Class Reflection

It is the final week of this quarter and the intelligent building class goes to end. Based on 10 week study, I expanded my knowledge on building aspect; moreover, I learned several things both on technology and learning method. It is well beyond my expection.  

For technology, it gives me the opportunity to deal with BIM and database.  Compared with the first few weeks when I barely know what BIM is, now I can run Revit and draw something with it. It is a great progress to me. The practice is necessary and usually cost more time but less effort than I expect, however, I get a deeper understanding on how it works and when the building design is finished, the feeling of creation is good and we play with it more, focusing on the better developing model and more application of Revit such as cost analysis. Although it is only a preliminary try, we enjoy the process and it is worth the time. When the class is over, I still want to work on that to develop a better version.  Thanks to the class I find another powerful software---access, one type of databases.  When I did the homework, I realized I can combine my research record into it to make a better organization.  Gabrielle Carpenter’s said she use access daily to manage her finances, I agree that is a good idea.

In addition, I also appreciate the guest lecture on  sensors in the service of increasing building efficiency and database as Xiang said. They give me a more clear understanding on what I have learned because when I read the material, sometimes it is abstract and the guest lectures bring the material into real life. Moreover, the database lecture from Dr. II-Yeol Song also addressed several specific problems which I met in the practice. It really helped me a lot.

The more important thing I learn from this lecture is the self-study spirit. Unlike other class, which I can only focused on the questions and seek for the answers, this class addresses more on the exploring part. We need to find the knowledge by ourselves, especially for the update of blog.  Just because of that,  I develop my ability both on writing and reading. For example, for the first blog I needed two days to collect information, but for the last one, the same extent of searching only cost me three hours and I can spend more time on correcting the logic and structure.

In general, this lecture is designed to open-minded and we can bring whatever we learned from class, mostly by ourselves.  Although I have the same feeling as Cifligu that the material presented is plenty against this short time. I think it is the main purpose that to introduce all intelligent building based concepts during 10 weeks as Rita Pauliushchyk  said.  Based on the understanding of aspects I interested, I can further explore the extent.   

Group A: Teaching Hospital

The stakeholders we identified for the teaching hospital include patients, attendings/residents/nurses/PAs, facilities staff, owner/board of trustees, AEC, and the community through research.  We identified these stakeholders through the various phases they would come into contact with a teaching hospital.  The technologies that we identified for these stakeholders as being most important are: acoustic analysis, lighting/MEP systems, sensors, robots, code analysis, database, cost estimate, and models.

• Patients would most benefit from sensors, lighting/MEP systems, code analysis, database, and acoustic analysis
• Doctors/nurses/PAs would benefit also benefit from the same technology that the patients would, with sensors being the most critical to their effectiveness of care.  An effective database will also aid in their research capabilities.
• Facilities staff would benefit greatly from sensors, lighting/MEP systems, models, robots, and cost estimates
• Owner/Board of Trustees would be most interested in code analysis, database, cost estimate, and models
• AEC would benefit from all technologies involved since they are involved in almost all phases of the building's life
• The community would most benefit from the database as doctors are able to pull the patient's personal information, the care the patient received, and the final outcome of the patient from this compiled database

Presentation

Pressure Sensors

A pressure sensor can detect pressure and then convert it to electricity signal for display. So it acts as a transducer that generates an electrical signal as a function of the pressure imposed [1]. According to G.Carpenter’s blog, the electrical outputs of pressure sensor can be classified into three types: (1) sensors with millivolt output. These sensors are common and economic but need regulated power supplies and not suitable for noisy environment because the outputs are nominally around 30mV, easily being interrupted.  (2) sensors with amplified voltage output. By using the integral signal conditioning  the outputs are amplified,  ranged from 0-5Vdc to 0-10Vdc so they are more steady than type (1); (3) Sensors with 4-20mA output. The signal is the most steady so they are suitable for the long transition distance(1000+ft)[2].

Pressure sensors can use different technologies to detect pressure. The most common method is to measure strain due to applied force over an area also named force collector. For example, as C.Meraz introduced, variable capacitance and piezoelectric sensors are different force collector types. I want to discuss other types of sensors using other properties to infer pressure.

