Tem Project

As an HVAC major, I wanted to choose a project that focuses on this aspect of intelligent buildings. Reading about the Nest thermostat in the building of the term intrigued me to research the capabilities of thermostats. It might seem like a primitive control system but it is the first integration of an “intelligent” system into a building.

After my project partner, David Morrison, and I spoke and brainstormed with my friend from Drexel Smart House, Michael Magee, we finalized the scope of the project as the exploration of the capabilities of integrated thermostats. For this project, we will use an Arduino microprocessor to collect temperature and humidity data from different spaces. Sensors will be placed in each of the four corners of the rooms we will use for this study and temperature and humidity differences will be measured. The data will also be compared in the static thermostat controlling each of the spaces measured. This data will be analyzed to draw conclusions about the effectiveness of the thermostat. Location of thermostat, location of diffuser, size of space, and type of air conditioning system in the space will be taken into account.

After the data will be analyzed thoroughly, we will draw conclusions regarding the implications of the study in relation to intelligent buildings. Some implications include actually including multiple thermostats in each space to create an integral system, providing automated diffusers that spread air more evenly, adding automated fans to mix the air better thermally, etc. The project will draw conclusions to help provide a more even thermal comfort throughout spaces and give suggestions as to how to integrate it into intelligent buildings.

Interoperability

Interoperability is a crucial aspect of BIM, especially due to the complexity of buildings nowadays and the idea that building function as one cohesive machine, rather than a collection of systems. In practice, there are many designers working on each building: an architect, a structural engineer, an electrical engineer, a mechanical engineer etc. These people and their systems need to be able to communicate with each other not only on site, but also during the design process. Therefore it is necessary for computer generated building systems created with different programs to be compatible and read by other interfaces.

Elda did a great job briefing about the technical aspect of interoperability in her post. Rather than repeating what she had already said, I would like to touch more of the impact interoperability has on BIM. In order to make buildings more efficient, many building systems are cross-disciplinary. A contractor might want to save cost by providing cheap envelope, but overall the building can turn out more expensive with a larger HVAC system and larger energy consumption. By providing interoperable design methods, the designers can see how their systems will work together in real life. As the BIM Handbook states, is it possible to conduct ANSI calculations using IFC with proper labeling. This can make design more efficient and help in providing ideal solutions in terms of energy management, cost reduction, and systems’ effect on one another. As we move forward to an era of more intelligent buildings, BIM interoperability is necessary to ensure compatibility and communications between systems and avoid errors due to miscommunication and complexity.

It is true that there are still problems with IFC and other formats, such as complex curve interpretation and other problems in translation, but I believe these problems will be solved in the near future. Autodesk software seem to be the most common type of software used today in the industry, which is a step towards standardization; but as long as other programs are used there has to be a way in which files can be translated from one program to another with as little errors as possible for an efficient interoperable BIM design.

Common Topic Labels for the Course

Below are topics that we'll address in the course.  This post also creates those topics as Labels for use when you're putting in your own blog posts.

TOPIC

AI

BIM

Building

Civil

Computer

Database

Design

Electrical

Environmental

Future

Hardware

HVAC

Manufacturing

Robotics

Sensor

Software

Structures

System

Term Project