NCARB Building Systems

well pumps: suction pumps

for wells under 25'

Monumental Stairs

grand staircases in lobbies that connect two floors but generally can't be used as a fire stair

Evaporation

liquid is absorbed into the air as latent heat

Resonance

tendency of a system to vibrate at increasing amplitude at certain frequencies

Air Conditioning

treating of air in an occupied space to control tis temperature, humidity, and cleanliness

Economically speaking, water is usually paid for how many times

twice: once to actually buy it for consumption, and a second time in wastewater/sewer fees. So it's best to use it wisely. Often requires an investment, but most pay back in less than a year

Brackish

water that contains so much salt it's nonpotable

well pumps: deep well jet pumps:

25' - 100'+

Maximum number of cars serving the same portion of a building in a single hoistway, per the IBC

3

I kWh

3,400 BTU / hour

I watt

3.41 BTU/hour

In general, with a side lighting system any interior area more than

30 ft from a window will be electrically lit

Compared to rural environments, a city receives ___ % less UV radiation in the winter

30%

Typical electrical production is how efficient?

33% efficient For every BTU, 1/3 of it is good, the rest is waste Typical vehicles are 18% efficient

Historic Preservation 4 phases

4 treatments applied to historic structures (most historically accurate to least): • Preservation: least amount of work done to the building and any interventions are as inconspicuous as possible • Rehabilitation: retain and repair historic materials, but some replacement of damaged material is ok, as are additions that convey historic values • Restoration: remove inconsistent features and replace missing features in accordance with the restoration period • Reconstruction: new construction to look like how something existed at earlier time

A clear wall space of ____ is needed for the service entrance of a multiple-dwellingtelephone system

4-6 ft

Fluorescent

A glass tube holds a mixture of an inert gas and low pressure mercury vapor. When lamp is energized, an arc of mercury is formed creating an ultraviolet light that strikes the phosphor coated bulb. Bulb fluoresces and produce a visible light. Pre Heat: supplanted by rapid start that maintains constant low current in the cathode, allowing them to start within 2 seconds • Instant Start: use a higher voltage to illuminate immediate • Ballast, Electronic Ballast • Advantages: High efficacy (About 80 lm/W), Low initial cost, Long life (about 10,000 - 20,000 hours) • Variety of color temperatures (improving...no longer just "cool white"), Dimmable, For fluorescent lamps, dimming down to 40% of output is possible without substantially reducing luminous efficacy. • Disadvantages:More expensive than incandescent bulbs

Psychrometric Chart

A graph that presents physical and thermal properties of moist air in graphic form, often at an elevation relative to sea level.

Psychrometric Chart

A graphic representation of the relationship between air temp and humidity • Psychrometric Charts allow humidity to be calculated from wet and dry bulb readings and explains common atmospheric behavior • It's basically an exercise in seeing where two known values intersect to give you a third value

Operation and control of elevator: selective collective operation

Most common type of system for light to moderate service • Elevator remembers and answers all call in opposite direction • When the trip is complete, the cab typically returns to the lobby

Mechanical Systems

Most mechanical equipment produces noise having a frequency or pitch related to the rotational speed of the equipment • Contains a random mix of frequencies called white noise • Can mask other sounds like speech

Temperate climate

Most of the United States • Winters are too cold and summers are too hot • Building shapes ten dot be a modified version of the cold climate building • Stretch enclosure to the East and west making the South facade longer to harness solar power • Porches or awnings on the South side to increase winter solar gain without increasing summer gains • Large deciduous tree on the South or west which provide shade in the summer and gains int he winter • Evergreens on the North to block any winds

HVAC Systems are made up of

• Energy Supply (the electricity or fuel that runs it) • Service Generator (boilers, chillers, heat pumps) • Distribution (ducts, pipes, or a combination of both) • Delivery Components (diffusers, radiators, etc.)

Impact Noise

• Erratic sounds caused by footballs, dropped objects, vibration of mechanical equipment, etc. • A "tapping machine" is used to measure the degree of isolation of impact nosies in a structure

Location of shading devices can be internal, external or mid-pane

• External devices are the most efficient thermally because solar energy is intercepted before it enters the room • Internal shading is typically must cheaper to install and easier for users to control, but less efficient and vulnerable to damage • Mid-Pane devices are installed in sealed, gas-filled double glazing units

who publishes fuel cost / heat value and HVAC efficiency ratings?

• Fuel cost / heat value is published by the US Department of Energy HVAC efficiency ratings are published by the equipment manufacturers

Raceways in architectural design

have now become a major architectural consideration that must be addressed early in the design process because the proliferation of computers and networking equipment require the distribution channels to be much wider than before

Conflicting energy efficiency considerations

have resulted in an increase in building "tightness" which adversely impacts infiltration mechanisms and discourages extensive use of natural ventilation

Coefficient of Transmission

he ratio of the total transmitted light to the total incident light represented as a percentage

Heat of Vaporization

heat given off by a vapor condensing to liquid, or the heat absorbed by a liquid evaporating to a gas without a change in temperature

Latent Heat

heat required to convert a solid into a liquid or vapor, or a liquid into a vapor, without change of temperature, given in BTU

Elevator sky lobby concept

high speed elevators take people from the lobby up to a sky lobby to transfer to elevators that specifically serve upper floors Reduces the amount of space taken by elevator shafts

Worst local air quality problems tend to be around:

hospitals, shopping areas or public transport hubs where large numbers of vehicles move slowly or idle

Daylight factor:

how much of the light on the area of a window comes through for the surface you're lighting

Albedo

how much radiant energy that is reflected by a surface where 0 is a flat black surface which absorbs all heat and 1 is a mirror (rate is listed as a fraction or percent).

Communication systems

include intercoms, paging devices, sound systems, TV, CCTV, LAN and (most prevalent) telephone

Amplification

increased intensity of sound by mechanical or electrical means

Wall Vibration

indicates a sound wave on the opposite side of the wall

Inert gas filled space

instead of vacuum is more faience at stopping heat transfer in double glazing • Argon Gas: Low Cost • Krypton Gas: 200x the cost of argon

Hygrometer

instrument used to measure the relative humidity of the air

Pilot Tube

instrument used with a manometer or pressure gauge to measure the velocity of air or water in a duct or pipe

Store Heat

insulating materials and effective mass storage are critical • Mass is measured in density or the lb/ft3 of the material and the Cp or the heat capacity of the material • Insulate before you insolate • Insulating: protecting from heat loss, Insolating: exposing to the rays of the sun • Isolated mass or floating mass • Coupled or uncoupled • Maintain a 3:1 mass to glass ratio (every 3 sq.ft. of mass allows 1 sq.ft. of southern facing glass) • The more mass you have, the more glass you need • The more glass you have, the more mass you need ...it's a balance!

• Intensity Level

intensity of sound at a given location, in watts per square meter

Determination of IAQ

involves the collection of air samples, monitoring human exposure to pollutants, collection of samples on building surfaces and computer modeling of air flow inside buildings.

Zeolite

ion exchange or water softening method in which hard water passes through zeolite minerals then salt tank so that minerals in hard water don't solidify

Smallest difference in 2 sounds the human ear can detect

is 1 decibel dB's are not proportional...they're logarithmic!

Maximum absorption possible, per the coefficient of absorption

is 1.0 in free space.

The normal concentration of oxygen in the air

is 21% Most fire related deaths are caused by exposure to smoke and gases, not the actual flames

sound power level PWL

is a measure of the amount of sound generated by a source independent of its environment

Preferred Noise Criteria (PNC):

is a modification of NC curves that have sound pressure levels lower than the NC curves on the low/high frequency needs of the chart.

Elevator Safety features: main break

is mounded on shaft and operated by the control mechanism • Break is self applying so the car will stop in the event of a power failure

The greatest challenge in lighting a commercial office space

is proving adequate lighting for varied visual tasks while avoiding glare

The basic law of thermodynamics

is that heat always flows from hot to cold. A heated gas, such as air, flows upward by convection; however heat will conduct and radiate in any direction, but always from hot to cold.

Premise wiring

is the system of raceways, boxes and outlets dedicated to communication system, excluding audio signals

Trap

keeps methane gas from entering a building while also catching grease and small jewelry or contacts before going down the sanitary system.

Soil Stack

large pipe into which all the soil and waste lines from one or more levels empty, open to the outside air at the top

Recharge Time

length of time the tank takes to reheat itself after it has emptied out of hot water

Bilateral Light

light coming from two sides to illuminate a space (it's a good thing) • Example: Christopher Alexander's Pattern Language: "When they have a choice, people will always gravitate to those rooms which have light on two sides" • Daylight within a space is generally most evenly distributed when bilateral lighting from opposite walls is used. In general, daylight will penetrate further into a space and have a more uniform quality if windows are placed high on the wall

Transmitted

light that passes through a surface...all other is reflected or absorbed

Trombe Walls

like a mass wall but a convective loop is added by making a space between the mass and glass skin. A one way vent at the top lets warm air into the room and another one way vent at the base that lets the coldest air into the airspace.

Storm Drainage Catch Basin

like manholes, but they have a top grate instead of a cover. Placed at the lowest point of the swale, or depression to collect runoff and pass it into the storm drain system

water conditions: Hardness

limestone and/or calcium and/or magnesium is dissolved in ground water,and then later redeposits in plumbing systems and pipes. It's not bad for people, just pipes as it clogs the flow.

Supporting Pipe: Pre Insulated Support

load bearing support that minimizes energy dissipation

Elevator Safety Features: Car Buffers/ Bumpers

located on the bottom to stop the car if it over travels at low speed....won't do much to stop a car traveling at a higher speed

Eletromagnetic locks

lock holds door open with a magnetic force and can be opened by card reader, keypad, and/or buttons. They can also open when fire alarms are activated for egress

Invert

lowest point of the inside of a drain, pipe, channel, or other liquid carrying conduit

an opaque surface is best described as

luminace is illuminance as modified by reflectance

To preserve winter solar gain for a south facing building___

maintain a protected zone clear of trees at least 2x the height, and 30 degrees away from nearby trees or shrubs

Combined Specular

makes surface appear to be brighter at the oping where the source is shining than in surrounding areas

Refraction

material that changes an image while allowing it to pass through (lens)

Critical Distance

max length of drain pipe between a trap and air vent, must be ≤ 48x pipe diameter

Handling Capacity

maximum number of passengers that can be handled in a give period, typically based on a five minute peak period

Spectral Energy Distribution

measure of energy output at different wavelengths/colors

pH

measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution on a scale of 1 - 14, where 7 is neutral, less is acidic, and more is alkaline

Capacity

measured in weight, the number of people a car can carry

Elevator Safety features: Governor

measures and limits the elevator speed by means of the control panel. • It will actuate the safety rail clamp if the elevator tries to exceed its proper rate of travel

Sound insolation

reduction of sound energy levels through the use of material that absorb reverberant sound and block airborne sound because of their high sound transmission loss factor (eg: acoustical panels, foam curtains, fibrous material)

Veiling Reflection

reflection which partially or totally obscure the details to be seen by reducing the contrast. A common problem with specular surfaces

Sanitary Waste Systems

remove contaminated water by relying on gravity for drainage

Pressure Reducers

required on fixtures if the supply pressure is too high to reduce excessive wear on fixtures

Persistence

result of multiple reflections in an enclosed space in a short period of time

Specular Reflection

results from a smooth polishes surface like a mirror. The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection

Diffuse Reflection

results from a uniformly rough surface. It appears uniformly birth and the image of the source cannot be seen.

Insulators

retard the flow of heat

• Electric Lock

retracts the bolt when activated from the secure side of the door • Unlatching from inside is done by a button, switch, or mechanical retraction of bolt by lever

Backwash

reverse flow of water, often used in water softening to remove sediment

Supporting Pipes: Pipe Anchor

rigid support that restricts movement in all three directions, typically welded or bolted to steel or concrete

Free Field Room (Anechoic Room)

room whose boundaries absorb all of the sound

Smoke Control: Containment

same as compartmentation used to contain fires is used here • Eg: fire dampers, gaskets on fire doors, and automatic closing doors

Soil

sanitary term for waste from urinals, toilets, and fixtures of a similar nature

Angle Valve

screw a washer down against a seat to shut the flow off, or opened and regulated flow by screwing progressively away from the sat metering of flow restriction capability, used mostly for plumbing fixtures

Gate Valve

seats a metal wedge agains two metal parts of the valve, and used when control is either totally on or totally off, little friction loss

Perimeter Protection:

secures entry points (e.g.: doors, windows, ducts) to a space or building. Common types are: • Magnetic contacts: used on doors and windows, surface mount or concealed • Glass Break Detectors: used of metallic foil or vibration detector mounted on glass • Window Screens: embedded fine wires • Photoelectric Cells: detection by beam or passing through an opening

Static Head

the pressure required to overcome friction and push water vertically, or the pressure caused at the bottom of a column of water. Measured in inches of water

Warmth

the quality, state, or sensation of being warm, moderate and comfortable heat

Comfort Zone

the range of temperatures and humidities in which most people feel comfortable when dressed in typical indoor clothing & engaged in typical indoor activities

coefficient of Absorption (a)

the ratio of the sound intensity absorbed by the material to the total intensity reaching the material. Varies with the frequency of sound/material

Reflectance Coefficient

the ratio of total reflected light to total incident light expressed as a percentage

attenuation

the reduction of sound

Reflection

the return of sound waves from a surface

Conductivity

the speed with which heat passes through a material. Metals are high, and soils/sand are low

Thermal Comfort

the state of mind that expresses satisfaction with the surrounding environment

Dew Point (T)

the temperature at which water vapor starts to condenses out of the air. Above this temperature the moisture will stay in the air, given in ºF

Reverberation Time

the time it takes the sound level to decrease 60 dB after the source has stopped by producing sound

Reverberation time

the time it takes the sound level to decrease 60 dB after the source has stopped by producing sound

Reverberation Time

the time required for a sound to decay 60 dB in a space after the source has stopped producing sound

Radiation

the transfer of heat between surfaces that are not in direct contact

Conduction

the transfer of heat between two objects that are in direct contact

Convection

the transfer of heat that requires a fluid medium like air to transfer (also, directions like up/down/sideways matters)

Air Movement

the velocity of air in an enclosed space measured in feet per minute

Equivalent spherical illumination (ESI)

theoretical sphere surrounding an object being illuminated with light, cast evenly and eliminating any shadows and reflected bright spots

Mass Walls

thick walls are placed in the sunlight, often behind a large window or glass skin. They store incoming solar energy without increasing the building temperature, and slowly release heat when it's needed

A properly designed lighting control system can reduce energy usage up

to 60% over a simple on/off system

Smoke Pencil

tool used to identify drafts and air leaks, pull on the trigger and see how smoke moves to show air movement

Equation: # of Elevators Required

total # of people to be accommodated in a 5 min period/ handling capacity of one car

Enthalpy (H)

total heat loss in a substance (latent heat + sensible heat), given in BTU

type of escalator configurations Multiple Parallel

two or more escalators together that travel in one direction next to one or two escalators in the same bank that travel in the other direction

Motor Control Systems: AC Thyristor

type of motor control requires high-power transistors to make accurate speed control of standard AC squirrel cage motors

Dry Bulb Temperature definision

typically referred to as air temperature, it's what people are referring to when the talk about the temperature. It's an indicator of heat content and measured by a common thermometer, given in ºF

Plenum

typically the space above a suspended ceiling used to convey return air

Storm Drain

underground conduit used to carry rainwater from a catch basin to a body of water

• Luminaries will be spaced so that

uniformity of illumination is provided in order that an average calculation will have validity

Lambert

unit of luminance or brightness

dBA

unit of sound intensity measurement that is weighted to account for the response of the human ear to various frequencies

Light Trespass:

unwanted light on private property (e.g.: spill light from a streetlight enters a bedroom window) • Somewhat subjective because it's difficult to define when, where, and how much light is unwanted • In Portland, the maximum illumination level at a property line can't exceed 0.1 foot candle, measured at grade (except where abutting industrial or other sensitive areas) • Residential and natural resource protection areas are considered sensitive to light trespass • Can reduce light levels at perimeters, or use shielding devices to block trespass

Type of Escalator Configurations: Parallel

up and down escalators "side by side or separated by a distance", seen often in metro stations and multilevel motion picture theaters It is not advisable to use the stacked parallel arrangement of escalators beyond 2 floors, as users will become annoyed at the long walk-around.

Liquid Based Systems: Concentrating Collectors

use metal reflectors to concentrate the sun's ray on a tube or point. Panels collect much higher temperature than flat plate collectors. They're far more effect use of surface area, but more complex and expensive

• Design Equivalent Temperature Difference (DETD)

used for calculating heat gain through a building envelope, and takes into account air temperature differences, effects of sun, thermal mass storage effects of material, color of finishes, etc.

Design Cooling Load Factor (DCLF)

used for calculating heat gain through glazing, takes int account glazing type, interior shading, and outdoor temperature

Chiller

used in hot climate with high cooling demands

Plastic

used in residential for supply piping. Is still restricted by some codes • Expands 3.5 times more than copper • Joined by primer

Relief Valve

used to control or limit the pressure in a system by allowing fluid to divert an alternate rout allowing the pressure to drop, then the valve closes

Fixture Units (FU)

used to define the probability demands on plumbing fixtures. 1 FU =1 cubic ft / minutes

Design Day

used to design and size a heating system that determines the day cooler than 98% of all days in the year experience in a climate

Globe Thermometer

used to measure radiant temperature. It's a dry bulb thermometer encased in a matte black copper sphere

Reduce Pressure Backflow Preventer:

used to protect the potable water supply from contaminated water by stopping return water from the building from flowing back into the public water supply

Downfeed System

used when a building is too tall for an upfeed system • Tank mounted on a roof supplies water to upper stories • Water is supplied from the main boosted by a pump in the basement of the building • Pressure is determined by the heigh to the tank above a given floor and not by the pump • Height of the zone being served determined by allowable pressure on fixture at the bottom of the zone, allowing for friction loss. • Pressure is usually 45 - 60 psi with a zone max heigh of about 138' (then pressure regulator valves are required) • Big disadvantage is weight of system on the roof, requires a more expensive structure

Vent Maintenance: Sump Pit

used when fixtures are lower than the level of the house drain and sewer. Sewage is collected and pumped to a higher level to flow by gravity into the sewer

Globe Valve

used when flow is variably and frequently controlled like at a faucets or hose bib, friction loss is high

Galvanized Steel

used when water is not corrosive, difficult screw fitting assembly • Schedule 40 pipe is most common • Joined mechanically with treaded collars

Holeless Hydraulic

uses a telescoping plunger set into the shaft next to the cab. Lift is provided by applying force to the upper member of the car frame

well pumps: ejector:

uses a venturi and a water jet sent from the surface to impel water to rise.

water conditions: water softening

using a zeolite or ion exchange process, water is regenerated with brine salts

Indirect Gain Space

usual structural and finish materials have high thermal mass and can absorb and store a great deal of heat without much fluctuation. The mass is in a shaded portion of the room and heated by reflected sunlight or by warm air in the room

Fire resistance

values for how long a separation can resist the passage of fire. Stated in terms of hours and can be increased with the use of sprinklers. (eg: walls, doors, windows, floors, etc.)

Steam Trap

valve which permits passage of air or water, but not steam...often used with steam radiators

Zones

vary depending on the type and use of a building. (e.g.: each story, offices vs. apartments, commercial vs. recreational spaces). It's design specific.

