AboutC. R. Construction Expertise All construction related, remodeling related, home improvement related, do it yourself related, and generally generic or specific trades related and construction contract law related questions.
Experience 30 years in the construction industry. Commercial and Residential
Organizations Licensed General Contractor in 2 States
Expert: C. R. Construction Date: 8/19/2006 Subject: calculating btu usage
Question I am trying to find a formula that will tell me how many btu's I need to heat a space. I'm more interested in industrial spaces, i.e.; manufacturing plant, 150,000 square feet on one floor, 20 foot ceilings, built with concrete panels and poured concrete floor, six to eight receiving and shipping doors, in an area with 7,000 heating degree days. I want to be able to convert the inputs so I really need to know the basic formula that I can use for any part of the country with many different building factors.
Thank you in advance
Answer There are scales and charts that need to be observed, due to different climates. Heat is divided between BTU's and calories. Meaning the humidity of a constant vs heat in ambient air. The Southwest requires a large variable in Heating and cooling due to a normally low humidity, the Southeast is a totally different variable with the high humidity. So in short the basic formula is basic to each "zone" of climates. From the East Coast to the WEst coast....5 zones that I know of.
