savings could not be made; however, based upon
around the foundation were significantly lower
the site foreman's assessment, it saved consider-
than in other similarly severe winters. This can
able time and materials over a conventional
be attributed to the fact that the building was
foundation. This was not only a case of how
only partially heated during the construction
much the SIF saved in dollars, but also a case of
phase, thus reducing the amount of heat loss to
whether the project could have been built at all
the underlying soil and resulting in lower soil
given the availability of funds, manpower, equip-
temperatures. It was obvious that the heat loss
ment, building supplies, and construction time-
from the foundation plays a critical role in the SIF
table.
design.
Observations made during the three winters of
this study showed the freezing front never
LITERATURE CITED
threatened the bottom of the footing, even dur-
Farouki, O. (1992) European foundation designs
ing the very cold winter of 199192, a design
for seasonally frozen ground. USA Cold Regions
freezing year that had an associated frost depth
Research and Engineering Laboratory, Mono-
of approximately 13.5 ft in the control area. Soil
graph 92-1.
temperatures around the foundation varied
NBI (1986) Slab-on-grade with foundation wall:
according to the outside temperatures: the higher
Heated buildings. In Building Details. Norwegian
the freezing index, the lower the soil temperatures.
Building Research Institute, Worksheet A521.811.
As expected, the soil temperatures decreased the
Torgersen, S.E. (1976) Frost protection of floor on
farther they were from the foundation. During the
groundwall. Frost I Jord, 17(10): 287314.
first year of observations, the soil temperatures
12
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