Sound has three basic qualities

velocity, frequency, and power

Leader (Downspout)

vertical pipe used to conduct water from a roof drain or gutter to the ground

Biometric Devices

very expensive methods of security, but provide counterfeit-proof method of identification and security • Read the individual biological features of a person (e.g.: iris/retina of the eye, fingerprint)

Suspended incandescent globes provide

warm colors and reduce the sterile atmosphere in a room, but they also cause glare spots all over screens, making work very difficult

Solar Heating System: Batch

water is heated directly in a black painted tank inside a glazed box, it's simple but subject to freezing and nighttime heat loss

Fire Tube Boiler

water paternally fills a barrel with a small volume left above to accommodate steam, used in early all steam locomotives, a low rate of steam production but high steam storage capacity. Mostly burn solid fuels and but can burn liquid or gas

Hydropneumatic System

water supply system that uses a pressurized tank that's typically in the basement to supply water under pressure to floors above

Hard Water

water that contains mineral deposits that can clog up piping, cause mineral build up in heat exchangers, and place a toll on hydronic systems

Reflective Glare

when a light source is reflected from a viewing surface into the eye and interferes with a viewing task

Electric (Traction) Elevator: 1:1 Roping

when the rope is directly connected to the counterweight, the cable travels in the opposite direction as far as the car

Electric (Traction) Elevator: 1:2 Roping

when the rope is wrapped around a sheave on the counterweight and connected to the top of the shaft the rope moves twice as fast as the car, but requires less weigh to be lifted. (Car travels twice as far as the piston)

Flanking transmission

where sound passes around, over the top, or under the Perrier partition separating two spaces

• Motor Control Systems: Variable Voltage, Variable Frequency AC

widely considered the best system for new, high quality installations of any speed

Check Valve

works automatically by allowing water to flow in one direction, backflow causes the valve to close, typically used to prevent sanitary waste from flowing back into a potable water supply

Critical Glare

zone for direct glare is the area above a 45° angle from the light source

Direct Gain Systems Quick Rules

• 1:1 mass:glass ratio • 1" of mass per hour of heat lag • 1'-4" air gap in the wall (bigger for vented system)

Indirect Lighting

• 90% - 100% of light output is directed to the ceiling and upper walls of a room • Almost all of the light reaches the horizontal plane indirectly, it has to bounce off something else first (so the ceiling/walls are basically the light source) • Suspend 12"-18" from the ceiling minimum • Allows for uniform lighting, lacks shadows, low brightness, and is highly diffuse • Pretty inefficient system Good for offices, lounges, waiting areas

Thermal Bridging

• A fundamental of heat transfer where a penetration of the insulation layer by a highly conductive or non-insulting material takes place in the Spartan between the interior and eater environments of the building enclosure • Occurs when materials that are poor thermal insulators come into contact allowing heat to flow through the path of least thermal resistance (the lowest R-Value), although nearby layers of material separated by airspace allow little heat transfer • Wrapping a building envelope with exterior rigid insulation cuts off thermal bridging

Coefficient of absorption reflective and absorbing

• A material with a coefficient of absorption less than 0.2 is reflective, and above 0.2 is sound absorbing.

Low voltage lamps have smaller filaments, and therefore have more tightly controlled optics.

• Allows for more precise aim, which is useful in highlighting specific objects

Equation: Illumination (E) aka Zonal Cavity Method!

(# of fixtures) x (# of lamps/fixture) x (lumens per lamp) x coefficient of utilization CU) x (light loss factor LLF)/ area in sq. ft.

Equation:Thermal Expansion (L)

((Length) x (Coefficient of Expansion, k)) x (Final Temperature - Original Temperature)

1 ton of AC

12,000 BTU / hour (or 3.52 kWh)

Diffuser

A device through which the light from a fixture enters a room

Draft

a flow of air through a flue or chimney

Equation: UA (BTU/hr)

(1.1) x (cfm) x (∆T)

Equation: R value

(BTU / Hour ft2 ºF) Thickness of material, X / Thermal Conductivity, k 1 / Uvalue = (Hour ft2 ºF/ BTU)

Equation: Rate of heat Loss (BTU/hr)

(BTU / Hour ˚F ft2) x (a temperature difference)

Cost $ / Year: equation

(BTU/yr) x (fuel cost/fuel heat value) x efficiency

Equation: Noise Reduction (dB)

(Barrier Transmission, TL) - 10log (area of barrier wall, S)/ (total absorption of receiving room, Ar)

Equation: Sabins

(surface area of room) x (absorptivity of surfaces)

Equation: Parallel Heat Loss

(this much width) x (this much R-Value) + (that much width) x (that much R-Value) Example: 2x6 studs with continuous insulation... = (1.5"/16")(R-Value of Stud R-7) + (14.5"/16")(R-Value of Insul R-19) = R-0.656 + R-17.2 = R 17.8

Lift

(total feet of height) / (2.31 psi/ft)

Infiltration (Crack): equation

(Linear Feet) x (CHF / Linear Feet)

Infiltration: equation

(Nair changes) x (Vvolume)

Max Fixture Height

(PSI) x (2.31 ft/psi)

Equation: Acoustic Absorption A (sabins)

(Total surface area of barrier or component between rooms, S) x (Coefficient of absorption, a)

Equation: Heat Gain (q, in BTU/hr)!

(U value) x Area, A) x (∆T)

Equation: Number of Luminaries

(footcandles) x (floor area)/ (lumens) x (coefficient of utilization CU) x (light loss factor LF)

BTU / Year: equation

(peak heat loss) x (full-load hrs per year)

Equation: cfm

(space volume) x ACH / (60 min/hr)

Equation: Reverberation Time (Tr)

0.05 (the speed of sound) x _____Room volume, V/ Total acoustical absorptionat that frequency, ∑A

Equation: Daylight Factor

0.2 x (window area / floor area)

Equation: U value

1 / Rvalue (Uwindow x Awindow) + (Uwall x Awall) / A

1 Ton of AC is equivalent to

1 Ton of AC is equivalent to the useful cooling effect on a ton of ice

Increases or decreases in decibel levels have varying architectural effects

1 dB Change= Almost Imperceptible 3 dB Change= Just perceptible 5 dB Change = Clearly noticeable 6 dB Change= The change when distance to a source is doubled or halved 10 dB Change= twice or half as loud 18 dB Change= Very much louder or quieter 20 dB Change= 4x louder or 1/4x as loud

Fixture Unit (FU)

1 unit flow rate of 1 ft3/minute

Equation: UA (infiltration)

1.1 x cfm

A single pane of glass has a U-Value of

1.11 BTU/ft2 - hr ºF

Equation: Effective Daylight Zone

1.5 x (window head height into room) 2.0 x (window head height into room w/light shelf)

Elevator Speed

1.6 x building height + 350

Equation: Sound Intensity Level (decibel)

10 log (Intensity of Sound being measured)/ Reference intensity of 1x10-16

• Each increase of 10 decibels the human ear perceives as

10 x loud

Poor Indoor Air Quality gets upgraded to Sick Building Syndrome when:

10% of occupants are sick • 20% of occupants complain • Can be a quick or slow process • Sick Building Syndrome is the #1 cause for litigation regarding buildings

Vertical grab bar

18" min length, 39" - 41" above floor 39" - 41" from the rear wall

Cross Slope

1:50 max

1 PSI

2.31 feet of water -or- 6.895 kPa 1 PSI will raise a column of water 2.31 feet

Equation: Workplane Daylight Illuminance

2.5 x the head height of the window (height of the window above the desk plane)

Recommended horizontal to vertical illuminance ratio for general diffuse light

2.5:1

Artificial lighting consumes a significant part of all electrical energy

20 - 60% of energy used in residential/business is due to lighting • For some buildings over 90% of lighting is unnecessary expense due to over lighting • Replacing all incandescent lamps with energy efficient compact fluorescent globally would save 2.5% global energy consumption

Tolerable Humidity

20% - 70% but 30% - 65% is ideal • A 30% relative humidity change will affect a person's comfort about as much as a 25% change in air temp • The human body serves as an anthropomorphic model of system design • Circulation System, Ventilation System, Filtration System, Thermal Controls, Waste Management System

Declination

23.5 degree tilt of the earth's axis relative to a line perpendicular to the plane of the earth's orbit...responsible for the seasons

Generally, sound amplification systems are required in spaces larger than

50,000 sf

Semi Direct Lighting

60% - 90% of light is directed downward • 10% - 40% of light is directed upward • Shadowing should not be a problem • A pleasant environment • Inherently efficient Offices, classrooms, shops, working areas

Semi Indirect Lighting

60% - 90% of light is directed upward, similar to indirect lighting, but more efficient • 10% - 40% of light is directed downward • Direct and reflective glare is relatively low • Kind of a monotonous system Good for offices, lounges, waiting rooms, corridors

Fuel types: No 2 oil

65%-85% efficient. 137,000-141,000 btu/gal. portable and storable. Wide price fluctuation, burning equipment needs lots of maintenance, must be stored securely

Fuel types: anthracite coal

65-75%. 12910 btu/lb

1 ft3

7.5 gallons

Fuel types: natural gas

70-80% efficient. 1050 btu/ft3. most efficient fossil fuel, clean burning. Can't be used in remote areas.

Fuel types: propane

70-90% efficient. 2500 btu/ft3 heating value. portable, good for remote areas. not as clean burning as natural gas

Standard household bulbs have an average life of

750 to 1,000 hours, which can be lengthened or shortened by the treatment they receive. • Example: A 120V bulb operating on a 125V circuit may produce more light, but won't last as long as one on a 120V circuit

Fuel types: electricty

95-100% efficient. 3413 btu/kwh heating value. Easy to install and control Simple operation Flexible zoning Little space required. Most expensive type, especially for high heating loads

BTU / Hour: equation

=(cfm) x (1.08) x (∆T) =(Uvalue) x (Area) x Td

Radon

A colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that naturally occurs in soil and water • Lung Cancer is a concern for those who are exposed to high levels for a high period of time • Greatest exposure risk is room that are below grade, or those that are directly in contact with the ground • The method to reduce radon primarily used is a vent pipe system, which pulls radon from beneath the house and vents it to the outside.

The Natural Step

A credo of environmental responsibility Organized by scientist, designers, and environmentalists in 1996 • Concerned with the preservation of the ecosphere and biosphere Principles: • Elements from the earth (e.g.: fossil fuels, timber, ores) must not be extracted at a greater rate than they can be replenished • Manufactured materials can't be made faster than they can be integrated back into nature • People must protect and preserve living organisms • Resources must be used fair and efficiently • Buildings consume about 40% of the world's energy, account for 1/3 of the world's emissions, and 2% of acid rain causing CO2

Ballast

A device used in fluorescent and HID luminaries. Job is: • To supply controlled voltage to heat the lamp filaments in preheat and rapid start circuits • To supply sufficient voltage to start the lamp by striking an arc through a tube • To limit the lamp current once the lamp is started • Ballast (Cold Weather): designed to provide sufficient starting voltage for fluorescentlamps in cold weather, generally down to 0 ˚ F. • Ballast (Dimming): Dimming ballasts are special ballasts which, when used together with a dimmer control, will vary the light output of a lamp.

Line Diagrams

A diagram that shows the an electrical circuit/system using common symbols • Not toscale in plan usually a separate dwg • Individual branch circuits, general receptacles and lighting are not typically shown • Shows only the electrical connections of the system components, ratings and types of over current protection devices, the types and length of cables for major feeders • In this example the connection of the components follows the physical layout of the components • The main service transformer is shown with its ratings (12,470-480Y/ 277V, 750kVA) • Main distribution panel with the rating of the main bus indicated as 480V, 1200 A

A diffuse surface will exhibit

A diffuse surface will exhibit uniform brightness if the spacing between light sources does not exceed approximately 1.5 times their distance from the material.

High Intensity Discharge (HID)

A lamp within a lamp that runs at a very high voltage • An electrical arc is struck across tungsten electrodes in a glass tube filled withgas and metals • Metals produce the light once they are heated to a point of evaporation • Advantages: High efficacy (About 80 lm/W) • Disadvantages:Produce light that is not flattering to human skin, so not used for commercial /retail/residential applications

Point Grid Method

A method of calculating illumination (E) for surfaces not perpendicular to the source • Good for a single fixture or small number of fixtures • Takes into account orientation and distance but ignores surrounding reflection

Baffles

A shield of metal, wood or plastic used to screen a light source from normal angles of viewing. • Aluminum baffles are commonly used in parabolic fixtures or, a grooved cylinder dropped below a light source to conceal the lamp and provide light cutoff

On site waste disposal systems

A small scale sewage treatment system that is not connected to a municipal line • Found in rural areas, suburbs, or older neighborhoods. Options are: Septic tank, leach field, cesspools (seepage pit), aerobic treatment system, mound, sand filter

BTU/hour Examples

A typical furnace in a home puts out about 80,000 to 150,000 BTU/hr (rate) A person at rest puts out about 250 to 350 BTU/hr (rate) A typical US home uses about 50 MILLION BTU/year (amount) for space heating A classroom has a people heat gain for about 27,000 BTU/hr A new desktop computer uses 2,400 BTU/hr Typical office spaces get 2.5 w/ft2 heat gains from lighting alone Coal (when burned) = 15,000 BTU/lb. • Natural Gas (when burned) = 1,000 BTU/cubic ft • Wood (when burned) = 7,000 BTU/lb.

Pressure Regulator:

A valve that automatically cuts off the flow of a liquid or gas at a certain pressure • Function to match the flow thru regulator to the demand placed on system (That is: if the load flow decreases, the regulator flow must decrease.) • Typically a globe, butterfly, poppet valve, or one that can vary the operation of flow. • When pressures exceed 80 psi, a regulator should be installed as high pressure cases wear on valve seats and washers.

Tungsten Halogen

A variation of incandescent bulbs. A filament is lit by electricity passing through an enclosed in sealed bulb containing an inert gas and halogen • Smaller than standard incandescent bulbs • Filament burns under higher pressure and temperature • Uses a fuzed quartz envelope that allows for the higher temp • A chemical reaction takes place pulling the tungsten from the wall of the glass and back to the filament, extending its life • Advantages: Longer life • Low lumen deprecation of the life of the bulb, More uniform light color • Whiter light than incandescent, Dimmable • Disadvantages: Much hotter than incandescent bulbs • Types: • Come in various shapes, • Some have screw fixing and additional extra glass capsules so they can be used like conventional incandescent lamps

Typical Plumbing System Component: Curb Box

A vertical cast iron pipe extending from the curb or sidewalk level down to the shutoff at the water main connection • Typically used by the a municipality to turn the water service on/off to a building • Accessed by a special wrench

Illumination (E)

the amount of light arriving at a surface

Codes/Governing Bodies that have an impact on design and installation of system

ANSI/ASME Code A17.1: Safety code for elevators, dumbwaiters, escalators, and moving walks NFPA: fire safety and electrical standards for life safety ADA: guidelines for accessibility National Elevator Industry Inc. (NEII): standard layouts and suggested minimums for accessibility

Thermal Capacity

Ability of a given volume of a material to store heat (BTU/ft3)

Absorbent materials

Absorption is normally higher at high frequencies than at low • Absorption is not always proportional to thickness depends on the type of mat. being used an the method of instillation • It's possible to obtain a sabin greater than 1.0 by very thick blocks • Installation methods have a pronounced effect All other factors remaining constant, the thicker the absorbent material, the better its low frequency absorption characteristic

Absorptive materials are usually better at

Absorptive materials are usually better at reducing the transmission of high frequencies than low frequencies. • Total absorption of a material is dependent on its coefficient of absorption and the area of the material • Otherwise said...the effectiveness is dependent on the type of material and the method of installation rather than the thickness

Wind Turbines

Can be mounted on to buildings or run out in large open areas • Cost effective, established, and gets a high output • But...needs a lot of structure, space, and can be a visual eyesore

Equation: Sound intensity (watts/unit area)= typically deals with decibels instead

Acoustic Power (P)/ 4 π r2

• Good Absorptive Materials

Acoustic tile • Perforated metal faced unit • Acoustic panels • Acoustic Plaster • Sound Blocks • Wall Panels • Resonator Sound Absorbers • Carpeting and Drapery

Typical Elevator Design Speeds:

Adequate to provide prompt, efficient service • Shouldn't have "jack rabbit" starts or abrupt stops...keep it smooth

Human Comfort Goal

Aim for the 60 - 20 - 20 goal: 60% of people will be comfortable, 20% will be thermally hot, and 20% will be thermally cold.

Typical Plumbing System Components: Piping

All hot water pipes should be insulated • Cast iron: most commonly used for sanitary lines • Sometime ceramic pipe is used for lines outside the building • Copper: most commonly used for supply piping because it's resistant to corrosion, high strength, low friction loss, and small outside diameter

ADA Accessibility Guidelines, what is not required to be ADA

All new design or new construction areas must meet accessibility requirementsIncludes all employee work area and temporary construction that is open to the public Some areas are not require to be accessible: • Temporary construction facilities (e.g. Job shacks, scaffolding, trailers) • Raised areas used for security/life safety (e.g. Security or life guard towers) • Non-occupiable service areas accessed infrequently for maintenance (e.g. Mechanical rooms, penthouses) • Water slides • Non-public animal containment areas • Raised structures for officiating/announcing sports events

Contactors

An electrically controlled switch used for switching a power circuit, similar to relay but with higher current ratings • Controlled by a circuit which has a much lower power level than the switched outlet • Used to control electric motors, lighting, heating, capacitor banks, thermal evaporators, and other electrical loads • Unlike switches, contactors can be remote controlled

Geothermal Systems:

Collect via a heat pump system • Can supplement a building's heating demand

Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation

Allow for new additions/alterations to be different from the older structure, but must be complementary in massing, size, scale, and architectural features • Criteria must be met if Federal Tax Credits used • Takes precedence over state/local regulations • Clients may discover historical significance during site analysis. Archaeological activity and proper handling of structures/artifacts must take place.

Valve selective shutdown

Allow for selective shutdown without affecting the rest of the system

Typical Plumbing System Components: Corporation Stop

Controls the water (or gas) from a public main to an individual customer, located where the service lateral taps into the main • Typically not accessible without digging up the street

On site waste disposal systems: septic tank

An underground tank where sewage collects. Solid material sits and liquid waters passes on to a leach field which is a grid of ceramic pipe laid underground that allows liquid to pass out over a bed of gravel and into the soil. • Sized for 100 gallons/day per person with a minimum capacity of 500 gallons.

An unshaded southern window when compared to an unshaded northern window

An unshaded southern window when compared to an unshaded northern window, receives about 50% more gains. A shaded south window will receive about 1/3 of the solar radiation of a window that is not shaded

Incandescent: A

Appliance Most Common • Used Almost Everywhere A15, A19, A21, A23

Parts of the eye

Cornea: Covers the iris/pupil/chamber • Lens: Focusing Device • Iris: Controls the amount of brightness admitted • Retina: Sensing Device • Cones: Sense Color • Rods: Sense Black and White

Hot and Dry Climate Architectural Forms

Architectural forms is the ultimate extension of the progression from tight cube to loose elements • Wraps around the outside environment and pulls it in • Atrium or courtyard houses contain a piece of the outside environment in tis center, which modifies by evaporating moisture into the shaded areas by use of fountains or plantings • Houses are open to courtyard so the cooled and humidified air enters the house • Only windows on the outer wall small & occur high on the wall allowing the heated air from inside to escape, but forming a pool of cooler air doesn't rise

Machine Rooms

Are best located directly above the hoistway in order to provide adequate space for the motor, sheave, brake, controller board, speed governor, floor selector mechanism, and motor genitor • Room should be as wide as the hoistway and 12' - 16' deeper than the hoistway Minimum ceiling height should be from 7'-6" - over 10'-0"

Articulation Class (AC) vs Arcticulation Index (AI)

Articulation Class (AC): gives a rating of system component performance and does not account for masking sound • Articulation Index (AI): measure the performance of all the elements of a particular configuration working together: ceiling aborption, space dividers, furniture, light fixtures, wall partitions, background masking systems, hvac systems

Indoor Air Quality Problem areas: asbestos

Asbestos: • Check for it in all pre-1975 buildings • found in all steam pipes, floors, ceilings, tiles • Causes discomfort and congestion • Can be fatal, a cause of cancer • When you find it, don't touch it, call the experts

Three different methodologies for measuring the embodied energy in historic buildings were developed in

Assessing the Energy Conservation Benefits of Historic Preservation Concept model, inventory model, survey model, evaluate benefits of reno over new construction, salvage recaptures embodied energy, value of embodied energy vs operation energy investigated in historic structures - most likely higher end ratio because durable, bulky materials and large volumes

Fire Stairs

are required for emergency existing, and their number is controlled by the size of the building

Required Air Change Rates for ventilation is based on size and occupancy of space • Some Typical Air Changes In a Building / Room:

Auditorium: 8-15 Air change per hr Bars/clubs: 20-30 ACH Church: 8-15 ACH Classroom: 4-12 ACH Computer Rooms: 15-20 ACH Restaurant: 8-10 ACH Retail Stores: 6-10 ACH Shops, Woodworking: 5 ACH Warehouses: 2 ACH

Visual Comfort Probability (VCP)

a rating that indicates the percentage of people that will find a given discomfort glare acceptable. 70% is the minimum, else it's time to fix it.

