Overall, I found this course to be a thought provoking one. Previous to the first class, I thought that the primary focus of the course would be learning how to utilize Building Information Modeling systems, in particular Revit. However, I soon realized that there would be much more depth to the curriculum. I had absolutely no knowledge of databases and their relevance to engineering before entering this course. I believe that the best way to prepare for future changes in your field is remain up to date with the current methods being utilized so that any "revolutionary" technology doesn't take you by complete surprise. I think that engaging in thought provoking conversations regarding the future of architecture and engineering got all of us excited, and a little bit scared about what was to come in the field. On a personal level, I had an experience recently while at an interview where the CEO of the company was describing a revolutionary technology that he had been developing for the past fifteen years. Thanks to this course, I had a much deeper understanding of databases and the implementation of software that links into BIM. Even having the very basic understanding that we developed in this course greatly assisted me in being able to understand the concepts behind the process in developing this very complicated software. This was just one example of what I'm sure will be many to come in my future in Architectural Engineering.
While it is extremely important to have the fundamentals and foundations of engineering that will never change, it is vital to remain current with technological trends. What may seem like a fad, will become a regular and necessary technology in the engineering process. For this reason, it is important for courses like "Intelligent Buildings" to exist to keep our minds open to the changing technologies and techniques so that we're not blind sided in the future.
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Last Blog
I although I do not think that I will ever have to use the
things I have learned in AE 510 in the near future, I know that this class has
made me think in a different way especially when it comes to intelligent
design. While I was preparing my senior seminar poster, I started thinking
about the topic I had researched (Traffic Analysis Software) in a different
way. Even before I took AE 510, I had an idea that our highway systems could
change according to the amount of cars on the roadway. The lane medians instead
of being concrete could be made of bollards that that could expand or retract
one side of the highway to accommodate the amount of traffic. When it comes to
construction of buildings, I think that over the course of my career I will
most definitely have to learn how to use BIM on a professional level. And not
just BIM programs such as Revit but also programs that will deal with
stormwater management, structural engineering, etc. I do not however think that
these programs will create a standard language so that all these programs can
work together. I think there will be too much money to be made by keeping these
programs from reaching their full potential of intelligence. When it comes to
stormwater management which, I have mainly worked on during my co-op
experiences, I can see very good uses for BIM and databases when it comes to
designing things like bio-retention areas, dry wells, cisterns, etc. As for the
class, I don’t think I would change anything except for maybe introducing the
class to more BIM software. As I noted before I think there should be
development of BIM software dealing with different areas of construction not
just for buildings. Doing a quick search, it seems that there are BIM programs
for what I noted but they seem to still be in their infancy. I agree with what Matthew Tedesco said when he mentioned that out work as engineers affect people in many different ways. I would also add that some of our work is not necessarily appreciated because it can not be seen. Things such as taking time to consider how a building should be constructed to save money, to have a more efficient construction, and to lessen environmental impacts.
http://www3.villanova.edu/vusp/Outreach/pasym11/lidpdfs/66_4west.pdf
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Optimization of a Data Center
During the optimization process of a life cycle of a Data Center, the following stakeholders were chosen: an owner, an architect, an engneer, a MEP engineer, a constractor, a technician, and the end users. Each of the group members decided to play a role of the specific stakeholder involved in the assignment based on their importance and responsibilites in each of the life cycle stages, which consist of the programming stage, design, bitting and approval, construction, and etc.
During the programming stage of the project development, various types of sensors, actuators, and MEP modeling techniques were implemented. The biggest issue here is to ensure that the cooling needs of the building are met. The operation temperatures of the equipment can be related to the efficiency of the equipment as well as the total lifetime. The operation tempertures are directly realated to the operation costs of the building and the main concern is to limit the amount of energy that is expended.
