrical wiring and new electrical conduits which will live behind the dome.  Mostly out of sight, this new wiring will provide the electrical, data, and sound connections for the new digital projection system, and for the LED cove lighting and accent lighting below the dome.  We have extra junction boxes installed that will allow us to later install track lighting for photos and artwork we hope to display around the walls of the planetarium below the dome.

All this work should be wrapped up the the first week of July.  Then the room will be ready to receive the new NanoSeam projection dome!