Wind breaks and designing plazas

Design plazas at ground level, or open first floors, cautiously as they can be windy due to windbreaks (where part of the wind goes up and over and part goes down) • As wind passes through a gap I a wind break, it accelerates in the direction of lofw

Incanescent: BR

Bulk Reflector Created in response to EPACT which requires reflector bulbs to meet minimum standards • Bulk reflector in neck of bulb redirects lost light forward • Used for downlighting Br30, Br40

Good Indoor Air Quality starts with good design.

But if it has to be fixed or improved: • Control the source of the pollutant (the best option) • Dedicate a pathway for it to get out of the building • Increase the ventilation rate (avoid it, as it tends to be a costly fix) Prevention is key, but if it's not possible, you have to isolate the source

Conductance (C)

BTU/Hr that pass through 1 ft2 of material of a given thickness when the change in temperature is 1 ºF

what matters more than BTU/hr?

BTU/hr matters, but time of day matters more

Conductivity (k/in)

BTU/hr that pass through a 1 ft2 of material 1" thick when the change in temperature is 1 ºF

• In building acoustics, measurement and analysis is often divided into 8 octave frequency bands identified by the center frequency

Bands are: 63, 125, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, and 8,000 Hz • Octave Band: a range of frequencies in which the upper frequency is twice that of the lower

Footcandle Levels and Recommendations: tasks/orientation

Bare minimum for emergency egress = 1 foot candle Public Spaces with Dark surroundings = 2 - 5 foot candles Public Spaces w/low contrast= 3 foot candles Orientation/Wayfinding = 8 foot candles Occasional visual tasks (office)! ! = 15 foot candles High contrast tasks (big stuff)= 30 foot candles Medium contrast tasks (drafting) = 75 foot candles Low contrast tasks (making computer chips)= 150 foot candles General office work= 50 foot candles

Heat Loss: The key concept in building performance is the idea of the Building UA

Based on the U-Value and the area of any given building component (e.g.: walls, roof, floor, window, doors) R values of components are typically easier to understand • The bigger the number the more insulating the system • Buildings tend to be built in layers and the R value lets us just keep adding to get an overall bulk value

History of Lighting

Before the invention of the incandescent bulb in the late 1800s, most architectural lighting design relied on daylighting techniques. • Designers added ornamental/decorative lighting from candles/gas lamps as required. • In the 1900s daylighting became less important and designers focused on electric, artificial techniques. • The energy crisis of the 1970s resulted in a return to daylighting, energy conservation

International Building Code (IBC)

Begins by defining occupancy groups, the purpose of which is to distinguish various degrees/qualities of need for safety in a building.

Building Core

Building Cores Include: • Vertical circulation: stairs, elevators, escalators • HVAC ducts: supply, return, outside air • Fire Life Safety: fire plumbing, smoke and fire dampers

peak traffic periods for elevator use dictated by

Building type

On site waste disposal systems: mound

Built up drainage field above existing grade • Used when there's a high water table or a lack of permeable soil

Efficacy

the amount of light produced vs. the power input (lumens/watt)

Water can't be sucked up at a height greater than 33 feet why?

because that is the static head equivalent of atmospheric pressure at 14.7 psi

Contrast

Difference in illumination level between one point and nearby points.

Incandescent: ER

Elliptical Reflector • Also create in response to EPACT • Elliptical reflector increase the overall lumen output by redirecting lost light at the sides forward • Used for downlighting Er30

Intensity (I)

the amount of light put out by a source

Elevator Door Arrangements

Can vary for the most efficient solution • Single Speed Center Opening: common and allows faster passenger loading and unloading than side opening doors • Two Speed Side Opening: two leaves, one which telescope past the other as they move • Two Speed Center Opening: four leaves, two telescope past the others as they move Minimum opening width is 3'-6", but 4'-0 is better because it allows two people to leave or enter at the same time

Incandescent: C

Candle Made to look like candle flame for decorative applications • Used in chandeliers, restaurants, bathrooms, decorative lights • Rounded blunt tip is called "torpedo shaped" (think xmas lights) C7: marquees, scoreboards, • C9, C11, C15: decorative applications

Mechanical system financial implications

Capital, initial cost • Operating cost • Maintenance cost • Replacement cost • Upgrading as required • Equipment failure costs • Life cycle analysis

Indoor Air Quality Problem areas: carbon monoxide

Carbon Monoxide: pretty much "burning things" • Smoking, wood burning • Causes respiratory discomfort, weakness, dizziness • Should be exhausted well

water conditions: carcinogens

Carcinogens: insecticides, DDT, PCB's, and asbestos fibers that get into ground water

Secuity systems

Centralized control unity and Sensors & Magnetic Contact Points • smoke and heat, carbon monoxide, motion, water, freeze, doors/windows opening/breaking, personal emergency

Absorption

Change room reverberation characteristics WITHIN the room will have minimal affect on the noise level in adjoining spaces • Useful strategy in spaces with distributed noise like offices, schools, restaurants, machine shops • Also good to use in spaces with hard surfaces

Thermochromic glazing

Changes darkness of glass in response to temperature • An automatic action

Level Changes

Changes in levels! = 1/4" max w/o edge treatment Beveled Edge Ok =1/4" - 1/2" with 1:2 max slope Requires Ramp=1/2" or more

Cooling Choices for cooling a building

Chiller: requires a lot of cold water (all at about 55˚F) • Plus all the things that accompany a chiller • Direct Expansion (DX) systems: smaller and noisier • Rooftop cooling

Choosing a water supply system

Choosing a system depends on the height of the building and how much pressure is required to operate all of the fixtures

Indoor Air Quality Problem areas: other

Cleaning/painting products, plastics, adhesives • Most things used in order to maintain a building • Causes burning eyes/throat, dizziness • Should avoid using them if possible, or bake-out of building before occupied

Interceptor vs clean out

Cleanout: a plug that can be removed in a sewer line to clean out any clogs. Interceptor: catch grease, hair, oil rags, money, etc. that gets into a plumbing system

Vent Maintenance

Cleanouts are provided at intersections to allow for maintenance of the drain • Every 50'-0" in pipes less than 4" in diameter, • Every 100' in larger pipes • Every corner where pipe changes direction more than 45 degrees.

Coefficient of Transmission Levels

Clear Glass= 85% Frosted Glass = 70 - 85% Rest of light is either reflected or absorbed

The big four things you need to do for successful solar heating:

Collect Heat, Store Heat, Move Heat, Control Heat

Color temperature

Color temperature is when a lighta bsorbing body is heated, it first glows deep red, then orange, until it becomes blue-white hot. • The color radiated is related to its temperature, so by developing a scale we can compare the color of a light source to a scale and assist a color temperature at which a light absorbing body must be heated to radiate light similar in color • Value is given in kelvin (k) • Lower temperature = warmer color (reds) • Higher temperature = cooler color (blues)

water conditions: color/odor

Color/Odor: caused by organic matter, inorganic salt, or dissolved gasses. Can be corrected through filtration and chlorination

• The Seven Big and Nasty Culprits of Poor Indoor Air Quality

Combustibles: carbon monoxide (odorless, tasteless) • Standing moisture: mold (green and black is deadly) • Warm moisture: legionella (standing warm water, found inside anything) • Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC): toxic gasses (pain, stain, adhesives) • Formaldehydes: toxic off gassing (sheetrock) • Particle board: toxic off gassing (furniture) • Poisons: toxic gasses, liquids, and solids (cleaners)

Fluorescent: CF

Compact Fluorescent • Lamps bent into a U-shape and mounted on a base that houses a ballast • Can be screwed into incandescent luminaries T4-T5

PNC examples minimum to maximums

Concert Hall/Recording Studio NC - 15 dB NC - 20 dB Bedroom/Hospital/Large Conference NC - 20 dB NC - 30 dB Private Office/Small Conference/Library NC - 30 dB NC - 35 dB Large Office/Retail/Restaurant NC - 35 dB NC - 40 dB Lobby/Open Work Space/Laboratory NC - 40 dB NC - 45 dB Commercial Kitchen/Computer Room/Light Maintenance Shop NC - 45 dB NC - 55 dB

Electric Strikes

Consist of moveable mechanism that is mortised into the frame • When activated, the electric strike tracts and the door can be opened • On the inside, the latch bot can be retracted by a lever handle

Incandescent

Consists of a tungsten filament (usually tungsten allow) placed within a sealed bulb containing an inert gas • Filament glows by passing an electric current through it. Advantages: • Inexpensive, Compact, Dimmable • Typically "warmer" color than sunlight or daylight, they're rich in yellows and reds and weak in green and blues Disadvantages: • The least efficient type of artificial lighting because much of the energy use to light the filament is wasted in the production of heat (About 90% waste!) • Short lamp life: standard bulbs last about 700 - 1,000 hours • Types: • Come in various shapes with different characteristics • Designation is a letter-number (e.g.: A-21 means shape "A" and size 21/8")

Fire Alarm

Controls the detection, suppression, and notification of fire • Alarms are wired to a central port, when a signal is received the system can activate the fire suppression system and/or notify desired people • Can integrate with security systems so normally secured doors can be opened for a safe evacuation • Can link to the electrical system to provide emergency lighting or elevator capture during a fire/emergency

Fair Housing Act Guidelines:

Covers most housing (owner-occupied building with 4 or less units, single family houses sold/rented by owner, and housing run by clubs that limit occupancy to members are sometime exempt) • Requirements for New Buildings with 4 + units and an elevator: • Public common area must be accessible • Doors and hallways mush be wide enough for a wheelchair (32"-36" min) • All units must have: • An accessible rough into and through the unit • Accessible light switches, electrical outlets, thermostats, etc • Reinforced bathroom walls to allow later installation of grab bars • Kitchens/bathrooms can be used by people in a wheelchair • These rules do not replace more stringent state/local codes

Mechanical system architectural implications

Details of the design and building construction • Aesthetics (is it exposed or hidden?) • Required floor spaces and clearances for equipment • Size and appearance of diffusers, radiators, etc • Coordination with other building systems (lighting, fire suppression, structure) • Acceptable noise level • Required shaft spaces • Indoor vs. Outdoor equipment and their locations • Codes and standards of smoke removal • Usage patterns • Occupancy type

Supporting Pipes

Devices are used to carry the weight of the pipe, and to guide, anchor, and support it and its load. • May contain insulation materials depending on temperature application

Fixed Redistribution Devices shading

fixed devices that obscures part of the sky through which the sun passes (eg: overhangs, lightshelves)

Room Resonance

phenomenon which occurs when sounds in a room that are within a narrow band of frequencies tend to sound louder than sound of other frequencies

Vent

pipes connected to the drainage system and vented to outside air

impact noise: impact isolation class IIC

Data is plotted and interpreted as an impact isolation class (IIC): a single number rating of a floor/ceilings impact on sound performance • The higher the IIC, the better. • Values can then be improved in several ways • Adding carpet and resilient tile floors • Suspending ceilings • Concrete slab floated on compressed fiberboard insulation

Quantitative Lighting Issues

Daylight and how it is introduce and integrated with electric light Interrelationship between energy aspects of electric and natural lighting and HVAC Effect of lighting on interior space arrangement and vice versa Characteristics, means of generation, and utilization techniques of electric lighting • Visual needs of specific occupants andof specific tasks

Coolth

pleasantly low temperature

Designing for plumbing fixtures

Different fixtures require different amounts of pressure and water to function. • Plumbing systems must be sized to accommodate peak usage of fixture types • Many fixture types have become more efficient in the past few years, saving on water costs to the user • The designer must weight the option of higher initial costs for more efficient fixtures vs. that of lower initial cost for less efficient fixtures (and higher water bills) • A conventional water closet historically used 3.5 gallons or more per flush, while a water saver water closet uses between 1.7 - 3.5 gallons per flush

Groundwater Aquifer Cooling and Heating

Differential thermal energy in water from an underground well cools a building during summer and heats it during winter

water conditions: disease

Disease: bacteria or viruses from human/animal waste or other decaying organic materials breed in water • Chlorine may be added to water to kill bacteria at 0.5 parts per million • Fluoride may be added to improve resistance to tooth decay

Very tall buildings often have unique elevator strategies

Divide the total number of required elevators into banks that serve different zones • Keeps waiting and travel times acceptable, but shafts take up a lot of space, especially on lower floors

Elevator Safety Features:Safety Edges

Doors have spring loaded lip that retract open if it encounters a person/object when attempting to close

Suspended Fixtures

Dropped below level of ceiling, often hanging • Used for indirect systems and where light source needs to be closer to task area

Elevator Design Rules

Elevator design involves the selection, capacity, speed, number of elevators including location and arrangement, roping method, machine room layout, control system, and cab decoration • Elevators should be located near the center of the building, at the lobby level the should be easily accessible from the entrance and visible from all points of access • Even in smaller buildings there should be a minimum of two elevators • Elevator lobbies to be designed to see all call lights from one point, as to min. walking required between any car that might arrive • Adequate circulation space is needed outside the elevator to allow for people getting off and getting on at the same time

Elevators can account for as much as __% of a 25-story building's construction cost

Elevators can account for as much as 10% of a 25-story building's construction cost

Ecosphere, Biosphere, Toposphere

Ecosphere: area of earth from surface to five miles deep • Biosphere: area of earth from surface to five miles up into the troposphere • Troposphere: the lowers portion of the earth's atmosphere, cotians 80% of atmosphere's mass and 88% of its water vapor and aerosols

HID: Mercury Vapor

Electric arc is passed through high pressure mercury vapor that produces ultraviolet and visibly light • Primarily in the "blue/green" color • Moderately high efficacy (30-50 lm/W) • Have a life of 24,000 hours • Used for large area overhead lighting in factories/ warehouses/sports complexes/ streetlights H39KC-175, H37KC-250/DX, H33GL-400/DX

Electric lighting in nonresidential buildings consumes

Electric lighting in nonresidential buildings consumes 25% - 60% of the electric energy

ASHRAE/ANSI/IESNA Standard 90.1

Energy Standard for Building Except Low Rise Residential Buildings minimum requirement for energy efficient designs for bld (except for 3 story or less residential or single family residential) all new buildings and their systems, new portions of buildings and new systems in existing buildings It's the worlds most adopted budding energy code • Applies to buildings, the building envelope, HVAC, service water heating, power and lighting, and other stuff like systems that are part of the industrial/manufacturing process (e.g.: server farms) • Compliance is required for LEED Certification, federal facilities, and saves energy

Almost all US embodied energy applications are based on

Energy Use for Building Construction report in 1967. • Must be careful when using this information when comparing historic building to a new one, because construction systems for building types has changed. • Equipment installed in the last 25 years is more efficient in physical make-up and in operation • Embodied energy allocation in a building

Equation: Energy consumed/year (E)

Energy consumed/year (E)= (total heat loss rate, UA) x (DD balance point) x (24 hr)/ (given AFUE) x (given heating value of fuel, V)

Diffuse/Direct/Indirect Lighting

Equal distribution of light up and downwards • Bright ceilings and upper walls • All surfaces are lit • Give light in all directions, and should be suspended 12" min from the ceiling • Efficient system Good for classrooms, standard office works spaces, merchandising areas

Active Solar Heating (uses mechanical equipment):

Equipment is used for heating and to collect and store solar energy If the solar system can't provide adequate heating, then a back up system helps provide the exert needed heat. Most common early design question is the size, tilt, and azimuth of solar collectors and the size of the thermal storages component

Equipment system design sizing

Equipment sizing (understanding what type of system it is and what it takes to run) •Sizing depends on what "it" does • System type • Building type • Code requirements • Equipment footprint (how big is the equipment?) • Space allotment (how much space does the equipment need in the building?) • Keep repeating those steps until 95% done

Direct Lighting

Essentially all light is directed downward • Ceiling illumination comes from floor and furnishing reflection • Requires a light, high reflectance, diffuse floor unless a dark ceiling is desired • Efficiency depends on if the distraction is spread or concentrating • Gives little surface illumination, requiring the addition of perimeter lighting • Downlights create a sharp, theatrical atmosphere,not good for working spaces • Can be gloomy and cavelike General lighting if spread-type • Highlights, local, supplemental lighting, and privacy atmosphere lighting if concentrated-type

Estimating Electrical Loads

Estimates are typically required before construction by the local power company • Figures should be adjusted as exact equipment/lighting info becomes available • Estimate the wattage per square foot based on common building elements and how intense they will likely function • For the purpose of predicting overall building electrical load, continuous loads should be calculated at 125% of their actual value.

Phone

Fed through main cable connecting to rooms where they are split into riser cables • Risers are typically located near the core and connect at each floor • Multiple lines are supported by a phone switch • Each phone is connected to the switch via a copper cable • Phone switches can be small (up to 8 phone lines with 32 telephone connections), or lg (hundreds of phone lines with thousands of extensions) • Large phone lines are called Private Branch Exchange or PBX and they can be really expensive

Annual Fuel Utilization Efficiency (AFUE)

the annual fuel utilization efficiency, displayed on all furnaces manufactured within the United States

water pressure: equivalent length of pipe

Factor used to calculate pressure loss in a system • The actual length of a pipe plus some extra to compensate for pressure lost

Particulate filters

Fibrous Panel Filters: furnished with HVAC equipment and function mainly to protect fans from large particles of lint or dust • The least effective in cleaning air • Media Filters: more fine and use filter paper in please within a frame, working by straining and impaction (90% efficient)

Balance Point

Find the balance between internal gains and thermal makeup with the Tbalance equation • Use when internal gains and building UA don't match up with DD65 • It's the differential between what is "normal" and what is actually built • Coefficient of Performance is a unitless measure of BTU/BTU or watt/watt • Measures how much you put in compared to how much you get out

fire walls v fire barriers

Fire walls: walls that divide a single building into two or more "buildings", if either side collapses the wall will not for the duration of its rating • Fire barriers: make up rated assemblies/enclosures (e.g.: shafts, exit enclosures, exit passageways, horizontal exits, atriums, mixed use occupancy separation)

Operation and control of elevator: single automatic

First system of automatic system for elevators that consists of a single call button on each floor and a single button for each floor inside the car • Passenger has the exclusive use of the car until the trip is complete • Elevator can't be called if someone is using it • It's typically intended for small buildings

• Light fixtures that are more efficiently designed reduce energy cost and increase comfort, such as the following:

Fixtures that use fluorescent or HID lamps, which provide more illumination per watt than incandescent lighting. • Fixtures that are designed to diffuse or bounce the illumination off the ceilings or internal reflectors, which are more efficient; cause less glare (especially in an environment with computer monitors); and save operating costs. • Fixtures that have higher efficiency (T-8) fluorescent bulbs, which produce more lumens per watt and thereby diminish the heat generated by lighting. • Fixtures that offer dimming or multiple switching capability, which permit the architect a more energy efficient lighting design. • Fixtures that use higher efficiency lamps such as fluorescent, high intensity discharge (HID) sulfur lighting (exterior only). • Fluorescent fixtures that use high efficiency electronic ballasts

Incandescent: F

Flame Similar to "C" but glass is blown or etched so light looks like it's flickering through a flame • Used in decorative applications

Drinking Fountains Clearance

Floor Space =2'-6" wide x 4'-0" long min Spout Height = 36" max above floor Water flow =4" min height

water pressure

Friction must be accounted for, it tends to slow water down, so the psi must be greater than needed to accommodate it • Pressure lost depends on the size of the pipe and the glow in gallons per minute • Smaller diameter pipes have greater friction that slows down the pressure

Operation and control of elevator: group automatic operation

For use in large buildings System controls all elevators with programmable microprocessor to respond to calls int e most efficient way.

