Course Reflection

The title of this class is “Intelligent Buildings” and that is exactly what we focused in throughout the term.  From the beginning of the term, we explored what Intelligent Buildings entails and how they are becoming popular in the construction world.  We looked into what components make up an Intelligent Building, the technological capabilities that are now available to us, how Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an up and coming process and its performance in the building industry, how databases serve as a great advantage to companies for providing accurate representations of systems, and finally we observed the capabilities of sensors and their role in Intelligent Buildings.  By going through tutorials in Revit and Microsoft Access, we were introduced to the concept of BIM and databases.  Even though we did a short introduction of these, I believe it was enough to grasp the main concepts.  Overall, this class gave us a look into the future and how our careers in the construction world will use and incorporate these technologies.  In addition, as we investigated and learned about these technologies in class, we also took a glimpse at its effect in other careers, such as computer science, programming, architecture, electrical engineering, and more. Like my classmate Kayleigh said, this was a great way to prepare for future changes in our field of study and also be knowledgeable with the current and future methods utilized. 

Considering that the company that I will be working for after I graduate is very involved in green construction and Intelligent Buildings, I found this class to be very helpful.  It gave me a good background to the new technologies that are emerging and now I feel more knowledgeable and informed to go into a company that works closely with sensors, robotics and databases.

One of the best aspects about this class was the guest speakers.  I was always so interested to hear what they had to say about their experience in their field and then relate it back to Intelligent Buildings and how they use technological advances in their profession.  Every single guest speaker was very well chosen because they were all able contribute with their insight at a topic we were covering.  This class was very insightful and a great choice as a professional elective.

Movement Sensors

Prior to this week’s assigned research, I thought I understood the basic concept of movement sensors and how and why they were commonly used, yet as I continued doing my research I became more aware of the importance and dependability that other systems have over this system.  Movement sensors detect changes in positions of a person or object relative to its environment or the other way around.  There are six types of motion detectors that are commonly used including: infrared, optics, radio frequency energy, sound, vibration, and magnetism.

The types of movement sensor methods are mechanical and electronic methods.  Most people are unaware of the mechanical movement sensors around us, yet unknowingly we use these daily and vastly.  From the moment we wake up we use movement sensors such as the moment we turn our alarm clock off,  when dialing the heating time in our microwaves, typing in our computer keyboards or even the simple motion of flicking the light switch.  Electronic detection sensors are ones that detect optical or acoustical motion.  Examples of when we encounter these sensors include the ones that activate lighting, activate a camera to turn on, or even trigger an alarm. 

Because of the wide range of functions of movement sensors, these are the most used type of sensors.  Other types of sensors are dependent and rely on these sensors in order to activate or deactivate.  For pressure sensors, like my classmate C. Meraz explained, a piezoelectric pressure transducer uses crystal to convert motion into an electrical output since “these sensors are also highly susceptible to shock and vibration”.   With flow sensors, like Brian V says in his blog post, record measurements within a flow meter of flow of fluids or gases.  These measurements are found by observing the movement of such fluids or gases.  Matthew Tedesco also explains that “aside from mechanical flow meters, fluid velocity and flow can be measured using optic sensors”.  As explained before, optic motion sensors fall under the movement sensors category.  In conclusion, we can encounter movement sensors in our everyday life and they also play important roles in other practices.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_detection

http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/household-safety/security/question238.htm

Databases in Construction Firms

“Databases allow you to manage your data more efficiently, avoid errors and manipulate it easily.” 

Construction firms are acknowledging the fact that staff and subcontractors come and go and the retrieval of data and information about projects becomes difficult.  With this in mind, construction firms find ease with databases.  There always comes a time when you either have a staff member replaced or simply after the project is completed, years later there is a need to recover the documents from a past project.  This is where databases come into play.  By saving and storing past, current, and potential projects, contractors, suppliers and clients, the workplace becomes organized as well as time and cost efficient.  With a database, everything is stored in one place where authorized staff has access to find the most up-to-date information. In order to obtain such information, the System Query Language (SQL) plays a role as the data language that helps organize and retrieve stored information from the database.  As Elda mentioned in her blog, having a standardized language is very important as it “allows everyone to access and manipulate databases.” 

After my last coop in a construction claims company, I soon came to realize the necessity of databases in the industry.  Considering that the company hired interns for a period of six months, they needed to have a certain file storage unit where future employees could easily attain information.  Because this company had international offices and worked globally, operating with a database was very useful and practical.  In Ryan’s post he said that for large construction firms that operate in multiple states or countries, databases come in handy “to ensure they are in compliance with disposal standards of the local area that the project is in.”  I agree with this statement because this would be a great communication source in order for companies to comply with standards.