Resonant wire pressure sensor uses the difference of resonant frequency to measure pressure. The input pressure is detected by the high pressure and low pressure diaphragms on the right and left of the unit[3]. Usually, the resonant wire oscillates at its natural frequency. When the pressure changes, the wire tension will change accordingly and the resonant frequency also changes. A digital counter circuit is used to detect the shift and transform the signal to pressure value. The advantage of this technology is it can provide very stable readings over time[1].

Another type of sensor uses the changes in thermal conductivity of a gas[1]. The typical application is Pirani gauge, which was invented in 1906 by Marcello Pirani[4]. The method measures heat loss of a filament to indirectly determine the pressure of gas. For example, within high pressure, there should be more molecules present in the same volume and the chance to collide with heated metal wire potentially high, resulting in more efficiency removing heat than low pressure. Since the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the gas may affect the readout, the sensor needs to be calibrated before using. The advantage of this method is its accuracy—between 0.5Torr to 10^-4 Torr[4].

1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_sensor

2 http://www.omega.com/prodinfo/pressuretransducers.html

3 http://automationwiki.com/index.php?title=Resonant_Wire_Pressure_Transducer

4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirani_gauge

Relational Database Theory

Database is a revolution from flat-file format.  For flat-file, all the data were stored with each record in one large table. For example, if one wanted to place an order, the data was recorded by detailed information such as customer’s name, address, phone number and SSN. This requirement was performed every time when the same one wanted to do the same thing. And the information was written down repeatedly into large files. Thus the problem appeared. Not only the large space was needed to restore the big amount of information (can be either in paper or in computer memeroy), the human sources to maintain these data were also a large pool.

So on 1970, Dr. Edgar Codd first defined the relational database. The biggest advantage of this database was reorganized data in the form of relations to eliminate the redundant data. In other word, the database method doesn’t care the order of columns and rows. It doesn’t equal to the table although every relationship can be depicted as a table. For example, the two different tables below represent the same relation. The computer only needs to memory the relationship between column and rows to generate several tables. In terms of how to generate these relations, terms of tuples and attribute are generated. In relational database theory, a relation is a set of tuples that belong to a data domain. And each distinct domain used in the definition of a relation is called an attribute. For example, the Name, studentid and courseid are three attributes. They belong to different domains.

 

The method is operated by the software called relational database management system(RDBMS). Generally, the RDBMS responds to command. The command is input which is written in the database language such as SQL and the responds are output which include completion codes, messages and results of queries.

The benefit of reducing saving storage space is not a big problem due to the technical development. However, the relational database should be still be used because it can reduce the entry errors as Gayaneh said in her blog.  Because each item is stored only once, so once you can find the specific error you made, you can correct a series mistake.

Sources: http://www.techrepublic.com/article/relational-databases-the-inspiration-behind-the-theory/5034633

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

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

http://www.zums.ac.ir/files/research/site/ebooks/it-programming/an-introduction-to-relational-database-theory.pdf

Project: Room design by Revit

The project my partner Xiang Li and I will focus on is BIM designing. Our preliminary idea is to design a two floor building and add a HAVC system in it by Revit.

The purpose of choosing this topic is that we want to learn how to use Revit and further extend our skills on BIM applications. In architecture and construction fields BIM is becoming much more popular recently. I will be no surprised that it will replace other software to dominate the design studios in the future. Based on the reading and learning from class, there are several BIM building design platforms and each one has its own advantage. For example, Bentley, according to the presentation of Mr. Robert last Thursday, is famous for complex simulations and broad range of modeling tools. The products designed by it have won several building prizes. It is suitable for higher level design. We choose Revit as our tool because it is the most popular BIM in the market and is organized in a well-designed and user –friendly interface.

In addition, Revit has many different kinds of objects developed by third parties that can be directly used in the design. Know well about how to use them and further to create the object families is another challenge for us.  

So the project will examine our cognitive depth about Revit application. We plan to present a sheet, composed of house floor plan, elevations and HAVC system construction and its distribution in the house. We also want to generate one report recording all the technical problems we meet and how we solve them. Within the drawing process, we can share the experiences and how to make the design effective and powerful. We can summary what we have learned through the design process.