Bathtub Clearances

Front clr (no seat) =30" wide x length of tub min Front clr(with seat) =30" wide x length +12" min Controls =center line of end wall Hand Shower =59" min hose Temperature =120ºF max

Storage Water Heaters (Tank):

Fueled by natural gas, propane, oil, electricity • Less conventional system are heat pump or solar water heater • Most common water heating type in the US • Residential tanks typically 40 - 60 gallons at 50-100 psi • Residential tanks typically 120 - 180ºF

Heat Flow = Area of component / resistance of material aka: Area / R-Value

Geared toward a US market • Use the I-P Resistance (R) Category: Per in. Thickness (1/k) / ˚F ft2 h (BTU/in) • Materials under this heading are the typical R-Value • A series heat flow path goes from one component to another outside airfilm>outside finish >building material > interior surface > inside airfilm • A parallel heat flow path goes: outside > sheathing > studs and insulation > gypsum board

Electric (Traction) Elevator: Geared

Geared: motor and break on one shaft which drives a second main shaft, used for high speed installation

Elevators

Generally consist of an enclosed platform or car which is raised along rails in an enclosed vertical shaft. Are not considered a legal exit from a building

how to determine at risk areas for radon

Geological mapping has been widely used to identify "at risk" areas for radon.

Photochromic glazing

Glazing that darkens under direct action of sunlight • As light intensity increases, window becomes darker • An automatic action...doesn't have user control like electromagnetic glazing

Incandescent G

Globe Found in decorative applications like bathrooms and lobbies • G16.5, G25,G40

Building Zones

Good system design is a balance of solar gains and internal gains • Early morning/late afternoon are the worst for buildings • West facade is the worst side

On site waste disposal systems: leach field

Grid of ceramic pipe laid underground, with the intersection not quite touching, so that liquid leaks out over a bed of gravel which filters the waste before it seeps into the soil.

GroupReplacement vs Spot Replacement

Group Replacement: the replacement of a group of lights based on their calculated lifetime use estimates • Spot Replacement: the replacement of light that have actually burned out

how to treat hard water

Hard water can be treated via an ion exchange process with a water softener

To design for speech privacy in open areas

Have a high absorption ceiling • Use space dividers with absorptive surfaces to reduce transmission • Arrange floor, furniture, windows, and light fixtures to minimize sound reflection • Distance actives from each other • Introduce a background noise system to balance with speech privacy

Dumbwaiters

Hoisting and lowering devices like small elevators but only for material handling. • Platform can be 9 square feet max and carry 500 lbs • Used for service related functions

Horizontal pipe should be supported at intervals of

Horizontal Pipe should be supported at intervals of: 1/2" pipe=6'-0" 3/4" - 1" pipe=8'-0" 1-1/4" + pipe=10'-0" OR Copper Pipe=6'-0" Steel Pipe=12'-0" Plastic Pipe = 4'-0"

Emergency Lighting

IBC, National Electric Code, Life Safety Code all have provision for emergency lighting • Required areas include: Exit Stairs, Corridors, Assembly Spaces, Educational Facilities, Other high occupancy loads • Minimum lighting level required is 1 foot-candle at the floor level • Illuminated exit signs are required

Water Hammer

the noise caused by sudden pressure increase in a pipe when a valve or faucet is closed

pitch

the order of sounds on a frequency related scale

Heat Transmission northern v southern latitudes

In northern latitudes, heat transmission through walls is critical • In southern latitudes, heat transmission through roof is critical

Elevator Emergency Operation

In the case of a power failure, most codes require that at least one car can operate at a time, while the others stop, allowing the unloading of cars. • If a fire alarm is activated, all cars return to the lobby without stopping and switch to manual mode by the fire department • Star of life must be displayed if building is over 4 stories and has at least one elevator, which must be able to hold a 24X84 open stretcher • the function of a soffit around an elevator opening through a floor level is provided to serve as a smoke baffle that deflects smoke and flames

1 ACH

MEEB- The larger the air flow or air changes per hour (ACH), the quicker you replace the air • 16 ACH = hospital size building • 1 ACH during 1 hour = 63.2% new air in a room

Typical Efficacy

Incandescent =12 lumens/watt (these suck) Fluorescent =55 lumens/watt Metal Halide=90 lumens/watt (good for libraries) High Pressure Sodium =90 lumens/watt (street lights) Sunlight =115 lumens/watt (nothing beats it!)

Incandescent bulb diameters

Incandescent Bulb Diameters are measured per 1/8th of an inch (like rebar) so an R-40 bulb would be 40/8"....which is 5" in diameter Incandescent bulbs turn back as they near the end of their black lights

Fire passes through four stages in this order:

Incipient: invisible particulate matter like combustion gas is given off but no flame is visible, nor any smoke/heat generated. Sensors detect gas • Smoldering: large particles become visible as smoke, but no visible flame or appreciable heat. Sensors are photoelectric • Flame: appreciable heat is not immediate present, but follows very quickly. Sensors detect flame • Heat: uncontrolled heat and rapidly expanding air is present and flames and smoke become major hazards. Smoke inhalation ultimately causes most injuries. Sensors detect heat.

Access Control

Include a centralized control unit and access points • Access points are connected to the control with cables, and open when user is verify by whatever desired method • Include: card readers, key pads, biometric sensors

Passive Solar Heating (no mechanical equipment

Incorporate sun collection and storage as part of a building's walls, floors, or ceilings

Solar Heating System: Drain Back

Indirect system where water collects heat and pumped into a heat exchanger where a coil of domestic hot water is heated, at low temps the pump is turned off and water is drained back to solar storage tank

Wall Mounted Fixture

Indirect, direct-indirect, and direct

Primary cause of indoor air quality problems in home

Indoor pollution sources that release gases or particles into the air are the primary cause of indoor air quality problems in homes • Inadequate ventilation can increase indoor pollutant levels by not bringing enough outdoor air to dilute emissions from indoor sources • High temperature and humidity levels can increase concentrations of some pollutants • Generally, outdoor country air is better than indoor city air.

Equation: Illumination (E)!

Intensity (I) / distance (d)2

Light Loss Factor (LLF): Lamp Lumen Depreciation (LLD)

the overall performance of a lamp over its life, typically given in manufacture data

A single pane of glass decreases to __ with air space.

It decreases to 0.57 BTU/ft2 hr ºF for a 1/4" air space

It's good to have a worst case scenario assumption to work with when doing heating load calculations, including:

It's really cold and dry out (meaning you're at the 97.5% value of MEEB Appendix A-1) • It's the middle of the night • No people are in the space • The lights are off • Non of the equipment in the space is running

BTU/hour is a rate of energy

It's the rate needed to: Describe heat gain, describe heat loss, Report the Input/Output of a device (e.g.: this is a 60,000 BTU/hr furnace!)

• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)

Manmade material ranging from thin light color liquid to yellow/black waxy solid • Manufactured between 1929 - 1979 (banned) • Found in electrical equipment, transformers, fluorescent light ballasts, caulking, plastics, oil based paint, adhesives • Don't readily breakdown and can spend long times cycling between air, water, soil

Hartford Loop (Underwriter's Loop)

plumbing arrangement on steam boilers to avoid rapid loss of water in the boiler due to a break in the condensate return line.

In addition to the construction of the barrier itself, other variables are critical for the control of sound transmission

Leaks between adjacent construction assemblies • Run studs to underside of the slab: Install gypsum board tight to the floor and underside of the slab, Caulk edges • Flanking transmission through duct • Leaks at partition penetrations: Don't rigidly connect pipes/ducts to walls, Gaps should be sealed and caulked • Flanking transmission through ceiling into plenum • Transmission and impact loss through partition: Use weatherstripping at doors, Use heavy doors, Laminated glass can be set in resilient framing, or use layer of glass with air gaps in between each layer • Loss through outlets and openings in the wall (stagger and caulk them) • Leaks at floor/wall intersection • Impact sound through the floor

Light by bulbs, tubes, or lamps

Light by bulbs, tubes, or lamps also lose part of the spectrum

Light that has been bounced around a bit

Light that has been bounced around a bit through a surface, reflection, or refraction will lose part of the spectrum and the light will change

lighting represents what part of construction costs

Lighting usually represents 1 - 3% of project construction costs.

Standard Electrical loads for lighting, HVAC, and outlets

Lighting: Low=2 watts/sf, Typ= 3 watts/sf, high = 5 watts/sf outlets: low = 1 watt/sf, typical= 2 watts/sf, high = 3 watts/sf HVAC: 4 watts/sf, typ= 5.5 watts/sf, high= 7 watts/sf

On site waste disposal systems: aerobic treatment system

Like a septic tank system, but uses an aerobic process for digestion rather than just anaerobic process used in septic. • Produces a high quality second effluent which can be sterilized and used for surface irrigation • More flexibility for location of leach field, as well as its size

Psychometric Chart: to find Wet Bulb Temperature

Locate the dry bulb and relative humidity lines • The nearest diagonal wet bulb line is the wet bulb temp

Psychometric Chart: To find if you're in the comfort zone

Locate the dry bulb, wet bulb, and/or relative humidity values • The intersection is the comfort level. If it's in the red zone you're in the winter comfort zone, if you're in the blue, you're in the summer comfort zone

Toilet Location Clearance

Location =16" - 18" to center from sidewall Clearance = 60" min from sidewall 54" min from rear

Qualitative Lighting Issues

Location, interrelationship, and psychological effect of light and shadow Use of color, both of light and surface faces, and the effect of illuminant source on object color or vice versa Artistic effects possible with patterns of light and shadow • Physiological and psychological effects of lighting design, particularly in spacesoccupied for extend periods

Long life lamps

Long life lamps are best avoided because they are costly and inefficient • Energy-efficient lamps are typically rated at a lower wattage than regular lamps.

Fiber Optics

Long thin strands of very pure glass about the diameter of a human hair • A "Light Pipe" used to transmit light between two ends of the fiber • Arranged in bundles called optical cables and used to transmit light signal over long distances • Hundreds/Thousands of fibers are bundled into cables • Light in a fiber optic cable travel through the core by consistently bouncing from the cladding. The cladding doesn't absorb any light from the core, so it can travel a long distance

Embodied energy allocation in a building:

Manufacture of basic materials and components 50% Mechanical/Plumbing/Electrical and misc material20% Direct fuel purchases 15% Administration (retail trade/misc business services 11% Transportation of materials 2.5% Furnishing 1% Construction machinery/equipment 0.5%

Eutectic Salts

Materials used to store and release heat by means of their latent heat capacity...they alternately melt and solidify in the normal solar operating temp range of 80 - 160ºF

Outside Design Conditions

Maximum and minimum temperatures • Maximum and minimum temperatures • For heating use Design Dry Bulb (97.5%): 97.5% of the time the outdoor temperature is above the value listed on the table for the city • For cooling use Design Dry Bulb (2.5%): 2.5% of the time the weather is above the value listed for the city • Example: for Portland, OR the Design Dry Bulb is 23 and 85. • So, 97.5% of the time it's warmer than 23 & 2.5% of the time it's warmer than 85 • When dry bulb temp equals wet bulb, relative humidity equals 100

Stair Typical Dimentions

May be as narrow as 36" but when occupant loads are over 50 people, they must be 44" wide • The rise of step should be 7" max • The run of a step should be 11" min • Handrails can project 4-1/2" on both sides and Handrail diameter is between 1-1/4" - 2" and at least 1-1/2" away from the wall • Railings should continue to slope one tread length past the last tread and extend an additional 12" at the bottom of a stair. • Nosing should not be abrupt and have a max rounded edge of 1/2"

#1 cost in building design

Mechanical

Energy Policy Act (EPACT) eliminated

Medium based PAR and R laps of 40W or higher • F40T12 • U-Shaped fluorescents • Full wattage fluorescents • All were replaced with ER lams, tungsten-halogen, and T8

Sound Transmission Class (STC)

Method of rating walls, doors, etc. In terms of their typical or overall resistance to sound transmission • A weighted average of all STC is used when looking at an overall wall system • Values are widely quoted in catalogs and ads and are useful to design as a good estimate (actual installation values will vary) • The higher the STC rating the better it is

Equation: Street Main Pressure

Minimum fixture flow rate + pressure lost due to height + pressure lost by friction in piping +pressure lost by flow through meter

Sizing Water Pipes

Minimum fixture pressure varies from 4 - 20 psi • Street main pressure is about 50 psi • Use the highest, most remote fixture from the main when determining the minimum fixture flow pressure

Incandescent: MR

Mirror Reflector Have a mirror reflector Used for accent and stop lighting MR 16 MR 11(limited use)

Psychometry

Moisture, air, and heat interactions are complex • As air temperature rises, it's capacity to hold moisture rises too • As air becomes warmer it also becomes less dense

Mold

Mold growth requires moisture, a nutrient, and a temperature range of 40º-100ºF. • Since there's always nutrients (building materials like gypsum, fabric, batt insulation) and temperature will probably always be in the in 40-100º range, the only way to control mold growth is by controlling the moisture

Electromagnetic Glazing:

Multilayered thin film applied to glass that changes continuously from dark to clear as low voltage electrical current is applied

Primary energy options for heating

Natural gas, oil, and coal are equal in price and efficiency • Natural gas is the most clean burning, then oil, then coal • For large buildings electric heating is almost always the wrong answer

Permanent Supplementary Artificial Lighting of Interiors (PSALI)

Natural light is more pleasant to work in than artificial light, but sometime the amount of natural light provided varies during the day, and the illumination levels vary within a room. • Combining daylight and artificial light is a good way to compromise by blending the two together to provide even illumination • Retains most of the psychological advantages of natural lighting but can illuminate deeper into rooms than daylight could alone • Lamps used in fixtures should match natural light color

Vermiculite:

Natural occurring minerals composed of shiny flakes • When heated they expand to 8 - 30 times original size • Used for insulation in attics and walls,is fire resistant • Sold in the United States between 1919 - 1990, most of it came from a mine in Montana which also had an asbestos deposit...so vermiculite was contaminated

moving sidewalk

No steps are involved • Can have a short incline (up to 15° angle) • Typical operation speed is 140 - 180 feet per minute

intrusion detecting sensor systems

Normally open contact intrusion detecting sensor systems are no longer used in new construction • Intrusion detection is classified into three types: perimeter protection, area or room protection, and object protection

Elevator Safety features

Numerous due to all the potential hazards. Main break, governor, safety rail clamp, car buffers/ bumpers, interlocks, safety edges, proximity dictators

Stack Vent

portion of a stack above vents that connect to a soil/waste stack above the highest fixture in the system, vents to the soil stack,

Acoustic Building Codes

OSHA and UBC have minimum requirements for noise levels • OSHA limits the amount of exposure to high decibel noises in the workplace. • The higher the decibel, the fewer hours one can be exposed to it. • Eg: 90db = 8 hour exposure, 110 db = 30 minute exposure • Minimum Sound Transmission Class ratings vary based on the assembly of construction. General rule of thumb: • An STC 50 for walls, floor, ceilings • STC 26 for entrance doors

Recommended reverberation times

Offices/Small Rooms for Speech = 0.3 - 0.6 sec Broadcast Studios = 0.4 - 0.6 sec Elementary Classrooms =0.6 - 0.8 sec Lecture/Conference Rooms=0.9 - 1.1 sec Small Theaters =0.9 - 1.4 sec Churches=1.4 - 3.4 sec Auditoriums for speech and music =1.5 - 1.8 sec Opera Halls=1.5 - 1.8 sec Symphonic Concert Halls=1.6 - 2.1 sec

Sound Systems

Operates by converting sound waves into energy, increasing the power of the electrical energy using electronic circuitry, then converting the resulting electrical energy back into the form of sound waves • Used for overhead paging and/or audio to broadcast info or music • Components include: • Sound source, Amplifier, Communication Cable, Speakers • In a two-channel sound system, the preamp would be located between the program selector and the distribution switch bank

What matters about lighting

Orientation: filtered light is the goal, direct sunlight is the enemy • Daylight Factor: measured in percent, should be between 1 - 5% • Window & Floor Area: the only real quantities that need to be counted • Luminous Flux (lumens): how much light is leaving a source Illuminate (foot candle): how much light hits a surface for square foot • Luminance (footlambers): how much light is emitted from a surface

Receptacle Dimensions:

Outlets should be mounted 12" - 18" above finished floor typical, min 15" for ADA • Spacing should be 12'-0" max, or so that no point is further than 6' from an outlet • Floor receptacles must be within 18" of an exterior wall to count as a required power receptacle in a dwelling • Circuits are usually 15" and at least 20A for the kitchen, pantry, and dining • Kitchen counters need at least two circuits, with no more than 4 outlets per 20A • No point on a wall above a counter can be greater than 24" from an outlet

Supply Water Pressure

pressure at end of fixture + pressure loss

Daylighting Rules

Overcast skies are best for daylighting • Anywhere on the Earth's surface, the greatest deviation between true and magnetic north is 50 degrees • North facing glass is the best for daylighting • Fixtures that use fluorescent or HID lamps get more illumination per watt than regular incandescent bulbs Daylight Control Methods: Overhangs, Exterior or interior shading devices, Sawtooth skylights that face north, Light shelves that bounce light up onto the ceiling

Controlling Daylight

Overhangs, fins, and other architectural shading devices. • Sawtooth (not bubble) skylights allow glass to face north for illumination, not south for solar heat gain. DO NOT USE BUBBLE SKYLIGHTS. • Interior window shading devices, which allow solar gain during cool months, and the blocking of solar radiation during the warmer seasons. • Light shelves, which permit the daylight to reflect off the ceiling and penetrate farther into the interior without affecting views outside

Major influences of designing a cooling system for a building

PLE (People Lighting Equipment) gains: make the best estimate • Solar gains: time of the day/exposure • BTU/hr is the key it all adds up • Time of day also matters. Focus on 9:00AM, 12:00PM, and 3:00PM

Incandescent: PS

PS - Pear Shape Similar to "A" but have a larger diameter • Used in offices, retail • Used in radio/cell tower, bridge powerline, high tension wires PS30 (commercial)PS40 (utility)

Incandescent: PAR

Parabolic Aluminized Reflector • Have an aluminized reflector in a parabola shape • Covered with a hard glass relines to control light beam • Use unprotected outdoors because glass can withstand weather. Used for downlighting • PAR16, PAR20,PAR30, PAR30 long neck, PAR38

A room's acoustics are dependent on its shape, form, volume, and nature of surfaces

Parallel surfaces: reflect sound back and forth and can cause excessive reverberation and undesirable echoes or flutter • Concave Surfaces: focus sound and can create undesirable hot spots of sound • Convex Surfaces: diffuse sound and are desirable in listening areas

Type of Escalator Configurations

Parallel, Crisscross, Multiple Parallel

Heating Fluid Methods

Passive circulation that relies on gravity and thermosphoning of heated water. It's a simple, low cost method, but must be placed close to solar collectors and to points of use Active Circulation: pumps are used to circulate heat collecting fluid. Costs more,but is more reliable and flexible too.

Noise Criteria (NC) Curves

People typically can tolerate higher levels of low frequency sounds than of high frequency sound • Variables of sound have been consolidated into a set of curves used in specifying the maximum noise level in a given space under a given set of conditions • Different curves on a chart are specified which dictate the maximum frequencies and decibels that are allowed

Per ASHRAE what is indoor air quality?