Since the 1970s, databases have progressively been integrated in all industries and now we can see a greater implementation in construction firms.  Now, companies are found in a transition stage where the mountains of file boxes are being converted into database files, improving document and information retrieval in an efficient manner.

Sources:

"Benefits of a Relational Database." Sunadal Data Solutions. SDS, 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <https://www.sunadal.co.uk/db.php>.

"Construction and General Contractors Database." Oddity Software - Databases, Development and Design. Oddity Software LLC, 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://www.odditysoftware.com/page-datasales165.htm>.

"Database." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Dec. 2012. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database>.

"Why Use the Planchest Database?" Planchest. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013. <http://www.planchest.net/Why.aspx>.

Term Project

Nowadays, the mission of most contractors is to help people make the most while using less of their energy and simultaneously providing various operational and security services to a building.  This is all achieved by also promoting a “green” environment.  Energy management is aimed in making energy be efficient, reliable, productive, and green, all in order to provide energy usage for appliances, machinery, HVAC systems, security and motors.  Rita Pauliushchyk claimed that the use of sensors improves the efficiency of operations in a building. I could not agree with that statement more considering that one of the biggest technologies that are emerging from intelligent buildings and that rely on energy management is sensors. 

Even though sensors have been around for quite a while now, they are now being used a lot more.  Now sensors come in the smallest sizes and their functionality has increased.  Considering that I have a mechanical concentration, I thought it would be interesting to explore the variety of uses of a sensor in a building, for heating, ventilating and air conditioning, as well as for security measures. I will also explore how the design methods of a contractor vary when placing sensors in a building.  These include the challenges that can be encountered while designing in an existing building, as well as a contractors design preference during the construction phase of a building.  In addition, I will further examine how energy efficient sensors can be, their reliability and how they promote “green”.

My original project idea was to compare two different types of programs, Autodesk Storm and Sanitary Analysis and EPA SWMM.  Because I will be using EPA SWMM for my senior design project in order to plan and design a hydraulic system, I thought it would be interesting to compare it to a similar program by Autodesk.  I was going to first create a design using EPA SWMM and then attempt to exchange this design to the Autodesk software, modify it and send it back.  My initial idea was to investigate the interoperability of both, yet I came to realize that it does not have a big connection to BIM.  Because sensors have such a wide variety of uses and are multifaceted, I decided to explore this topic for my term project.

BIM in the Future

To this day, BIM has been very successful with its users and many companies benefit from it daily.  With this being said, we can expect great things in the future.  Considering the importance of data management throughout project constructions, BIM generates the data from beginning to end and from multiple users.  As an effective source of communication, BIM can solve many problems to clients as everything is made available to them.  An obstacle that exists nowadays is the fact that some people don’t know of the existence of BIM and don’t fully understand its advantages.  There will always be the people who don’t like change and are used to the way they have done it for some may years, call it the “old-fashion” way, and feel like there is no need to bring in anything new and ‘complicated’.  Due to this and in order to overcome this obstacle, colleges should introduce BIM to their students so that by the time they graduate college, they can be proficient and apply their skills in the workplace.  I agree with my fellow classmate, Gabriel Carpenter, who predicts what will happen in the workplace soon after the introduction of BIM: “either CAD drafters are expected to learn the new technology, entry-level engineers – who specify that they know the technology – are recruited to draft, or companies have to reach outside the company to hire another firm to do their BIM work for them.” In the end, the industry will be using and expecting everyone to use BIM.

            According to Mr. Eric Kuszewski, a BIM expert who has heavily worked with AutoCAD and Revit, admits that there are some challenges with BIM in the current time.  These include the learning curve and training, level of detailing, interdisciplinary workflow, IT infrastructure, and communication.  He expressed that nowadays BIM has these limitations that might make companies hold out and hesitate on using BIM.  Yet to counteract this argument, Dell and DB+C claimed that “in the United States, architects are the heaviest users of BIM, using it on more than 60% of their projects, compared with 43% of architects who claimed to be BIM users in 2008".  From this, we can deduce that in the next five years twenty percent more, approximately a total of 80%, of architects will be using BIM.  In addition, Jennifer M. McGregor, Executive Director of Obelisk, predicted, “In the next three years, we’ll all be converted to using BIM”.  These optimistic expectations are enough proof that the BIM world is quickly spreading throughout the industries.  

Sources:

http://www.wbdg.org/pdfs/1103_dell_bdc_whitepaper.pdf

http://iidahq.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/the-future-is-here-and-its-bim/