Our group member Gabrielle Carpenter and Gayaneh Gulbenkian will research on the relationship between green and intelligent building. I am also interested how to use technology to make our building environmental and the extent to name it the “green building”. As mentioned in Gabrielle’s post, the definitions of intelligent building include a broad range of regulations such as temperature control and window shadow control. With these measures operation properly, buildings energy can be saved which called. Their topic is about how the sustainability will contribute to the “green image” of the building.  I am looking forward to the way they predict combination of green and intelligence in the future.

Future of BIM

Nowadays half of the industry is using BIM or BIM-related tools. The proportion is 75% more than six years ago (RLF-BIM a More Sophisticated Deliverable). So it is possible that in the next 5 years, BIM usage will dominate design and manufacture fields .All the related firms should require employees have BIM background or at least be familiar with it. And as Jeanine Lancellotti mensioned, courses on BIM technology will be provided by most of the colleges.

The advantage of BIM is its object-based parametric model method, which turns the shape and other properties of objects into pre-defined values. Compared with the most-used Autocad software, which relies on the manually drawing by user (cheaper 2 handbook), it simplifies the total work, reduces working time and make 3D design possible, etc. That benefit of BIM leads it more and more popular. However, like pineapple144 mentioned, changes had been made along with technology developing. Blueprint changed from hand-drawing to computer-based, engineering was separated from architecture.  Former powerful tools became useless unless advancing with evolution. If BIM wants to remain its popular trend in the future, some improvement might be made.

First, BIM should have different interface to choose. For freshmen,visualization is better than parametric model. People might only care about the approximately cost change based on difference of window materials, don’t want to consider other variables.It is better that the software can provide a friendly interface to that kind of people.For professional user who need accurate and complicate calculation, the more complicate BIM should also be provided.

Second, BIM should expand its application, focus on life-cycle cost as well. Over the life of a building, operation and maintenance cost more than initial construction like shown in figure 1. BIM can combine all the building objects information together. With daily energy usage information of all objects in that building added in the software, the optimal choice can be made.

Third, BIM should get more compatibility between different software to make a better communication. For example, old buildings were designed by Autocad who don’t define objects by parametric description but drawing. In the future, by scanning the prints BIM can have the dataset for every subject. Furthermore, whatever BIM software is used, the files can be open in another software, For example, the Revit data can be open by Energplus.

Additionally, I agree with C.Meraz’s idea that future developments of BIM should also include BIM centered conventions. Future design needs to follow the rules to avoid variable and repeat descriptions for the same object. And once the object is defined, it can be used in every BIM software. This effort plus the development I discussed in the third aspect, that all former drawings and designs can be transformed into BIM by simple scanning can make all the other tools stepped down the stage of history in a few decades. The cloud computation that Li mentioned can also become an import technical support for BIM and it is very likely to be applied within the next few years. However, the upgrade of hardware can benefit everything. Only the high level compatibility can make BIM irreplaceable which I think BIM should focus on in the future.

Sources:

http://www.fefpa.org/pdf/Summer2012/PC%20RLF-BIM%20A%20More%20Sophisticated%20Deliverabe.pdf

http://buildinginformationmanagement.wordpress.com/category/bim/bim-usage/

http://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/htmlpubs/htm08732839/page01.htm

BIM handbook chapter 2

BIM Handbook chapter 2 overview

Before reading this chapter, I have never heard about the BIM software. I thought it was particular software used for architecture. After reading through the summary, I have learned the content of Building Information Modeling (BIM) applications, which represents objects by parameters and rules that determine the geometry as well as some non-geometric properties and features(20). So people can change the shapes and properties of objects by the way of changing parameters. The convenient is that only by changing the code of the object, all the same materials in the building will be changed accordingly. For example, all the windows in the building can be changed from 2ft*1ft to 2ft*2ft by changing the code. The revolution makes the whole process simplified and facilitates the design of large and complex models in 3D.

Although the BIM technology goes through a long way to today’s situation and improves more since it was first developed 1980s, the principle remains the same, which is defining each object as a node with parameters then connects them together to make a larger assemblies. The improvement reflects in the portion of update. For early parametric modeling system, the whole model was rebuilt however in the modern parametric modeling system, only regenerate affected parts are updated.(44) Therefore minimizing the calculation and make the model can design more complex building.  Referring to the post of G. Carpenter, early BIM also had  other shortcomings, notably (a) designers who were more comfortable with 2D drawings and (b) cost of each seat ("upward of $35,000 per seat"). 