Per ASHRAE, acceptable indoor air quality is air in which there are no harmful concentrations of known contaminants and with which 80% of people exposed don't express dissatisfaction

Sound Reverberation

Persistence of sound in an enclosed space after the sources has stopped • Affects the intelligibility of speech and the quality of conditions for music of all types

Measuring Light

Photometric readings are usually taken at the height of a "working plane" because this approximates the height to typical visual tasks • Illuminance is measured more frequently than luminance because design recommendations for lighting levels are typically given in terms of illuminance

Orientation is influenced by lighting needs

Place important spaces and windows at southeast corner of the site, it will get more sun in the winter and less in the summer • Place windows on the south side to get winter sun into the space • Use architectural overhangs/fins/louvers and to some extent deciduous vegetation to block solar rays in the summer Use few windows on the east and west sides of buildings because of morning and late afternoon sun. • If unavoidable, use vertical fins to block solar rays. • Use northern windows for even daylight throughout the day.

water pressure: pneumatic tank

Pneumatic Tank: pressurized tank in the basement supplies water to higher levels by using compressed air to push water up. • System takes up space in the basement and air may be dissolved in the water

Types of Plastic Pipe:

Polyethylene (PE): plastic pipe and tubing • Acrilylonitrite Butadiene Styrene (ABS): plastic pipe, black, used only for drain lines • Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): plastic pipe, white, used for supply • Polyvinyl Dichloride (PVDC): (okay for hot water)

Articulation Index (AI) predicts

Predicts the intelligibility of speech for a group of talkers and listeners and gives a result in a single number rating • Rating Ranges from 0.00 (complete privacy) to 1.00 (no privacy) Confidential Speech/Can't be Understood= - 0.05 Normal Speech Privacy= 0.05 - 0.20 Speech Understood between elements = + 0.20 No Privacy = + 0.30 • Rating can be used to: • Compare the relative privacy between different parts of workstations/areas • Evaluate how changes in open office components affect speech privacy • Measure speech privacy objectively for correlation with subjective response

Calculating Water Main Pressure

Pressure at most remote fixture Pressure lost from static head Pressure lost by friction in piping/fittings + Pressure lost through water meter ! ! ! Total street water main pressure

Cold Climate

Rare within the US (alaska, and north central plains Montana) minimize exposed surface, enclose as much of building as possible. Architecture: Igloo, cubical two story building with big slopes are typical.

Examples of cold architecture forms

Simple architectural forms are best: • Igloo: an ideal form given materials and climate • Cubical, two story building with big sloping roofs are typical • Farmhouses that include a barn under house on the ground floor and the living space on the upper floor, enclosing all in a single skin • New England homes has very blocky houses with most of the glass on the South facade, storage rooms and the kitchen ended up on the North. A row of evergreen trees were planted in a row tot he north or narrowest to block prevailing winter winds • Classic salt shaker house with a two story south facade and a long sloping roof to the North resulting in a single solitary north facade. A chimney in the middle of the building or on the West end, and an entry vestibule that allowed people to enter/leave without loosing heat

Noise Reduction Methods

Reduce the level of the sound source • Modify the absorption in the space • Most indoor spaces contain a near filed, reverberant field, and free field • Introduce a nonintrusive background sound (like white noise or random noise) • Low Frequency control usually requires an allowance for thicker partitions or mores pace to apply detailing that absorbs low frequency sounds:

Noise Reduction and Control

Reduction of noise generation at the source by proper selection and installation of equipment • Reduction of noise transmission from point to point by proper selection of construction materials and appropriate construction techniques • Reduction of noise at the receiver through acoustical treatment of the relevant spaces to meet the noise criterion (NC) criteria

Incandescent: R

Reflector Built in reflecting surface which causes light to pushed through front of bulb instead of emitting around the entire bulb • Used for downlighting • Used in can or track lighting R20

Building Automation and Control Systems (BACS)

Regulate a building's environment or monitor it for safety or security • Use a centralized control unit and distributed sensors or devices • Each sensor connects to a port on the centralized control • Systems include:HVAC, Thermostats are connected to the control unit with cable, Preset thresholds trigger a centralized control to run on the system to regulate the temperature in the area, ASHRAE Standard 90.2 calls for thermostats capable of a temperature range of 55ºF - 85ºF

Good lighting aims to

Reinforce the functionality of the spaces • Add to the acceptability/appreciation of space by the occupant. • Add value to the project • Create a feature that assists in the sale/rental of a space • Promote worker productivity and/or merchandise sales • Reduce long-term expenses • Minimize customer/user satisfaction

Urinal Clearance

Rim=17" max above floor Clear Floor= 2'-6" wide x 4'-0" long Flush Control=44" max above the floor

R value vs U value

Rvalue expresses how effective any solid material is as an insulator. The higher the value,the better it is. • Uvalue is the thermal transmittance and calculated for particular elements (roof, wall, etc) by finding the R value of each component (e.g.: of the siding, the insulation, the gyp bd) and adding them together, then calculating 1 / Total Rvalue )

Lumen (I)

SI unit of luminous flux, a measure of the total amount of visible light emitted by a source. One lumen of luminous flux uniformly cast on 1 square foot of area creates an illuminate of 1 foot candle

Effect of barrier STC on hearing

STC 25 = Normal speech can be clearly heard through barrier STC 30 = Loud speech can be heard and understood well, Normal speech can be heard, but barely understood STC 35 = Loud speech can be heard but not understood STC 42-45 = Loud speech can only be faintly heard Can't hear normal speech at all STC 46-50 = Loud speech is not audible Loud sounds other than speech can only be faintly heard

Plant Systems

Scale varies from a room air conditioner to a plant for a whole college campus • Plants originally started as heat/steam only. With the development of air conditioning, they because sources for chilled water too.

Lighting in Design Phases

Schematic Design: lighting composition concept is developed and hierarchy through the project is set, with lighting to suit the space needs. • Design Development: make final equipment selection, and prepare a complete lighting quantification. Add supplementary lighting as needed.

Water Supplies:

Service controls, or valves, are installed at the edge of the property (curb valve) and inside the building at the service entrance.

Incandescent: Tube

Shaped like cylinder tube • Can be Incandescent, Fluorescent, or HID • Used for everything T6

Incandescent: S

Sign Found in outdoor signs Casinos, hotels, theaters S6, S11, S14

ADA elevators

Signal Height = 72" min Signal Size = 2 1/2" min Self Leveling = within 1/2" of floor landing Car Controls = 15" min - 48" max

Signal system riser closets should have a minimum net area of____ sf and a minimum clear wall of_____ ft for cabinet mounting

Signal system riser closets should have a minimum net area of 20 sf and a minimum clear wall of 5 ft for cabinet mounting

HID: Metal Halide

Similar to mercury vapor except halides of metal are added to the arc tube • Increased efficacy (50 - 100 lm/W) • Have a life of 10,000 hours • Produces a whiter, more natural light • Decreased lamp life

hot water system: single supply pipe vs two pipe circular system

Single Supply Pipe: used in residential and small buildings: Provided from the heater to the fixtures • Minimizes piping costs • Can result in longer wait times for hot water Two Pipe Circulating System: • All fixtures are connected with a supply pipe and a return pipe • Water slowly circulates in the system through natural convection • Hot waster rises to highest fixtures and falls after cooling to be heated again.

Site drainage basins

Slope basin at 4:1 or flatter to prevent bank erosion and minimize risk of drowning • Design basins so that large particles settle in depressions and so inflows don't erode. • maintenance to remove trash, debris, and sedimentation • Low flow channels control dry-weather flows and the last of captured volume to the basin outlet. • Plant vegetation to control erosion and enhance sediment entrapment • Access for maintenance • Incorporate flood control, recreational facilities,landscape, and wildlife habitat • Integrate basins into swales to take advantage of aesthetic qualities of water and plants

Hydropower

Small scale is a newer concept, can be used for local or individual power collection

smoke barrier v smoke partition

Smoke Barrier: used as required to prevent the movement of smoke, have a 1 hour fire resistance rating • Smoke Partition: like a smoke barrier, but does not have to resist fire

Solar altitude vs azimuth

Solar Altitude: The angle of the sun 90º or less above the horizon. • Solar Azimuth: The angle from due north in a clockwise direction, given in degrees Basic angles of sun are broken into two parts: • Altitude Angle: the angle between the horizontal and the sun (ground up) • Azimuth Angle: the angle from due north in a clockwise direction (east/west) • Morning = positive Evening = negative

Daylight depends on

Solar altitude: latitude, date, and time of day • Weather Conditions: cloudy, smoggy, sunny, etc. • Effects of local terrain: natural or man made obstruction and reflections

PV Systems

Solar panels are mounted to roof or shading devices and collect solar energy • Not really that cost effective, it's an expensive system

tone

the overall quality of a sound with reference to its quality, pitch, strength, source

Evaporator

the part of a refrigeration system in which the refrigerant evaporates and absorbs heat from the medium to be cooled

Smokeproof Enclosure

a required exit which consist of a vestibule and continuous stairway enclosed from the highest point to the lowest point by 2-Hour walls and which exist into a public way or exit passage leading to one

Catch Basin

a reservoir in which debris and sediment from runoff may settle before it enters the storm drain

Air Changes Per Hour (ACH

a rough estimate of how much whole room/building air is replace by outdoor air per hour

Air Gaps

a safety feature, faucets are mounted 2" minimum above the highest possible level of wastewater to prevent any contaminated water being siphoned back in

NRC Noise Reductio Coefficient

a scalar representation of the amount of sound energy absorbed upon striking a particular surface. It's an arithmetic average of the sound absorption capability of a product at only four frequencies: 250, 500, 1000, and 2000 hertz, which represent the center range of human speech.

Upfeed System

pressure from the water main is used to pump directly to the fixtures. • Enough lift must be provided to reach the top story • Due to friction, the building height limit is about 40' - 60'

Total Pressure:

pressure measured by a pilot tube, consisting of static pressure and velocity pressure.

Reverberation

the persistence of sound in an enclosed space after the source has stopped. Continuous reflection

Selective High Performance Glazing shading

glass that has a lower transmission for the invisible part of the spectrum than the visible, best used with Retractable or Fixed Redistribution Devices

Fixed reduced transmission Devices shading

glazed openings are made to have permanently reduced transmission (eg: fixed grids, perforated sheets, tinted/reflective/ fritted glass)

Hypocausts

gravity heating systems used by the romans to heat public baths and private houses

Elevator Safety features: Safety Rail Clamps

grip the side of the rails if there is an emergency

Motor Control Systems: DC Thyristor

has a greater rise and speed capability than AC version

Light Loss Factor (LLF)

are the factors that need to be considered when calculating the zonal cavity method. Most important considerations are Lamp Lumen Depreciation (LLD), Ballast Factor (BF), Luminaire Dirt Depreciation (LDD), Room Surface Dirt Depreciation (RSDD

Distillation

as water turns to vapor pollutants are left behind. Vapor is captured and as it condenses, the water is collected for use.

To avoid exceeding a total power budget

assume 2.3W / sq.ft. when estimating the maximum amount of energy used.

Vacuum Breaker

automatic valve which admits air into a supply pipe to prevent siphoning polluted water back into the supply

Mean Daily Range

average temperature swing from night to day

Interval

average time between departure of cars from lobby average waiting time for an elevator, varies with building type

Round Trip Time

average time required for an elevator car to make a round trip

Travel Time

average time spent by a passenger from the moment they arrive in a lobby to leaving the car on the upper level

Residential stairs

have more lenient regulations because fewer people use them

well pumps: turbine pumps

for deep wells with high capacity

Specific Heat

the amount of energy required to raise the temperature of a material by 1 ºF, the capacity to store heat, given in BTU

Coefficient of Heat Transmission (U-value):

overall rate of heat flow through any combination of materials, used for determining the size of heating system.

Absorption filters

for gaseous removal and vary depending on pollutant • Activated charcoal filters: more common, absorb materials with high molecular weights and allow low weights to pass

well pumps subversive pumps

for small residential, a pump below the water line pumps water to a pressure tank

Direct Gain systems failures

Some common screw ups are: • Too much glass or not enough mass • Mass coupled to exterior in some way • Off orientation for south facing collection

Equation: Inverse Square Law

Sound Intensity (I1) / (I2) = Distance from Source (r22) / r21)

Sound Levels

Sound Levels: • Human ear hear sounds in the 20 Hz to 20,000Hz range, the most sensitive range is 125 Hz to 6,000 Hz • Human ear can respond to tremendous variation in sound amplitudes without damage • Speech is composed of sound primarily in the 100 Hz to 600 Hz range • Human ear is less sensitive to low frequencies than to middle and high frequencies for sounds of equal energy • In building acoustics, measurement and analysis is often divided into 8 octave frequency bands identified by the center frequency

Hot and Dry Climate

Southwest United States like Phoenix, Arizona • Large diurnal (day to night) temperature swings due to clear sky • Large radiation losses to the sky from buildings, and greater environment, at night • Large temperature swing gives major design opportunity because if either is within a comfort zone area, it can be captured and stored by the building • Take advantage of high thermal mass materials like adobe which stores heat from the day for the flowing nigh and stores coldness of the night for the following day

Ways to prevent poor indoor air quality

Specify low-toxic products • "Bake out" by heating the building to 100˚F and releasing/repeat for two weeks • Have a good air distribution diagram • Give users control of their spaces, allow them to open windows and whatnot • Limit the pathway air has to travel through people (remember, people are a cause of pollutants too, down to their perfume or hair gel) • Make sure that air flows balance

Speech privacy

Speech privacy is a function of the degree of sound isolation provided by the barriers between rooms and the ambient sound level in the receiving room. • Two measures used to evaluate open office acoustics are the articulation class and articulation index. • They are intended only for open office situation where speech is the primary sound concern

What makes Indoor Air Quality bad?

Stuff in the air, it's not just a lack of oxygen • Pollutants: they're everywhere and everything from radon to perfume to hair gel • Pathways: where does the air go? • People: occupancy and activity (showering, or lack thereof) • Equipment: poor maintenance of the design

Footcandle Levels and Recommendations: light

Sunlight= 10,000 foot candles Full Daylight= 1,000 foot candles Overcast Day= 100 foot candles Very Dark Day = 10 foot candles Twilight= 1 foot candles Full Moon = 0.01 foot candles

Emergency Power Supply

Supplies power for exit lighting, alarms, elevators, fire pumps, medical equipment • If a building's emergency power supply consists of batteries, the batteries must have a full-load capacity of 90 minutes

Storm Drainage strategies

Swales, catch basins, retention ponds, detention ponds, infiltration pond, downspouts/ gutters ( size is determined based on the are of the roof and the maximum hourly rainfall. Gutter slope ranges from 1/16" per ft to 1/2" per foot. )

Equation: Balance Point (Tbalance )

TInternal - (Internal Gains (BTU/hr) / UAbuilding )

Contrast and brightness ratios:

Task to adjacent surroundings = 1 : 1/3 Task to more remote darker surfaces = 1 : 1/5 Task to more remote lighter surfaces = 1 : 10

Optimal Building Location for Temperate Climate

Temperate: maximize solar gain in the winter, minimize in the summer. Maximize breezes in the summer, minimize in the winter. Take advantage of daylighting opportunities • Optimal Building Orientation = 17.5º E of South

Heat sink

for the purpose of high mass cooling is a facility for rejecting heat accumulated by a building

Dry Bulb Temperature details

The air temperature that is most commonly used, what people normally refer to when talking about the temperature of the air • Called "Dry Bulb" because the air temperature is indicated by a thermometer not affected by the moisture of the air • Measure using a normal thermometer • Indicates the heat content and is shown along the bottom axis of the psychrometric chart, and appear as vertical lines in the chart

Indoor Air Quality Problem areas: Hydrocarbons

found in smoking, BBQ • an issue with poor exhaust, smoking indoors • Causes nose/throat irritation, asthma attacks

Sound Waves

generated by a vibrating object and radiate outward from a source equally in all directions

Typical heating choices

The central boiler: hydronic system, it's the #1 piece of equipment in a system • High Pressure steam: large and dangerous, even lethal • Low pressure steam: found in older homes • Heat pumps and electrical heating: water based are good, electric are terrible • Coal, oil, and other systems: tending away from now

Doppler Effect

The apparent change in frequency or wavelength of a wave that's perceived by an observer moving relative to the source of the wave • The effect doesn't happen due to an actual change in the frequency of the source Example: an ambulance's siren appears to get louder as it approaches you, then gets more quiet the farther it goes beyond you. The actual volume of the siren doesn't change, just your proximity to it.

Rules of thumb for preliminary estimation of sound absorption

The average absorption coefficient for a room should be at least 0.2 • An average absorption above 0.5 is typically not desirable or economically justified • Each doubling of the amount of absorption in a room results in a noise reduction of only 3 dB • If additional absorptive material, an increase • Each doubling of the absorption in a room reduce reverberation time by 50% • Ceiling treatments are best for large rooms, wall treatments are best for small rooms • The amount of absorption of a pours type of sound absorber (e.g.: fiberglass, mineral wool) is dependent on the material's thickness, density, porosity, and orientation of fibers.

Load Dominated Buildings

The core will need cooling almost all the time...it can be passive cooling • The perimeter will need heating and cooling at different times of the day, month, year • Both zones will need ventilation at a rate of about 20 CFM / person

Dew Point Temperature

The dew point is the temperature at which water vapor starts to condenses out of the air • Above this temperature moisture will stay in the air If the dew point temperature is close to the dry air temperature the relative humidity is high • If the dew point temperature is well below the dry air temperature, the relative humidity is low • Dew Point temperature is measured by filling a metal can with water and some ice cubes. Stir by a thermometer and watch the outside of the can, when the vapor in the air starts to condense on the outside of the can, the temperature of the thermometer is pretty close to the dew pion of the actual air • Dew Point is given by the saturation line (the maximum amount of humidity that air can hold) on the psychrometric chart

noise v sound

The goal of architectural acoustics is to design spaces to meet hearing needs • In architectural acoustics, sequence is sometime referred to as pitch • Finding the distinction between sound and noise is subjective • Sound is desirable, noise is not • Your conversation with your friend about is typically considered "sound", but if you're having that conversation in a reading room of a library then it becomes "noise" to others • Acoustics is the science of sound, which is the sensing of compression waves in air

Noise reduction is basically the science of converting acoustical energy into heat

The heat produced is negligible (about 0.003BTU per 130 dB) • Energy of sound is absorbed into the room contents, structure, and wall coverings

• The lumen method of calculation is used to determine

The lumen method of calculation is used to determine the average maintained illuminate or footcandles on the working plane in a room

mass law

The mass law is based on the principle that the larger the mass the less it will vibrate

Typical Elevator Response Times

The minimum time between a car answering a call and the moment the doors of that cab start to close is five seconds • Typically waiting intervals should be 20-30 seconds.

