Facilities

Air Dispersion Evaluation and Control Laboratory

ADL is a full-scale testing chamber designed to test livestock ventilation systems in a simulated production arrangement. ADL can test and monitor fan, inlet, and controller performance simultaneously to assess how well a ventilation system controls desired temperature and airspeed levels in the animal zone. ADL is flexible enough to test sidewall, pit, and chimney exhaust ventilation systems with ceiling, sidewall, or curtain sided inlets.

Air Dispersion Evaluation and Control Laboratory
1333 V Avenue
Ames IA 50014

Steven J. Hoff
515-291-2726
hoffer@iastate.edu

Jay D. Harmon
515-294-0554
jharmon@iastate.edu

Atmospheric Air Quality Laboratory (AAQL)

The laboratory serves as a focal point for collaborative research and training in the area of air quality engineering and livestock odor for Iowa and beyond. The laboratory strives to serve students, faculty, and visiting scientists working on improving air quality in and near livestock and poultry operations. Collaborators include fellow faculty members at ABE, researchers at the USDA-ARS-Swine Odor and Manure Management Research Unit, and several leading university research groups in U.S. and Europe. Industrial collaborators include Microanalytics, a flavors, aromas and odors instrumentation and analytical services company. The laboratory is equipped with the state-of-the art instrumentation for chemical and olfactometry analysis of livestock odor.

National Swine Research and Information Center
2130 Pammel Drive
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011

Jacek Koziel
515-294-4206
koziel@iastate.edu

Industrial Assessment Center (IAC)

The Industrial Assessment Center at Iowa State University (ISU) provides free energy use, productivity enhancement, and waste reduction assessments to qualifying manufacturers. The IAC program at ISU is one of 26 IACs located nationwide and is funded by the U. S. Department of Energy.

Industrial Assessment Center
2043 Black Engineering
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011

Gregory Maxwell
515-294-8645
gmaxwell@iastate.edu

Interlock House 

The Interlock House has been designed for the Iowa climate, one of the most extreme climates in North America with hot and humid summers and very cold winters, with resulting design temperatures (drybulb/wetbulb) ranging from 90ºF/74ºF (32.2 ºC / 23.3 ºC) in summer to -3ºF (-19 ºC) in winter (ASHRAE 2005). Still the house aims to provide an example of how net-zero energy living is affordable and possible today. Transforming to accommodate the extremes of the Iowa seasons and interlocking with the outdoor environment, this house balances a reduction of energy consumption through design with solar power production. An advanced sensor and data acquisition system has been installed into the home to monitor energy consumption to validate the design prediction and to develop prediction models investigating the impact of human behavior on building energy consumption. 

Ulrike Passe
515-294-7142
upasse@iastate.edu

Regional Climate Modeling Laboratory

Climate models based on fundamental conservation principles are used to simulate regional climate change and variability consistent with expected patterns of global climate change due to increases in greenhouse gasconcentrations. Current applications include studies of changes in frequency and characteristics of extreme meteorological events, changes in wind power and solar power availability, and changes in stream flow and flood potential under future scenario climates.

Raymond W. Arritt
515-294-9870
rwarritt@bruce.agron.iastate.edu

William J. Gutowski, Jr.
515-294-5632
gutowski@iastate.edu

Eugene S. Takle
515-294-9871
gstakle@iastate.edu

Shelterbelt Research Laboratory

By use of a numerical model for simulating turbulent flow through vegetative barriers, we simulate mean and turbulent flow through trees, shrubs, crop canopies and around buildings. The flow model, coupled with a Lagrangian particle transport model, enables numerical simulation of pollen through and out of corn fields, dust and odor transport from animal confinement systems, and snow transport and deposition in the vicinity of solid and porous barriers.

Eugene S. Takle
515-294-9871
gstakle@iastate.edu

Structural Engineering Lab

Iowa State Unviersity’s Dept. of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering houses this 6,900 sq. ft. structural engineering research laboratory. It provides an 80 by 50 ft. main testing area, 80 by 25 ft. tie-down floor with a million pound capacity, 20-ton overhead crane, and electronic and computer equipment for controlling experiments and data logging.

Doug Wood
515-294-3768
dwoody@iastate.edu

Wind Simulation and Testing Laboratory (WiST)

A world-class Wind Simulation and Testing (WiST) Laboratory is being setup at Iowa State University. This laboratory that occupies a space of 12,000 sq. ft. is located in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics in Howe Hall on the ISU campus. WiST Lab will be a state-of-the-art experimental facility for conducting research, education, consulting and outreach in the subject area of wind-structure interaction. When completed it will be a one-of-a-kind facility for applications in wind engineering, aeronautics and industrial aerodynamics. It will include a wind tunnel with two test sections, aerodynamic and atmospheric boundary layer, along with features that are unique among all university-operated wind tunnels in the nation. WiST Lab will help ISU provide high-quality educational and research opportunities to young engineers to prepare them for the challenges of the 21st century.

Wind Engineering and Experimental Aerodynamics (WEEA) Program
2271 Howe Hall
Iowa State University
Ames IA 50011
aere-weea@iastate.edu