During the design stage, the database that contains the sensor requirements is used to make sure that the conditions are met both from the manufacture and owner's perspectives. The analysis completed using BIM for the cooling may be altered in real time, which gives the cost estimators ability to adjust their calculations accordingly much faster. The entire design process is expected to be improved, since the database format will make locating errors much more efficient. During the comminissioning and occupancy stages, sensors will be heavily utilized to record energy usage patterns and record them in a database. The acquired data will be used to optimize the efficiency of HVAC equipmnet and promote energy savings. Sensors will come extremely helpful during renovation and demolition stages of the building existance. Sensor output results will be stored in BIM to improve the efficiency, improve integration, and estimate cost of demolition.
Link to presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ht2F1cCz1viIopzJvEEZQVUA0MUouCuKb6NtcuIBbzQ/edit?usp=sharing
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
Zombie Emergency Response Center
Group B - Building Story
Our building is an emergency command center located in Washington, DC. It is specifically designed to survive all major emergencies, up to and including a major zombie apocalypse.
This building will be built in 5 years from now in (2018), and will implement all of the latest building technologies we have discussed in this class. In the programming and design phase, the entire design will be completely started and executed using BIM. This will allow everyone in the process, from architects, and engineers to contracts and maintence personnel to use the BIM to show useful data that they need. During the design process, 3D models will be built to demonstrate to the owners of the building (government officials) what the buildings current progress looks like and to successively show its zombie proof design.
The bidding part of the project will implement database technology. This will consist of forms being created that will allow the contracts to bid on the different parts of the construction and then these bids would all be automatically saved in the database, and then available for easy comparison by the owners. This project will also require the contractors to be comfortable with BIM so that they can use models in the field.
The construction will be done by Robots. This will induce a high cost to the building, however this is important due to the impending zombie invasion. Strain gauges will also be used during construction to make sure the robots do not add too much load to any part of the building during construction.
The maintenance, of the building will include BIM models across the building to accurately navigate the building in the event of a panic. A database will be used to save all mechanical data, so in the future savings can be found, and major and minor parts of the system can be post-processed to find energy saving techniques that will allow the building to last long after the power goes out to the rest of the city. The database would also include the zombie attack information for future analysis on what the zombies "undead" load is.
The renovation would include the reconstruction after the zombie attack. This will heavily use the existing BIM model that was created during the design. This will allow for changes to be made quicker, and more accurately.
The demolition will include the collected implosion of the building. The building will implement recyclable materials that will be collected by robots to restart the world in the event of the zombie Apocalypse. Sensors will also be used to make sure no particulates are spread too far into the atmosphere, as the new world, will be a great and green world.
Link to Presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pPifRRbpV6U1EHNyye_2B2AKBL9BUILRON8XwMynAcw/edit?usp=sharing
Pharmaceutical Plant Presentatin - Group-E
A pharmaceutical plant creating Wingshift, a drug to aid those with hallucinations, is located in Houston, TX, and is owned by Starsole. The researchers of Wingshift require extremely clean production rooms with a constant temperature, humidity and air exchange rate. This is planned to be done through the utilization of sensors, the most modern HVAC equipment and construction techniques. Starsole brought together their top researchers to develop the building program database along with the cost estimate. These were then put out to bid to a number of select architects and engineering firms. APK Architects LLC. and United Dell Inc. won the bid for the new plant.
United Dell brought in a contractor that they consistently worked with in order to plan out the construction of the plant. This included the MEP, architectural (brought in by APK), and structural models. The regional aerial images, and GIS model was provided by the city of Houston. The main issues that the structural design team had to face were the multiple large spans that the Wingshift process rooms would require, as well as the risk of chemical exposure that could produce hazards to the structure itself. The MEP design included multiple chemical emergency installations, over-sized HVAC units to ensure exact and adequate air quality, and specialized purification systems. The architectural model was rather straight forward and needed only to provide the required spaces for the different processes that Wingshift required for production. All of these systems will be made possible through the use of sensors throughout the life of the plant.
Future renovations will be made easy through the fully encompassing BIM that was provided to Starsole. Starsole has the rights and ownership of this model which allows them to hand it off to any future engineers or architects so that different or more drug types can be produced at this same plant. The incorporation of robots into the production line will be an addition to the plant to allow for Starsole to create more Wingshift in less time. The robot addition will also allow for a greater cost efficiency and a greater degree of accuracy in the chemical make up of Wingshift.