Surface Mounted Fixtures

The most commonly used type for residential and commercial applications. • Used in ceilings where there is not sufficient space above the ceiling to recess a fixture and locations where ceiling is existing

Fluorescent: T

Tube Designated according to type, wattage,diameter, color, and method of starting • eg: F32T8WW/RS = 32 watt, 8/8" tubular, warm white, rapid start T2-T12

Smoke Control

The most important part of fire protection because smoke moves so rapidly. • Tricky to control because it can move in ways that fire can't, and well beyond thelocation of fire too • Moves by natural convention forces between cool and warm air • Goal is to contain, exhaust, and dilute smoke • Fire dampers, smoke gaskets, and automatic closing fired doors help

• Light Shelf

overhang that's exterior, interior, or both, used with a clearstory to reflect light up on to the ceiling and reduce direct light adjacent to the window

Wet Bulb Temperature details

The temperature of adiabatic saturation, or what a parcel of air would have it were cooled to 100% relative humidity (saturation) by the evaporation of water into it • Measured by using a t thermometer with the bulb wrapped in wet muslin. The adiabatic evaporation of water from the thermometer and the cooling effect is indicated by a "wet bulb temp" that's lower than the "dry bulb temp." • The rate of evaporation from the wet bandage on the bulb, and the temperature difference between the dry bulb and wet bulb depends on the humidity of the air. • The more humid (or water vapor) the evaporation reduces • Wet bulb temperature is always lower than dry bulb temperature • Lines of constant wet bulb temperature run diagonally from the upper left to the lower right on the psychrometric chart

Sabins

The unit of absorption • An acoustical measure of reflectivity and absorptivity similar to that in radiation, designated by the Greek letter alpha. It is measured in a unit called a sabin. • The absorptivity per square foot of any given surface varies from 0 (all sound is reflected) to 1.0 sabin (all sound is absorbed). • As spaces become larger, the reverberation time tends to increase. As absorptivities become greater, the reverberation time tends to decrease. • Very reverberant spaces are often called "live" space, and spaces with short reverberation times are called "dead" spaces

Point of Use Temperatures

Therapeutic Bath= 95 degrees Hand Washing = 105 Shower/Bath = 110 Residential Dish Washing = 140 Commercial Dish Washing = 180 Commercial Laundry = 180 Water above 110 becomes uncomfortable to touch

Filters

There are many different types of filters for the wide variety of particulates • Large particulates are easiest to remove, smaller are most hazardous to heath • Not all pollutants can be captured by filters

There should never be more than __cars in one elevator bank or __ cars in one line

There should never be more than 8 cars in one elevator bank or 4 cars in one line

Solar Heating System: Thermosiphon

Thermosiphon: relies on natural movement of hot water to circulate in a passive, open loop system, storage tanks located above collectors

Building Form

Thick buildings are harder and more difficult to light, easier to heat, cores have more internal loads • Thin buildings are easier to daylight • Atriums are the removal of the core, they need to cool

Think of a lightbulb like a sprinkler head

Think of a lightbulb like a sprinkler head. • The rate of water flow would be lumens • The amount of water per unit time per sq.ft. of floor area would be footcandles

Super Windows:

Two low-E coatings with gas filled cavities between three layers of glass • Units can actually gain more thermal energy than they loose over 24 hour period in the winter

Typical decibel levels

Threshold of acute hearing= 0 decibels Rustle of Leaves = 10 decibels Sleeping, studying, whispering = 30 decibels Conversation, comfort = 50 - 60db Safety Threshold= 85 decibels Rock Band= 120 decibels Threshold of Pain= 130 decibels

(∆T): equation

Tindoors - TDesign

Td: equation

Tindoors - Toutdoors

Calculate Daylighting

To calculate daylighting: • Measure from bottom of floor to the top of the window (doesn't matter how big it is) • You can go 2.5x that length into the building for lighting penetration • Daylighting Factor max = .2 (window area/floor area) min = .1 (window area/floor area) • Remember...it should be between 1% - 5%!

Typical fixture rates

Toilet: 25 psi: 3-5 gal per flush Shower: 12 psi: 3 gal per min Bathtub faucet: 5 psi 4 gal/min Hand washing: 8 psi, 2.5 gal/min Washing mach: 8 psi, 4 gal/min & 40 gal/load Dishwasher: 8 psi, 4 gal/min & 15 gal per load

Equation: Noise Reduction Coefficient

Total sabins, sound absorbing units, A/Total surface area in the room, S

Shower Clearances

Transfer Showers Size=36" x 36" clr min Front Clr=36" wide x 48" long min Roll in Shower Size=30" x 60" clr min Front Clr =30" wide x 60" long min

About db and frequency levels

Trees thin out high frequency noises • Typically doubling the distance between source and ear reduces level by 6 dB • On freeways, doubling the distance between source and ear reduce level by 3 dB • Winds add "white noise" that blurs any one sound frequency. • Walls close to a noise source reduce high frequency, but midway between the source and the ear does nothing. • The human ear is more sensitive to sounds in middle frequencies • The scale that most closely represents the response of the human ear is called the A scale. When measurements using the A scale are converted to decibels, the resultant measure is designated dBA.

Mechanical System constraints

Type of facility and requirements • Zoning requirements • Heating/cooling loads • Energy availability and efficiency • Control scheme • Maintenance ease, frequency • Type of equipment • Redundancy and equipment configuration • Zone or individual control

Acceptable daylight Factors

Typical office work =1.5 - 2.5% (easy to achieve) Reading/handwork=2.5 - 4.0% Drafting/find handwork =4.0 - 8.0% (almost impossible!)

Data

Typically used to describe a mainframe or minicomputer system, not the modern day LAN systems • System was popular in the 1960s - 1980s and have mostly been replaced • Mainframe: a large centralized computer that performed all activities, all applications were installed and data stored on computer's disk drive. Users interacted through terminals • Minicomputer: smaller version of mainframe computer, all applications run on centralized computer, but system is smaller and supports a few number of user terminals

Heat Flow Rate (Q): equation

U(A) x (24Degree Days DD)

Heating Load (Qc): equation

U(A) x (∆T)

Siphon

U-shaped tube used to transfer liquid from an upper level to a lower one by suction

Building Loss Coefficient (BLC)

UAenvelope + UAinfiltration

Equation: Building Loss Coefficient (BLC)

UAenvelope + UAinfiltration

Units for lighting

Units for lighting are watts per square foot

units for ventilation units for heating units for cooling

Units for ventilation are cfm per person Units for heating are BTU per hour Units for cooling are BTU per hour and Tons

Collect Heat

Use Windows Face them south... south glass is the best. Period. • Make glazing vertical - horizontal and angled glazing doesn't work as well • Shade it in the summer (For every 1'-0" up, have 6" of overhang) • Don't block it • Don't count on trees for shading (they might go away) • Keep a 2:1 ratio of mass to glass

limiting noise in buildings: plumbing systems

Use expansion valves and flexible loop connections to reduce pipe rattling • Seal pipe penetrations through walls and floors with flexible packing

limiting noise in buildings: materials

Use fibrous materials • Deep air space within wall cavity • Stagger studs • Seal openings in wall • Avoid back to back wall outlets • Sound attenuation above headers

Air Based Systems

Use solar collectors to trap air instead of water to absorb and transfer heat • Operate a lower efficiency than liquid collectors because air doesn't transfer heat as efficiently as water

Vegetative Roofs

Use vegetated roofs to reduce amount of stormwater runoff, impervious surface area, and heat island effect. Also has a longer lifespan than a conventional membrane roofing system and lower overall maintenance cost

Hydraulic Elevator

Used for low-rise, or less than 5 story buildings, or about 50'-0" • Speed varies between 25 - 150 feet per minute • Can carry about 10 tons • Commonly used for freight in industrial and low-rise commercial buildings, passengers in small buildings, or single family residential • Sit over a plunger or ram which operates a cylinder that extends as far into the ground as it is tall. • Oil serves as the pressure fluid and is controlled by high speed pumps • The main advantage of hydraulic elevator systems is that they don't require a penthouse machine room or heavily braced roof over the shaft • Cost less than electric elevators because they are more simple • Holeless Hydraulic: uses a telescoping plunger set into the shaft next to the cab. Lift is provided by applying force to the upper member of the car frame

Electric (Traction) Elevator:

Used in commercial and industrial buildings greater than 5 stories/50'-0" • Speeds up to 1,800 feet per minute • Capacities up to 10,000 pounds • Traction is used to transmit lifting power to the hoisting cables by means of friction that develops when cables run over grooves in the sheave • On one end is the elevator cab and the other are counterweights that weigh about the weight of an empty car plus 40% of the live load capacity • Traction machine: Motor and drum assembly that is geared or gearless

Recessed Fixtures

Used in residential and commercial • Include incandescent and fluorescent where a luminous ceiling is formed when the entire ceiling is made up of lighting

Ladders

Used to access roofs, utilities, and service areas • Most permanent ladders are made from metal • 18" wide minimum

Zonal Cavity Method

Used to calculate uniform illuminance in a space, based on a uniform distribution of a large number of fixtures • Takes into account the reflectivity of the ceiling and walls and the comparative volumes of the top, middle, and bottom of the room. • Space is divided into: Ceiling Cavity, Floor Cavity, and Room Cavity • Most commonly used for office, commercial and factory spaces • Based on the Coefficient of Utilization (CU) for each fixture type • Light Loss Factor (LLF) are the factors that need to be considered when calculating the zonal cavity method.

Where are valves located at

Used to control water flow and are located at: bathrooms/kitchens, risers, horizontal branches, HVAC systems, individual fixtures, pumps, water treatment equip (sprinkler systems)

Passive Solar Building Design

Windows, walls, and floors are designed to collect, store and distribute solar energy in the winter and reject it in the summer • Doesn't involve mechanical devices or system • Used for space and/or water heating • Energy is collected through properly oriented south facing windows • Storage of energy is in "thermal mass," building materials with high heat capacity such as concrete slabs, brick walls, or tile floors

Calculating minimum number of plumbing fixtures

Varies by occupancy type and sizes • Dictated by plumbing code, either in the IBC or state amendments • Given as a minimum requirement, sometime more generous provisions are appropriate • Unless stated otherwise, assume occupancy is made up of half men and half women Divide the occupancy by the number of fixtures that are required to get a total

Velocity Rate and Noise

Velocity above 10ft/second of water flow is noisy • In sound sensitive areas, anything above 6ft/second is too noisy

Equation: wavelengths

Velocity of sound (fps)/ Frequency of sound (Hz)

Vertical runs vs horizontal pipe support

Vertical runs should be supported at every story Horizontal tubing should be supported at closer spacing than steel • Position horizontal runs adequate to assure correct pitch and drainage

Elias Otis invented

Vertical transportation has been around for a really long time. • Hoists were used to lift materials not people because they weren't safe Elias Otis invented the safety device that would ultimately make elevators safe for routine human use

CCTV

Video network for security • Video cameras are placed throughout a building and campus and wired to TV monitors in a central security location

architectural processes to improve stc

Walls must extend to the structural deck in order to achieve optimal isolation. Walls extending only to a dropped ceiling will result in inadequate isolation. • When the mass of a barrier is doubled, the isolation quality (STC rating) increases by approx 5 dB, which is clearly noticeable. • Installing insulation within a wall or floor/ceiling cavity will improve the STC rating by about 4-6 dB, which is clearly noticeable. • Often times, specialty insulations do not perform any better than standard batt insulation. • Metal studs perform better than wood studs. Staggering the studs or using dual studs can provide a substantial increase in isolation. • Increasing air space in a wall or window assembly will improve isolation.

BioGas

Waste and discarded crops are converted into a gas that can fuel a gas turbine • High production, used for heat or power, no emissions, and reduces landfill burden

Hot Water System

Water in pipes cools, so unless warm water is constantly flowing through them, cold water will run until hot water gets to the fixture Peak hourly demand is important because certain hours might require more hot water than others (e.g.: showers in the morning)

Circulating Water Heater

Water is heated in one spot and stored in another until it's needed

Municipal Water Systems

Water is obtained from rivers, lakes, etc and treated • Treated water is pumped through water mains at 50 psi • Distribution to individual properties • Property owners may be required to extend lines from property if the main is not adjacent to the property line

Tankless Water Heaters:

Water is quickly heated and sent to where it's needed, as it's needed • Uses variable speed pumps that run at varying rates • Saves space, but pumps wear out faster

Instantaneous (Inflow) Heater:

Water is supplied to each fixture and heated when the water faucet is turned on. • More efficient, but more upfront cost to install

Which is more efficient: water or air systems?

Water systems & air systems are comparable in efficiency, water is a little better, but more costly • Air systems tend to be comparable to water systems in terms of initial cost • Water systems are easier to maintain, and outperform others in terms of operations and maintenance

Ground water v Surface water

Watercomes from surface or ground: • Surface water: from rain and snow that runs off into rivers and/or lakes • Ground water (aquifers): subsurface water that has seeped into the ground until it hits impervious rock and forms a water table at that level

Private Wells/ Springs/ Collected Rainwater

Wells are drilled or bored and fit with a cast pipe to keep it from caving in, they're usually perforated to allow water to seep into the well • Wells can be 25' to 100'+, depending on where the water is coming from • Water Yield: 5 gpm to 10 gpm minimum for residential locations

Equation: Efficiency

What is sought (what a system says it can do) / What is bought (what it actually does)

Equation:Footcandles (FC)

_____Lumens_(I)______/ area in sq. ft. (A)

Building Pressurization

When HVAC system exhaust more air than they take in, it can result in neg pressurization inside the bld • Ideally the air pressure in a bld should be equal to or slightly positive to the air pressure outside the building • Neg pressure problems include: comfort issues, cold drafts, and noxious doers that rush in through cracks and openings • Outside doors may difficult to adjust and open, dangerous to close • Flues intended to discharge combustion products may backdraft • Bld can become neg pressurized through the stack effect, where warm air rises and goes out the top, pulling in cooler air at lower levels through cracks and openings • Can be balanced by adjusting flow and workings of exhaust and intake equipment,adding more intake air capacity, etc

dB's can't be added directly, so use this chart instead for changing value

When difference between two values Add this value to the higher value 0 - 1 dB: 3 dB 2 - 3 dB: 2 dB 4 - 8 dB: 1 dB 9dB +:0 dB

Shading Windows efficiency

When shading windows, external shading is more effective at reducing heat gain than internal coverings because it stops the solar rays from getting to the building. If they're only stopped by internal coverings, then they've already gotten inside to do some damage!

Barometric Damper (Draft Regulator)

a balanced air valve positioned to admit air to the flue or stack of a furnace in order to maintain a constant amount of draft

warm v cold weather

When the weather is cold: heat travels from inside to outside • When the weather is warm: heat travels from the outside to the inside Heat leaves a building by either a building's skin that conducts heat to a colder exterior surrounding, or a cold outdoor air replaces the heated building air.

Flutter

a buzzing or clicking sound, which is comprised of repeated echoes traverse back and broth between two non absorbing parallel surfaces • Either change the shape of the reflector or their parallel relationship, or add absorption

Color Temperature (K)

a characteristic of visible light where its color reveals it temp.

Drain tile

perforated pipe surrounded by granular fill used to release hydrostatic pressure from foundation of retaining walls

Echos

a clear echo is caused when reflected sound at sufficient intensity reaches a listener more than 50 ms after he as heard the direct sound • Undesirable (unless you' enjoy shouting into canyons maybe) as the make speech less indelible and music sound mush • Typical echo surfaces are the back wall and ceiling above the proscenium in an auditorium

Sun Spaces/Rooms (the odd one out)

basically a thermal storage wall on steroids, it's a thermally isolated from the rest of the house, and as the space heats up, vents between the two spaces are opened so solar heat can come in. It's the most marketable, but not the most effective. Also, you can't use it a greenhouse, you have to choose if you want to make heat or grow plants.

Equation: Air Changes Per Hour (ACH), Units are "per hour"

You just have to turn it into cubic feet / minute (cfm) to calculate it • cfm = (volume) x ACH / (60 min/hr) • UA (infiltration) = 1.1 x cfm

Boiler

a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated by gas or oil, but does not necessarily boil. The heated/vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various heating systems. 80% efficiency • Typically has tubes containing water to be heated that are situated within a combustion chamber where heat exchange takes place • Gasses and other combustible products are carried away through breeching into a flue • It's the most basic system • Life cycle cost can be high

LAN

a data communication system allowing a number of independent devices to communicate directly with each other and within a moderate sized area

Daylighting qualifies for a LEED credit if

a daylight factor of 2% in 75% of all occupied spaces is achieved.

Flue

a duct for smoke and waste gases produced by a fire, gas heater, power station or other fuel burning installation

Freon

a family of several CFC gasses used in the refrigeration cycle

Condenser

a heat exchanger in which refrigerant vapor is condensed (liquified) releasing heat to an external medium

Cooling Tower

a heat rejection device which extracts waste heat to the atmosphere through the cooling of a water stream to a lower temperature. Often found on the roof

Convector

a heating device arranged to deliver heat to the air primarily by convection

Noise Reduction Methods: Cavity Resonators (Helmholtz)

a large air space that is filled with absorptive material and a sized small opening to absorb specific low frequency range • Example: a CMU wall with narrow slit opening into the cavity of the block

Direct Glare

a light source in the field of vision that causes interference/distraction witha visual task

British Thermal Unit

a measure of energy, typically noted as the amount of energy needed to raise one pound of water by 1˚ F, raise 1 pint of water by 1˚ F , burn one match

Cycles Per Second

a measure of frequency, has been replaced by Hertz (Hz)

sound power

a measure of sonic energy per time, measured in watts

articulation index

a measure of speech intelligibility calculated from the number of words red from a selected list that are understood by an audience (low: < 0.15 good for speech privacy) and (high: > 0.6 good for communication)

Color Rendering Index (CRI)

a measure of the effectiveness of a source to make colors "right" to the viewer. The best possible rating is 100. 85 + is good.

Carbon Dioxide

a natural occurring chemical compound of two oxygen atoms bonded to a carbon atom produced by respiration, combustion, and fermentation. It acts as a greenhouse gas in our atmosphere

Anode

a piece of metal placed in a water tank to attract mineral deposits so they don't form on tank or equipment

Union

a pipe fitting used to couple the ends of two pipes, neither of which can be rotated

Circulator

a pump used in hot water systems for maintaining force circulation of water or other liquid

Vent Stack

a separate pipe used for venting in multistory buildings that extends through the roof or connects with the stack vent above the highest fixture, air intake line for all fixtures that is separately open to the outside air at the top, used to break the siphoning suction which would occur when water passes down through the system Minimum diameter of a vent is 1 1/4" or half of the diameter of the drain it services, whichever Is larger. • Stacks connect at the horizontal drain at the bottom of the building

sound transmission class STC

a single number average of how well a building partition reduces the force of airborne sound

NC Curves

a single number system for specifying a maximum SPL level in a given location using standardized reference contours. Curves weight the frequencies to which the human ear is sensitive

impact isolation class IIC

a single number that measures a floor/ceiling assembly's resistance to the transmission of structure borne or impact noise.

Noise Reduction Methods: Panel Resonators

a sized furred panel located a certain distance from a wall to absorb low frequency energy while reflecting mid and high frequency energy

Active System

a solar heating or cooling system that requires external mechanical power to move the collected heat.

Passive System

a solar heating or cooling system that uses no external mechanical power to move the collected solar heat

Echo

a sound wave that has been reflected with sufficient magnitude and delay so that it's heard as a sound distinct from that transmitted directly

MasterFormat/Construction Specifications Institute (CSI)

a standard for organizing information about constriction materials and components. • MasterFormat is used as the outline for project specifications • In 2004 the system was updated from 16 divisions to 50 divisions

Smoke Control: Passive Smoke Control System

a system of some barriers arranged to limit the migration of smoke • Can be partitions, doors with smoke seals, or curtain boards • Automatic smoke and heat vents must be used in: • F and S Occupancy = 1 story over 50,000 sq. ft. • H Occupancy = 1 single floor area over 15,000 sf Or: over stages more than 1000 sq. ft

Water Wall

a tank or collection of large vertical tubes are filled with water and put by a window, allowing some light to get into the space. Water stores about 5x as much heat per pound as concrete

• Sound Masking

a technique used to hid unwanted sounds by the addition of controlled sounds (aka Pink/White Noise)

Sabin

a unit of sound absorption, 1 ft2 of 100% absorbing material is 1 sabin

Decible (db)

a unit of sound intensity devised to describe sound magnitude

Coefficient of Performance (COP)

a unitless number that is a rating of the efficiency of heating or cooling equipment

Loop Vent:

a vent which connects from a drain to the stack vent of the soil stack to which the drain is connected

Continuous Vent

a vent which is a continuation of the trap and drain to which it connects.

