The Skyscraper Museum is devoted to the study of high-rise building, past, present, and future. The Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence. This site will look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.
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Gas-Fired Absorption Chiller - Mechanical
equipment that is used to generate chilled water for cooling of buildings.
Conventional chillers use electricity as the energy source, whereas gas-fired
absorption chillers use clean burning natural gas. While conventional chillers
have a compressor and use refrigerants to produce cooling, absorption chillers
contain an absorber, generator, pump and heat exchanger, and do not use
ozone-depleting substances. The absorption cycle utilizes environmentally
friendly working fluids, namely water (refrigerant) and lithium bromide
(absorbent). Some absorption chillers use ammonia as the refrigerant and
water as the absorbent.
Global Warming - An increase in the
global mean temperature of the Earth that is (or is thought to be) a result
of increased emissions of greenhouse gases that are trapped within the earth’s
atmosphere. Global warming is believed to have adverse consequences such
as climate change and a rise in sea levels. The scientific community is
in general agreement that the Earth’s surface has warmed by about
1°F in the past 140 years.
Gray Water - Wastewater from sinks,
showers, kitchens, washers, etc. Unlike black water, gray water does not
contain human waste. Typically gray water, after purification, is used for
non-potable uses such as flushing, irrigation, etc.
Green - A term that is widely used to describe a building and site that
is designed in an environmentally sensitive manner, i.e. with minimal impact
to the environment.
Green Building - A building that minimizes impact on the environment through
resource (energy, water, etc.) conservation and contributes to the health
of its occupants. Comfortable, aesthetically pleasing and healthful environments
characterize green buildings.
Greenhouse Effect Greenhouse gases in the earth’s
atmosphere permit solar radiation to pass through but prevent most of the
reflected infrared radiation from the earth’s surface and lower atmosphere
from escaping into outer space. This process occurs naturally and has kept
the earth’s average surface temperature at approximately 60°F.
Life on earth would not be possible without the natural greenhouse effect,
but environmental scientists are concerned about the increased emissions
of greenhouse gases from human activities, leading to climate change and
its consequential adverse effects.
Greenhouse Gases - Any gas that absorbs infrared radiation in the earth’s
atmosphere. Common greenhouse gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide
(CO2), methane (CH4), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone (O3), chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs), halogenated fluorocarbons (HCFCs), perfluorinated carbons (PFCs),
hydrofluoro-carbons (HFCs) and Sulfur Hexafluoride (SF6). Carbon dioxide,
methane and nitrogen oxides are of particular concern due to their long
residence time in the atmosphere.
Green Power - Electricity generated from renewable energy sources (solar,
wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydroelectric).
Grid A network of power transmission and distribution facilities
used to provide electricity to users (homes, businesses, industry). Large
power plants, wind power generating facilities as well as small power producers
(such as photovoltaic farms) feed electrical power into the grid for distribution
to users. Electrical grids in the USA are both publicly and privately owned.