In case of Wingshift not making it in the market the plant will be able to be deconstructed efficiently through the use of the structural BIM and the provided aerial images. This would allow for the plant to be deconstructed and different members of the plant to be reused in a new plant or sold for a profit.
Google Docs Presentation
United Dell brought in a contractor that they consistently worked with in order to plan out the construction of the plant. This included the MEP, architectural (brought in by APK), and structural models. The regional aerial images, and GIS model was provided by the city of Houston. The main issues that the structural design team had to face were the multiple large spans that the Wingshift process rooms would require, as well as the risk of chemical exposure that could produce hazards to the structure itself. The MEP design included multiple chemical emergency installations, over-sized HVAC units to ensure exact and adequate air quality, and specialized purification systems. The architectural model was rather straight forward and needed only to provide the required spaces for the different processes that Wingshift required for production. All of these systems will be made possible through the use of sensors throughout the life of the plant.
Future renovations will be made easy through the fully encompassing BIM that was provided to Starsole. Starsole has the rights and ownership of this model which allows them to hand it off to any future engineers or architects so that different or more drug types can be produced at this same plant. The incorporation of robots into the production line will be an addition to the plant to allow for Starsole to create more Wingshift in less time. The robot addition will also allow for a greater cost efficiency and a greater degree of accuracy in the chemical make up of Wingshift.
In case of Wingshift not making it in the market the plant will be able to be deconstructed efficiently through the use of the structural BIM and the provided aerial images. This would allow for the plant to be deconstructed and different members of the plant to be reused in a new plant or sold for a profit.
Google Docs Presentation
Group C - High Rise CIA Facility
The building we are focusing on is a high rise office building in Washington, DC. The building will be a 36 story office facility for the CIA. Because this is a government building with an assumed large budger, advanced building intelligence and maximum security are both top priorities.
In terms of programming, BIM would be highly useful in allotting spaces for highly classified areas and creating a flow of spaces based on security clearances. BIM and cost analysis would be the primary technologies in the design process. BIM would be used to integrate all building systems and to satisfy the client's needs regarding security. Sensors play an important role in security and monitoring systems for energy efficiency. For bidding and approval, the municipality, contractors, and owners would be the key stakeholders. BIM, a building program database, and structural model would all be used in this stage of the building process through cost analyses and permit approvals.
All stakeholders would be involved in the construction process. BIM, surveys, and regional models would all be utilized through construction management. These technologies would be used to make the building process more efficient. Sensors would be the most important technology during the occupancy of the building. They would be used to control temperature, humidity, and lighting to control the building conditions. BIM and building analyses would be used during any required renovations as well as the demolition process.
Key conclusions:
high security
low energy
well integrated building automation system
database integration
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11zHlbeyAH2uO-qwbqSojYviIMqF4eBdOyr3su7oHtTs/edit?usp=sharing
In terms of programming, BIM would be highly useful in allotting spaces for highly classified areas and creating a flow of spaces based on security clearances. BIM and cost analysis would be the primary technologies in the design process. BIM would be used to integrate all building systems and to satisfy the client's needs regarding security. Sensors play an important role in security and monitoring systems for energy efficiency. For bidding and approval, the municipality, contractors, and owners would be the key stakeholders. BIM, a building program database, and structural model would all be used in this stage of the building process through cost analyses and permit approvals.
All stakeholders would be involved in the construction process. BIM, surveys, and regional models would all be utilized through construction management. These technologies would be used to make the building process more efficient. Sensors would be the most important technology during the occupancy of the building. They would be used to control temperature, humidity, and lighting to control the building conditions. BIM and building analyses would be used during any required renovations as well as the demolition process.
Key conclusions:
high security
low energy
well integrated building automation system
database integration
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/11zHlbeyAH2uO-qwbqSojYviIMqF4eBdOyr3su7oHtTs/edit?usp=sharing
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