Air Handling Unit (AHU)

a ventilation system that consists of air intakes, filters, fans, electric heating coils, connected ductwork/components, fire/control dampers, electric reheat boxes, air boards, and control systems. Can also include DX or chilled water cooling coil, refrigerant storage and pump systems

Well Pumps: centifrugal

a wheel like impeller, rotated by a vertical shaft aligned with the supply and discharge, and the motor can be above or below ground

Thermal Conductivity (k)

ability of a material to transmit or conduct heat or electricity based on the physical properties of the material, expressed in BTU

Supporting Pipe: Shock Absorber

absorbs energy of sudden impulses from the pipeline

Two primary acoustic characteristics of an enclosed space

absorption and reverberation

Light Loss Factor (LLF): Room Surface Dirt Depreciation (RSDD)

accounts for dirt or dust that accumulates on all of the room surfaces especially on the upper walls and ceiling

Water conditions

acidic, hardness, water softening, carinogens, disease, color/odor, turbidity

Reheat

adding of sensible heat to a supply air stream which has been previously cooled

Air Pollution Temperature Inversion Phenomenon

air temperature at ground level is lower than higher elevations causing heavy, cold trapped air below to release pollutants

Vertical Transportation

all the systems used to move people and materials vertically, either with human effort or with mechanical

Vents

allow built up sewage gases to escape instead of bubbling through water in traps and allow pressure in the system to equalize so water doesn't drain out of the traps

DC low voltage lamps have smaller filaments which

allow more precise control over light placement.

Draining/Venting: Traps

are located at every fixture and hold some water that makes a seal used to prevent gasses from the sewage system from entering the building • Installed within 2 ft of fixture • Vacuum Breaker: a device used in some fixtures to accomplish the same thing as a trap. The attachment is placed on a hose connection valve or toilet/urinal valve that prevents water from being sucked backward into public water system

Direct Gain Systems:

allow solar radiation to flow directly into the space that needs heat (like a greenhouse) • Actual living space is a solar collector, heat absorber, and distribution system • South facing glass admits solar gain into the space where it strikes directly and indirectly thermal mass like masonry floor and walls • Thermal mass will temper the intensity of the heat during the day by absorbing heat, and at night will radiate the stored heat into the room. • They're easy to do: Just mass and glass • Thermal mass materials shouldn't exceed 6" thick • Can't cover thermal mass floor with carpet, have to keep it as bare as possible Coupled (or directly sunlit mass) requires 3:1 mass:glass ratio • Decoupled mass (sun travels through space to get to mass) requires 10:1 mass:glass ratio

Ball Valve

allows one way flow, is opened/closed by pressure on a ball that fits into a cup shaped opening, used for regulating flow

Butterfly Valve

allows one way flow, mechanism is like a rotating disk attached to a spindle used for isolating or regulating flow

DX (Direct Expansion)

alternative to chilled water system in HVAC used to cool air containing water vapor. A refrigerant is used to remove sensible/latent heat from air

Move Heat

although "natural" methods work, strategic placement is better • Decide on natural or forced convection • Natural means (more or less) uncontrolled heat movement • Be skeptical when relying solely on convection • The best idea is to force it • Put it where you need it and then turn it off when you're done

Ton

amount of cooling required to convert a ton of water to ice in a 24 hour period,equal to 12,000 BTUH

Sensible Heat

amount of energy released or absorbed by a chemical substance during a change of temperature, changes the temperature but not the state, given in BTU

Clo

amount of insulation which will maintain normal skin temperature of the human body, 1 Clo is the equivalent of a typical American man's suit in 1941. The standard amount of insulation required to keep a resting person warm in a windless room at 70º F is equal to 1 col. • .8 clo: winter dressing, sweaters and other warm stuff • .4 clo: summer dressing, shorts and tank tops

Elias Otis

an American industrialist who invented the safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoisting cable fails

Service Energy Efficiency Rating (SEER)

an HVAC energy rating

Furnace

an appliance fired by gas or oil to heat air and then distribute it throughout a building in a heating system. 80% efficiency • Upflow Furnace: return air is supplied at the bottom of the unit and heated air is expelled at the top of the furnace and distributed through ductwork • Downflow Furnace: the opposite of upflow, used where ductwork is located in the basement and furnace is on the first floor • Horizontal (Lowboy) Furnace: used where headroom is limited

Life Cycle analysis

an assessment of the environmental impacts of a product in each phase of its use, from raw material to disposal.

Iris Recognition

an automatic method of biometric identification that uses recognition of the irides of an individual's eyes.

Hydraulic Elevator

an elevator lifted by a plunger or ram

Electric (Traction) Elevator

an elevator lifted by cables

Active Smoke Control System

an engineered system that uses mechanical fans to produce pressure differentials across smoke barriers or to establish airflows to limit and direct smoke movement • Open doors with automatic closing devices close • Supply and return air ducts to the fire zone shut down • Exhaust to the outside air is turned on creating negative pressure • In places or refuge, return an exhaust air ducts are closed and supply air is forced into a space creating a positive pressure.

Cooling Load Temperature Difference (CLTD)

an equivalent temperature difference used for calculating the instantaneous external cooling load across a wall or roof

Expansion/Bend Loop

an extra set of curves in a pipe run that can contract or expand to accommodate thermal movement

Barometer

an instrument for measuring atmospheric pressure

Drywell

and underground structure, above the water table, that disposes of unwanted water by dissipating it into the ground

Discomfort Glare

annoying pain caused by high luminances in a field of view (most common cause are windows and luminaries)

Cross Connection

any connection by means of which nonpotable use or contaminated water or other liquid can enter any part of a potable water system

• Heat Exchanger

any device used for transferring heat from one fluid to another, where the fluids are physically separated

Exhaust Air

any foul or unwanted air removed from a space by mechanical means

Noise

any unwanted sound

Circuit Vent

any vent which serves two or more traps in sanitary drainage system

Units for water

are for gallons per person

Roof Pond

best used in low humidity climates (e.g.: the southern US) and for one story or upper stories of a building. 6" - 12" of water are contained on a flat roof in large plastic or fiberglass containers covered by glazing. Spaces below are warmed by radiant heat from the water above. • Night ventilation of thermal mass works best in climates with large diurnal swing in temp

• Retinal Scan

biometric technique that uses unique patten of blood vessels at the back of the eye

Star of Life

blue six pointed star with the rod of Asclepius in the center, used to represent emergency medical services

Hvac systems are typically used for

boilers and chillers, pumps and drives, air handlers (sometimes), water heating equipment, heat exchangers, water treatment, filtration equipment, room ventilation gear (for excess heat)

Electric (Traction) Elevator: Double Wrap

cables pass over the sheave twice, get worn out faster, used for high speed elevators where more traction is required

Electronic air cleaners

can pose a threat due to ozone production, but demand less maintenance

Equation: Illumination (E)= aka Point Grid Method

candlepower x (cos θ) / distance between source and surface (d)2

Specific Heat

capacity of a material to store heat (BTU/lb.)

Demand controlled ventilation

carbon dioxide sensors are used to control the rate of air changes dynamically, based on the emissions of actual building occupants Commercial buildings are often kept under slightly positive air pressure relative to the outdoors to reduce infiltration and help with moisture management and humidity control

Waste Stack

carries waste other than human waste and is open at the top

Turbidity

caused by suspended material in water like silt, clay, organic material

Supply Systems

clean, clear and potable water systems under pressure

Spectrally Selective Glazing

coatings that help block solar heat gain from entering the building • Used with Low-E and double glazed systems can achieve a SHGC of .25 • For buildings that have a long cooling season and require high light levels

Solar Heating System: Phase Change System

collector fluid is phase change materials

Carbon Monoxide

colorless, orderless, tasteless gas that is toxic to humans when found int high concentrations. Produced by gas power vehicles, industrial buildings using oil/gas, building heating using oil/gas, biomass burning.

Lateral

common sewer that receives wastewater only from building sewers.

Light Loss Factor (LLF): Ballast Factor (BF)

compares the ratio of light output of a lamp working by a specific ballast to the light output of the same lamp working by a standardreference ballast.

Liquid Based Systems: Flat Plate Collectors

comprised of a 4' x 8' insulated glass box with piping manifold connected to the black metal plate. Solar energy is collected by the flat plate and transfers heat to tubing that circulates water underneath, which continues on to an insulated water tank

Building Automation System (BAS)

computer based integrated system used to monitor and control building systems

Perfect white light

consist of a complete spectrum of wavelengths equally distributed

Solar Air Conditioning

cooling system that provides refrigerated air using solar radiation as the prime source of energy

The minimum number of elevators is determined by

counting the volume of people during a peak period interval of 5 minutes and dividing this by the 5-minute handling capacity (based on car size and round-trip time) of an elevator.

well pumps: reciprocating:

cylinder and piston with valves (like a car engine or compressor)

Graphic Daylighting Design Method (GDDM)

daylighting analysis method that produces a family of daylight factor contours within a room rather than individual daylight factors at specific points

Operation and Control of Elevators : operation

deals with electrical system for elevators answering calls for service

Operation ad control of elevators: control

deals with travel speed, accelerating/decelerating, door opening speed, leveling, lanterns • The purpose of an operating system is to coordinate elevator response to signal calls on each floor so that waiting time is minimized

• In warmer countries, where the penetration of direct sunlight is almost always unwanted, traditional architecture often demonstrates elegant solutions

deep reveals overhangs, fins and louvres, and the correct use of them is often part of the unconscious culture.

Distribution/System

delivers the heated or cooled air or water to the necessary areas in a building called zones

Velocity

depends on the medium in which sound is traveling and the temperature of that medium Air= 1,130 feet/second (a constant) Water= 4,500 feet/second Wood= 11,700 feet/second Steel= 18,000 feet/second

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

develops standards for many industrial products (eg: aluminum windows, mechanical components of buildings)

Supporting Pipes: Pipe Gude

directs and controls the motion of a defined span of pipe, used with other supports

Sound will travel through the weakest structural elements, which are

doors, windows, or electrical outlets

Low-E Glazing

double glazing with a thin film in the glazing cavity that allows visible and near infrared to be transmitted • In cold climates: apply to the inside pane of glass • In warm climates: apply to the outside pane of glass • As objects in the room are heated and emit long wave radiation, the film prevents the loss of this heat by reflecting it back into the room • When used with argon gas the system is very efficient

Stacked or Double Deck Elevators

doubles shaft capacity, reducing area required for elevator and decreases local stops.

• Sound intensity level decrease about 6 dB for each

doubling distance from the source in free space

Culvert

drain or channel that permits the passage of water below ground. Typically a large diameter concrete or metal pipe often used under a road

Storm Drains:

drained by gravity and require large pipes

Light Loss Factor (LLF)

effect of temperature and voltage variations, dirt accumulation on luminaries and room surfaces, lamp output depreciation, maintenance conditions.

• Light

electromagnetic radiation wavelength seen by the human eye

Conductors

encourage heat flow

Bell

end of a pipe which is enlarged to receive the end of another pipe to form a joint

Sound

energy produced by a vibrating medium transmitted as a wave through an elastic medium

Plant

equipment that creates warm or cool water or air, typically in a mechanical room

Economizer

equipment that permits the use of outdoor air instead of refrigeration units for building cooling when conditions are right

Enthalpy Economizer

evaluates both temperature and humidity, mixes appropriate outdoor/indoor air to achieve comfortable conditions without cooling

Glare

extreme contrast in light (difference in brightness levels)

Chill Factor: (Wind Chill Index)

fictitious temperature assigned to a combination of actual temperature and wind velocity which as the same physiological effect as still air at the chill factor temperature

Effective Temperature

fictitious temperature that produces the same physiological effect as the combined effects of temperature, humidity, and air movement NOT AN ACUTAL TEMPERATURE.

Area/Room Protection

field of coverage sense someone within a certain area where no one should be when activated • Photoelectric Beams: pulsed infrared beam across a space detects intrusion if beam is broken • Infrared Detectors: unobtrusive, but require a clear field of view of optimal protection. They sense sources of infrared radiation of the human body • Audio Detectors: identify unusual sounds above normal level • Pressure Sensors: detect weight on a floor other surface • Ultrasonic Detectors: emit a high frequency sound wave...but limited to an effective area of 20' x 30' and 12' tall

Flame Spread Rating/Smoke Developed Ratings:

measures the amount of flame and smoke a material generates. (e.g. Carpet, fabrics, etc)

Sweating

method of soldering copper plumbing, or the condensation of water on cold pipes and building materials

Optimal Building Location for Hot and Dry Climate

minimize sun exposure and effects of wind. Use small windows. Optimize thermal mass for large temperature swing during the day, and closely cluster buildings for the shade the offer each other. • Optimal Building Orientation = 25º E of South

Optimal Building Location for Hot and Humid Climate

minimize sun exposure, maximize natural ventilation. Use lightweight construction to minimize radiation of heat and space buildings far apart for breezes • Optimal Building Orientation = 5º E of South

Type of Escalator configurations: criss cross

minimizes structural space requirements by "stacking" escalators that go in one direction, frequently used in department stores or shopping centers A designer seeking to avoid the resentment and confusion of building occupants would design a separation between escalators in a crisscross walk-around of no more than 10 ft

Sound Isolation

minimizing sound transmission from one area of a building to another through building design (eg: location of mechanical rooms, partition detailing, using dampers/pads/insulating materials)

Electrostatic Filters

more money, but produce less air movement as two sets of chard plates attract dust. Are cleaned by washing off.

Electric (Traction) Elevator: Gearless

motor, sheave, and break all mounded on a common shaft, so 1 revolution of the motor means one turn of the main sheave (typically used for passenger service)

Retractable shading

moveable devices that can adjust the total transmission of light (eg: shutters, roller blinds, and louvers)

Forced Convection

movement of a fluid by a fan or pump in order to force heat exchange

Evacuated Tube Collectors

multiple evacuated glass tube each contain an absorber plate fused to a heat pipe. The heat from the hot end of the heat pipes is transferred to the transfer fluid (water or antifreeze ix) of a domestic hot water or hydronic space heating system. More efficient than flat plate collectors because the vacuums that surrounds the outside of the tube greatly reduce convection and conduction heat loss to the outside

water pressure: tankless

multiple variable speed pumps provide water pressure at whatever demand rate the building requires (typically controlled by sensors) • Doesn't take up space, but pumps can have a short life cycle.

impact noise

noise that occurs when an object comes in direct contact with a barrier, typically either the floor or ceiling assembly

Frequency

number of cycles completed per second, measured in Hz (1 Hz = 1 cycle per second)

Frequency

number of cycles of compression and expansion completed per second, and measured in Hertz (Hz)

Resistance (R)

number of hours needed for 1 BTU to pass through 1 ft2 of material or assembly of a given thickness when the change in temperature is 1 ºF

Specular Reflection

occurs when sound reflects off a hard polished surface • Can be used to good advent to create an effective image source • (Ex: greek theaters arranged in steep conical surfaces around the performer) • Placing sound sources above the seats helps sound travel too

The same basic formula is used for conduction whether it occurs through the roof, walls, windows, or doors. Heat flow is the product of the conductance of what

of the assembly (the U value), the change in temperature (∆T) is the difference between the outside and inside air temp, and the exposed surface area of wall, window or roof (A).

Solar Heating System: Drain Down

open loop system that drains water from the collectors when the outside temperature is freezing, the water is wasted though, so best in mild climates that don't freeze much

Shaft enclosures

openings through floors/ceilings connecting adjacent floors. 1 hour rated when connecting less than 4 stories, or 2 hour if passing through a 2 hour floor assembly or if connecting 4 or more stories

Electronic Air cleaners

operate differently by applying high voltages to statically charge dust which is then attracted to oppositely charged plates on the cleaner

Stairways

pressurized to prevent smoke from entering them • Vestibules: pressured slightly higher than the fire floor, but less than the stairway • Provides double protection of the stairway and creates a place of refuge • Also where standpipes and fire department communication devices are located. • Supplying fresh air to a smoke-free stair entirely from the top or bottom is not advisable because it is too likely that open doors near the source would deplete fresh air for the rest of the stair

Vent Maintenance: Backflor Preventers

prevent sewage from upper stories or from the building sewer from reversing flow and backing up into lower level fixtures

Air chambers/shock absorbers

prevent water hammer which is the noise you hear when a valve is shut quickly and pipes rattle. Sounds like a CLANG in the walls

Thrust blocking

prevents pipe movement when the system is pressurized. Typically required at all places where pipe changes direction

Motor Control Systems: Variable Voltage DC

prior to VVVF, used in most high quality installation prior to 1990. Limitations include low overall efficiency, high machine and maintenance cost, high thermal loss, high noise level.

Sound Absorption

process of dissipating sound energy by converting it to heat

Building Commissioning

process of inspecting, testing, starting up, and adjusting building systems to verify that they're working in accordance with the contract documents

Electronic Ballast

produces high frequency AC and lowers power consumption for silent operation and ease of dimming.

Effective Aperture (EA)

product of visible transmittance multiplied by the window to wall ratio. An EA of .20 - .30 provides good daylighting

Fluorescent cove light

provides diffuse ambient illumination, ideal for reading or lighting flat surfaces evenly, but deadly dull in terms of sparkle

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)

provides electricity to avoid business interruption (like necessary computer operations)

Power

quality of acoustical energy, measured in watts

Insolation:

radiant heat gain from the sun

cisterns

rain water storage tanks that are usually connected to the roof runoff • Used irrigation/gray water use • Issues to mitigate are: acid rain, lead, dust, pollutants, animal waste

Diffusion

random distribution of sound from a surface that occurs when the surface dimension is equal to the wavelength of the sound striking it

walls, floors, and ceilings typically have an STC

rating of 50

Coefficient of Utilization (CU):

ratio between lumens reaching the working plane in a specific space and the lumens. Typically provided by the luminaire manufacturer, it's an indication of the effectiveness of a luminaire in delivering light in a given space

Luminaire Efficacy Rating (LER)

ratio of fixture lumen output per wall of lamp input

Relative Humidity

ratio of moisture content of the air to the max possible moisture content at the same temperature

Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC)

ratio of solar heat gain through a fenestration to the total solar radiation incident (falling upon/striking) on the glazing (0.0 - 0.87)

Shading Coefficient (SC)

ratio of solar heat gain through a glazing product to the solar heat gain through an unshaded 1/8" thick clear double strength glass under the same set of conditions (0.0 - 1.0) SHGC is considered more accurate.

Energy Efficiency Ratio (EER)

ration of net cooling capacity in BTUH to the total rate of electrical input in watts, under designated operating conditions

Heating Degree Day (HDD65)

rational, calculated measure of the depth of the heating season • Degree Days are used to determine the heating requirements of a building. It's the amount by which the average outdoor temp is below 65ºF for one day. The more days it's below that, the larger number of degree days it has. It's a monthly and annual measure of what at building is in for heating wise 0 - 1000 =no problem, no need to heat 1000 - 3000 =good insulation is enough 3000 - 5000=moderate, use 2 systems 5000 - 7000=need serious heating Over 7000 =year long heating (just move)! • Ex: Phoenix HDD65 = 444, Portland = 4693, and Anchorage = 10825

Peak Heat Loss

the amount of heat lost at design outdoor and indoor conditions which must be made up by the HVAC system to maintain occupant comfort

Object protection

sense movement or tampering of individual objects. Access Control: • Mechanical Lock: simplest and tractional form of security. Disadvantage is that duplicate keys can be made easily • Card Readers: common electronic access control device. System can be programmed to control house of use, monitor car use through logs, and remove access code for card if lost or stolen • Numbered Keypads: operate kind of like unlocking a door by entering a numerical code. Eliminate the problem of keys with standard locks, but aren't as flexible as magnetic rads

Energy Policy Act (EPACT)

set minimum standards for energy efficiency on incandescent and fluorescent lighting

Nipple

short piece of pipe with threads at each end used to connect fittings and valves

The exhaust capacity of a principal residential building exhaust fan

should be at least 50% of the total HVAC system airflow capacity

• The wavelength of a sound is the distance between

similar points on successive waves or the distance sound travels in one cycle. Measured in Linear Feet

Elevator Safety Features: Proximity Dictators

similar to safety edges, but senses the presence of a person near the door and can stop the closing motion • Cabs will self level to reduce tripping hazard

• Integrated Part Load Value (IPLV)

single number figure of merit based on part load EER or COP expressing part load efficiency for air condition and heat pump equipment

Indirect Gain systems:

solar radiation strikes a thermal mass and is converted into heat and transferred into the occupied space • Thermal mass is located between the sun and living spaces • There are two overarching types of thermal storage walls: vented and unvented • Vented: uncontrolled, no combustible products inside, maintenance free, can take up to 12 hours for sun to produce enough heat for the system to work • Unvented: a little quicker, about 2% of the area must be vented to work

Air Washers

sometime used to control bacteria growth and control humidity

Velocity

sound depends on the medium it travels through and the temp of that medium

Sound Intensity

sound power per unit

sound intensity

sound power per unit area

sound pressure level SPL

sound pressure at a location expressed in newtons per square meter

well pumps: rotary pump

spiral rotor on a shaft with a rubber sleeve perpendicular to supply/discharge. As the rotator turns it sucks water and discharges at the other end

Home Energy Rating System (HERS)

standardized system for rating the energy efficiency of residential buildings. Score is between 0 - 100 and indicates the relative energy efficiency compared to a HERS efficient home.