 However, each type of object has its own properties and within different BIM, the way of definition is different. For example, we can’t transform a model from Revit to Bentley Architecture. Each BIM has its own advantage and disadvantage. Understanding the function of each software well can help a lot on choosing appropriate one.

Revit is the best known software in the architectural design. It includes an excellent object library that supports a multi-user interface(58). However, if size of the project is bigger than 220 megabytes, the software will be significant slowed down and it isn’t good at curved surface drawing.

Compared with Revit, Bentley is powerful on complex curved surfaces, including Bezier and NURBS. It allows user to define parametric objects to fulfill their desired building model. It allows a project with bigger size and therefore more complex. However, it is not very friendly with other software and it is hard to learn.

Another software I am interested in is AutoCAD-based application because I have used AutoCAD for drawing. The advantage of this application is that its easy adoption. However, the applications are not parametric based so people must manually change the drawing. So I think in future it will be eliminated.

Future of analysis techniques

Future of analysis techniques

Energy usage in the modern architecture plays a great role nowadays. For example, in America, buildings consume 39% of primary energy and account for 68% of electricity. Thus, energy-efficient building designs are required and analysis techniques focusing on saving energy becomes more and more important. Based on my reading of “greener building through energy analysis tools”, three aspects of improvement should be placed in the future.

First, an overall software should be developed to fulfill the demands from both architects and engineers. One of the problems presented today is communication: there are several tools with different functions for architects and engineers so they can hardly communicate to each other. Architects focus on design and tend to use some simply energy tools such as EcoDesigner, Ecotect and Green Building Studio and leave complicate calculation to engineers who might use Energy Plus etc. Without good consulting the energy waste might be determined at the beginning. For example，“A building that’s 80% glass is not going to perform like a 30% glass building, no matter how efficient you make the HVAC system,” said Pulley of HOK. In order to change the situation, in the future, the software might have the function of interaction. Once the architects want to design a building contained glass, he only needs to make changes in the software, and the signal should be delivered to engineers at once. The relationship between portion of glass and the minimum cost should be estimated by engineers and delivered to architects at once. Based on the estimation, architects could make their judgement.

Another improvement is high compatibility. As mentioned in the blog of our group member Gabrielle, one major drawback is the delay incorporation of engineers in the design process. The reason for that is accurate calculation needs lots of time. Also, with the improvement of compatibility, experts can get the desired data sources through the overall software and make calculations in their special analysis software, then the outputs are simple displayed on the overall software. People can pick up data sources without transform from one type of code to another.

Thirdly, AI should be used in the analysis techniques. The AI can combine the experiences together to give optimal advice. Because even for a simple design, a great amount of variables are needed to be determined to balance the cost and people comfort. The advices and recommendation come from the shared platform. However, with bunch of information, decision can be hardly made. The analysis method should have the function of digging useful information and combine them together to give optimal advice. Additionally, it should be applied in the operation interface. When people describe the requirement of building, it can automatically distribute necessary analysis calculation to specific group. 

sources:http://www.aecbytes.com/buildingthefuture/2010/EnergyAnalysisTools.html

Flight Assembled Architecture Response

We believe that aspects of the video will be a part of the future.  However, to be a complete reality, advances in the technology will need to be accomplished.  Places where this would be useful would be in the micro-level where a designer could input a design into a computer program and the robots could construct it.  We agree that the human element in construction can never fully disappear though.

Chunyi Wang Introduction

Background:

My name is Chunyi Wang, a graduate student of environmental engineering. Now my research focuses on indoor air quality, mainly about secondary organic aerosol formation due to chemical reaction.

Expectations

I want to learn some basic knowledge about intelligence building and HAVC system and the fate of pollutants in these building.

Definition:

Intelligent building combines technical method and construction together so we can save energy and decrease pollutant inside the building by software.

Graduate Students

Here is the list of Graduate students in the course.  This post is also used to create a "label" for each student so it's easy to label your posts later.

 

Group	Last Name	First Name	Major
A	Carpenter	Gabrielle	Civil Engineering
A	Gulbenkian	Gayaneh	Civil Engineering
A	Li	Xiang	Civil Engineering
A	Meraz	Cleonie	Civil Engineering
A	Wang	Chunyi	Environmental Engineering