Total pressure of nonmoving water

static pressure

Psychometrics

study of physical and thermodynamic properties of gas-vapor mixtures

Refrigerant

substance used in a heat cycle usually including a reversible phase transition from a liquid to a gas

Greenhouse Effect

sunlight is transmitted through glass into a building, causing the materials inside to heat up. When they heat up, they reradiate in the infrared spectrum which doesn't pass back through the glass, it's trapped inside the building warming it up.

Ballast

supplies the proper starting and operating voltages to the lamp and limits the current Produces noise and heat so, "Class A" is good for quit areas and "Class F" is acceptable for noisy areas.

water conditions: turbidity

suspended materials in the water like silt or dirt. Not really hazardous, but is usually treated by filtration

Water Heater

tank where water is kept continuously hot and ready for use, always pressurized and rated in terms of volume and recharge time

Stack Effect (Chimney Effect)

tendency of a gas or air to rise in vertical shaft because its density is lower than the surround gas or air

Mercury vapor lamp provides

terrible color renditions of skin and flesh, even with very high light levels

Noise Recution NR)

the arithmetic difference (in dB) between the intensity levels in tow rooms separated by a barrier of a given transmission loss • Dependent on the transmission loss of the barrier, the area of the barrier, and the absorption of the surfaces in the receiving room Noise reduction can be increased by increasing the transmission loss of the barrier, by increasing the absorption in the receiving rom, by decreasing the area of the barrier separating the rooms, or some combination of the three

Electric (Traction) Elevator: Roping

the arrangement of cables supporting the elevator • Single wrap: simplest, cables pass only once over elevator machine sheave and then connected to the counterweight

Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT)

the average radiant temperature of your surroundings and is independent of air temperature (e.g.: when you ski it's cold out but you're warm from the sun and exercise)

Degree Day (DD)

the average yearly difference between the indoor temperature and outdoor temperature. Typically a reference temperature of 65 ºF is used

Diffraction

the bending of a sound wave around an object or through an opening

Best Hot and Humid Strategy

the best strategy is to allow whatever circulation was present to dissipate heat as rapidly as possible (now there's air condition, which helps a lot). south, like Houston.

Footcandle (FC)

the calculated amount of illumination on a surface

loudness

the change in decibel levels

Illuminance

the density of luminous energy expressed as lumens per unit area

Pressure loss in pipes depends on what

the diameter of the pipe and the flow Friction is a function of the diameter of the pipe and the flow rate through it • For the same flow rate, the smaller the diameter of the pipe, the greater the friction • For the same diameter pipe, the greater the flow rate, the greater the friction

Transmission Loss (TL)

the difference (in dB) between he sound power incident on a barrier in a source room and the sound power radiated into a receiving room on the opposite side of the barrier

Incident Light

the direct light that falls on a surface

Emittance:

the energy radiated by the surface of a body person per unit area

Solar Savings Fraction (SSF

the extent to which a solar design reduces a building's auxiliary heat requirement relative to a reference energy conserving building

Flux (F)

the flow of light from a source into space

High Efficiency Particulate Arrestance (HEPA)

the highest efficiency option, typically found in special air cleanser for unusually polluted or IAQ demanding environments like hospitals

Light Loss Factor (LLF): Luminaire Dirt Deprecation (LDD)

the light loss prior to cleaning dust

Externally Reflected Component (ERC):

the light reflected from exterior obstruction excluding the ground reflected light

sound pressure

the local pressure deviation from the ambient atmospheric pressure caused by a sound wave

Wet Bulb Temperature

the lowest temperature that can be reached under current ambient conditions by the evaporation of water only, given in ºF

The transmission of sound is primarily retarded by

the mass and stiffness of a barrier • The less stiffness the better

Frost Line

the maximum depth of frost penetration int he ground in a given area.Water piping must be buried below so pipes don't freeze

Full Load Hours

the maximum output potential of a heating/cooling system in one hour and is used to size HVAC equipment

Emissivity (ε)

the measure of an object's ability to absorb and then radiate heat

Thermal Resistance

the measure of how a material does not allow heat flow (R-Value)

Thermal Transmittance

the measure of how heat flows through a building component or assembly when the difference between the air temperature on the two sides is one unit of temperature (U-Value)

Candlepower (CP)

the measurement for the intensity of a source, and approximately equal to the horizontaloutput from a single candle

Luminance

the measurement of how bright light leaving an illuminated surface is...it depends on reflectivity or transmittance

Photometry

the measurement of light in terms of perceived brightness to the human eye

Hot and Humid Architectural Strategies

• Architectural forms are a version of temperate blding • Kitchens detach from the main building, exterior passageways, balconies, or breezeways • Walls sometime omitted/reduced thin privacy shields • Some elevated on poles to allow air flow underneath • Roof is in two separate layers or completely open at the gamble so that warm air rises up and out • Convection used to suck fresh air through the blding • Brush cleared from window areas to allow for ventilation • Palm trees are used to create shade, but still allow for as much breeze as possible underneath

Transition Metal Hydride Electrochromics glazing

• Changes from transparent to reflective • Coatings of nickel magnesium

On site waste disposal systems: cesspools (seepage pit)

• Cheapest system, but the least desirable, too. • Most places don't allow them • They're an underground, porous chamber where sewage soaks into the surrounding ground until it gets clogged. • Then it's capped and a new cesspool is dug.

Freight Elevator Classifications

• Class A: general freight, no item can exceed 1/4 the rated capacity of the elevator (no less than 50 lbm/sq. ft of platform area) • Class B: used for motor vehicle loading and no less than 30/lbm/sq. ft. • Class C1: includes industrial truck loading based on 50/lbm/sq.ft. • Class C2: includes no industrial truck loading based on 50/lbm/sq.ft • Class C3: concentrated load for the truck not carried and with increments greater than 25% rated capacity

Optimal Building location for Cold climate

• Cold: orient buildings/openings for maximum protection from cold winds and use small windows/compact shapes to minimize heat loss. Use south facing windows to maximize solar gains. • Optimal Building Orientation = 12º E of South

• Illuminance levels and illuminance categories are used to establish quantitative lighting system design criteria • Selection criteria when picking a lighting fixture (from most important to least):

• Color Rendition • Characteristic of the fixture • Initial Cost • Operating Cost • Efficacy • Size • Heat Output • Operating Life • Ability to control output from luminary

Pipe Fitting

• Connect pipes where lengths must be joined, a change in direction occurs, three pipes join, and change in size occurs • Union: a special fitting that connects two rigid pipes and can be unscrewed easily for repairs/additions • Steel & brass fittings made fr cast iron or brass, are treaded to receive threaded pipe • Copper/plastic fittings are larger than the pipe so that it can be slipped in • Copper is sealed with soldering • Plastic pipes are sealed with a solvent that 'melts' the plastic together

Compartmentation

• Critical, as it separates a building into sections • Goal is to contain a fire and limit its spread so people can escape and to protect other parts of the building that weren't originally subject to fire • Can serve as an area of refuge for occupants • Separation is required: • Between different occupancies • At Structural members, isolated to protect from fire exposure • Depending on occupancy at walls, floors, and ceiling that separate compartments • At parts of the a bld where the max allowable area is exceeded • At all openings through rated walls, closed with approved fire rated devices • At exterior walls so to avoid fire spreading to other structures

• Typical Elevator Capacities

• Depend on the type of building, the size of building, and the weigh of people riding. Capacity: • Varies depending on their use and thigh and overall quality of the project • Small office buildings have an elevator rated about 2,500 lb. Capacity with a floor area of 5'-0" x 7'-0" and a 3'-6" wide center opening door • Rarely exceed 4,000 lb. capacity for just moving people • Handling capacity is based on its car size and its round trip time • People need about 2 square feet of space to feel comfortable

Local Area Networks (LAN)

• Designed in the 1980s to link personal computers together enabling them to communicate • Includes computers, network interface card, communication cable, hubs/switches • Each station has to have a direct cable connection to a port on the hub

Freight Elevators

• Designed only to transport equipment and materials (and the passengers needed to handle them) • Commonly available in 2500 lbm - 8000 lbm • Freight elevators are available as standard designs for capacities of up to 20,000 lbs beyond this point, they must be specially engineered. • Speeds range from 50 ftm - 200 ftm • Capacity takes prescience over speed

Water Heaters

• Designed to keep water @ desired temperature, typ the highest point of use during the day • When sizing hot water systems for commercial and institutional buildings it is important to consider the trade off between recovery time and storage capacity • Hot water heater size is based on the total daily and peak hour hot water demand in a building. • Can range from 0.4 g per person peak in an office to 12 gal per unit in a small apt bld

Solar Water Heating: Direct (open loop) vs Indirect (closed loop)

• Direct (Open Loop): water that's used in the building is also the water that's heated in the solar collectors. It's simple and efficient, but subject to freezing. • Indirect (Closed Loop): a separate fluid (often with antifreeze in it) collects heat which is then transferred to a domestic hot water system via a heat exchanger, which lowers the efficiency somewhat

Psychrometric Chart Values

• Dry Bulb Temperature (the air temperature): vertical lines • Absolute Humidity (the amount of moisture in the air): horizontal lines • Saturation Line (the maximum amount of humidity air can hold): top curved line • Relative Humidity (the % of humidity relative to the saturation line): curved lines • Wet Bulb Temp (the adiabatic saturation temp): diagonal lines from saturation line down and to the right • Dew Point Temp (the temp at which air becomes completely saturated and water starts to precipitate out of the air as fog, rain, snow): horizontal lines

Receptacles (aka Outlets)

• Duplex: operate at 120V or higher depending on the appliance • Ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI): used for safety • Hard wired: connected directly to building circuits in junction boxes • Circuits are 15A • Split Wire receptacle: one outlet is always energize, the other is controlled by switch

On site waste disposal systems: sand filter

• Effluent flows or is pumped from a septic tank to an open air filter treatment pit, at or above grade

Draining/Venting System

• Goal is to safely carry away sewage to a disposal system (either on site or municipal) • Removal of solid water and waste is done without air pressure and by avoiding odors and siphonage • Drainage slopes 1/4" per foot for typical effluent waste lines, • Drains are 45º for waste lines that are gravity only

Ramps

• Incline walkways that allow easy vertical transition between levels • Usually as wide as corridors leading to them, or 36" min for accessible ramps • Minimum slope is 1: 12, with amax rise of 30" and 30'-0" in length • Landing lengths needs to be 60", and if the ramp changes direction 60" square

limiting noise in building: architectural

• Increase the mass of the wall: often impractical, but theoretically doubling the mass of the wall will increase the TL by 6 dB. • Construct a cavity wall: made of two separate layers that are not rigidly connected,as increasing the width of airspace will increate the TL, placing sound absorbent material in the airspace will do so further • Reduce actual studs: in a common stud wall, studs act as a rigid connection btwn the wall layers. Stagger studs at 8" o.c. and mount sheetrock with resilient clips • Locate similar areas next to each other both horz and vert. • Uses closets and hallways to buffer btwn noise producing spaces • Locate noise producing areas away from quiet area (e.g.: mech room away from library) • Stagger doors in hallways (e.g.: hotel room doors down a double loaded corridor) • Locate operable windows as far away from each other as possible • Locate furniture and other noise producing object away from walls • Min the common wall area btwn 2 rooms where sound transmission reduction is desired/required • Avoid room plan shapes that will reflect noise (eg: circular, barrel valued hallway) • Avoid parallel walls with hard surfaces in small rooms Provide speaker in centerline location of room and splay walls to reduce reverberation in theaters/auditoriums

Emergency/Exit Lighting

• Install LED (light emitting diode) lighting for exit signs. LED lighting lasts longer than incandescent and is far less expensive to operate.

What is poor Indoor Air Quality?

• Insufficient or lousy outside air (bad, polluted outside air in general, car exhaust from building air intakes) • Nuisance odors and irritants • Stagnant or stale air • Excessive pollution • Short term, heavy concentrated pollutants (eg: huffing/sniffing spay paint) • Long term, light concentration pollutants (eg: new materials off gassing, like paint, mastics, flooring)

Elevator Safety Features:: Interlocks

• Interlocks: prevent the elevator from operating unless the hoistway door is closed and locked

Grades Of Copper Pipe

• K: thickest wall, comes in straight lengths, coils, and used for underground supply when greatest strength is required • L: thinner walls and comes in straight lengths or coils, commonly used for most interior plumbing (most common) • M: thinnest, and available in straight length only. Used where there's low pressure, like branch supply, chilled water, and drainage. • DWV: drainage, waste, and vent piping that is not subject to pressure (rarely used) • Joined by soldering and sweating, flux is heated and joined in two sections

Lamp v Luminare

• Lamp: a device for giving light • Luminare: a complete light fixture including lamps

Outdoor Sound Barriers

• Location of the outdoor barrier is the most important to its success • Solid barriers are located very close to the source or very close to the receiver • Must be higher than the line of sight between the source, the higher the better

Vent Maintenance: Vent Manholes

• Manholes are cleanouts for larger lines, and occur at every 150' or where required • 10" diameter or greater Floor drains collect water where overflow is likely, or in showers

Quick rules of Thermal Storage Walls

• Mass : Glass ratio is 1:1 • 1" of mass per hour of heat lag • 1" - 4" air gap in the wall, bigger if vented, be as close to 1" as possible • Unvented: no combustible products inside the space • Vented: about 1 - 2% of wall should be vent area

Intercom

• Master stations in residential intercom systems differ from remote stations in that they allow selective calling

Limiting Noise in a building: mechanical

• Mechanic noise occurs when a vibrating device is in continuous direct contact with the structure. • Use resilient mountings and flexible bellows to isolate equipment vibrations • Connection between duct /pipes/equipment should be made with flex connections • Line ducts with glass fiber insulation, install mufflers, and/or use smooth duct turns • Maximize the distance between diffusers in adjacent spaces • Locate noise producing equipment away from quiet, occupied spaces • Walls, ceilings, floors of mechanical rooms should be designed to attenuate noise • Systems should be designed to minimize high velocity flow and sudden changes in fluid velocity • Reducing mechanical equipment sound power is not a form of isolation forstructure borne sound

Indoor Air Quality Problem areas: moisture:

• Moisture: water that shows up everywhere, like in cooking, washing, showering • It stinks (literally) and causes respiratory discomfort • Should be exhausted directly at the source with venting or dehumidifiers

Escalators

• Moving staircase system that provides rapid, comfortable, continuous vertical travel • Used to move large numbers of people quickly, efficiently, safely, and at a low cost of operation (4,000 - 8,000 people per hour) • Made of custom built steel trusses and fitted with belts, steps, and handrails • Typical angle of incline is 30˚ • Are typically 32" or 48" wide, with tread widths are 24" or 40" • Not considered a legal exit • Not considered an ADA route...need an alternative (like an elevator) • Rated by Speed and Size: • 100 ftm is the industry standard • 120 ftm for transportation and sports facilities

HID: Low Pressure Sodium

• Operates like a fluorescent lamp and requires a ballast • Highest efficacy (150 lm/W) • Require a brief warmup period to reach full brightness • Produces a monochromatic yellow light • Used where color rendition is not important (e.g.: parking garages, street lights)

Indoor Air Quality Problem areas: ozone

• Ozone: found in office or electrical equipment • Laser printers, monitors, warm wires • Causes congestion, shortness of breath • Should be exhausted at the source

Reducing pathogens

• Pathogen destruction can be achieved using UV lamps • Dilution of indoor pollutants w outdoor air is effective to the extent that outdoor air is free of harmful pollutants. • Ozone in outdoor air occurs indoors at reduced concentrations because ozone is highly reactive with many chemicals found indoors

HID: High Pressure Sodium

• Produces light by passing an electric arc through hot sodium vapor • Arc tube must be ceramic to resist hot sodium • High efficacy (80 - 140 lm/W) • Have a life of 24,000 hours • Wide variety of color rendition

HID: Light Emitting Diode (LED)

• Solid State Lighting • Bulbs without a filament, plasma, or gas • Low in power consumption with a long life span • Diodes emit light when connected in a circuit • Run on DC power • Used for flashlights, signage, sustainable lighting, phones, video production

Types of Sound Measurement

• Sound Intensity Level (IL): the decibel, how intense a sound is • Sound Power Level (PWL): watts/cm2 , the power at the source • Sound Pressure Level (SPL): the pressure exerted by the sound wave on a surface at a given location, varies with barromic pressure

sound is similar to light as

• Sound is similar to light as they are both transmitted by waves, and they both obey the inverse square law: the intensity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the source.

Daylight Conditions

• The standard sky design condition established by the Commission Internationaled'Eclairage (CIE) for daylighting calculations is a completely overcast sky • At a solar altitude of 30 degrees, one can expect a daylight illuminance of about 10,000 lux with no direct sun and 40,000 lux with direct sun • The brightest area of luminance in a cloudy sky is at the zenith

Life Cycle Costing

• Ties in with sustainable design, many construction products contain a proportion of recycled content. simple product substitution, projects can increase their recycled content significantly without increasing the cost of materials or risk. financial savings in some cases, when recycling construction & demolition materials locally. The environmental benefits: less demand on finite natural resources, diversion of waste from landfill, and stronger markets for the materials that contractors want to send for recycling. • Understand where products are coming from, and weigh transportation issues. • Given the many tools and resources available for evaluating and identifying materials, it is useful to develop an organized process for making product selections. There is no definitive process for selecting materials

Rules of thumb for preliminary estimation of sound transmission loss

• Typically, transmission loss through a barrier increases with the frequency of sound • A wall with 0.1% open area (e.g.: cracks, holes, under doors) will have a maximum Transmission Loss (TL) of about 30 dB • A wall with a 1% open area will have a max transmission loss of about 20 dB • A hairline crack will decrease a partition's Transmission Loss by about 6 dB • A 1 in2 opening in a 100 in2 gypsum board partition can transmit as much sound as the entire partition • Although placing fibrous insulation in a wall cavity increases the Sound Transmission Class Rating (STC), the density of the insulation is not a significant variable.

Passive Cooling Systems

• Uses sun collectors and storage a part of the building's walls, floors, and ceilings • When the outdoor temperature is 85˚ F or below, it's possible to cool buildings by simple ventilation • When the outdoor temperature is greater than 85˚ F, closing buildings to the exterior during warm hours works best

Electromagnetic (EM) Spectrum and Visible Light

• Visible Light has a wavelength of about 380 - 740 nanometers • The dormant wavelength determines the perceived color • Higher frequencies shorter wavelengths • Lower frequencies longer wavelengths • At the lower end of the visible light spectrum, EM becomes invisible to humans...known as infrared • At the higher range of the visible light spectrum, ultraviolet light becomes invisible because it is absorbed the tissues of the eye. Rods and cones can't detect the short wavelengths

American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)

• establishes standard specifications for commonly used materials of construction. • Generally referred to by number (eg: C150 = specification for portland cement) • numbers are frequently used in specifications for specific/precise shorthand designation for the quality of material that is required.