COMPARISON TO PROGRAM
The storm water system portion of this assignment required a site plan single line diagram. After referring to the beginning of the project and the work previously done for assignment 2, the group realized that the predecessors never took time to provide a site plan. Therefore, we have decided to design a site plan. From the provided AutoCAD files, the dimensions of the building were determined to be 180'x100'. To determine the size of the site, the size of the building was multiplied by 2; therefore the size of the site is 360' by 200'. Below is a screenshot of the current site comprising the building.
Although changes were kept to a minimum, the group has decided to add two things. The architectural design team did not account for any parking. Although the building will be located in Philadelphia, it will be useful to provide a parking space for people such as security guards and those with vehicles.
In the back of the building, there is a large space that the group has decided to use to plant trees. This space can be arranged as a park for those families with children to relax in the summer time.
The architectural model on AutoCAD revealed that the dimensions of the proposed building were very small. For instance, some of the bedrooms were 10ft by 11ft. The future tenants will be married couples and the space is believed to be too small for 2 people to share let alone to furnish. Rather, the big hallways can be reduced in order to increase the size of the bedrooms. This will improve the layouts greatly.
In the back of the building, there is a large space that the group has decided to use to plant trees. This space can be arranged as a park for those families with children to relax in the summer time.
The architectural model on AutoCAD revealed that the dimensions of the proposed building were very small. For instance, some of the bedrooms were 10ft by 11ft. The future tenants will be married couples and the space is believed to be too small for 2 people to share let alone to furnish. Rather, the big hallways can be reduced in order to increase the size of the bedrooms. This will improve the layouts greatly.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO ENGINEERS
Many problems suddenly arose at this stage of the project. These problems are neither structural nor mechanical; they are mostly architectural. As mentioned above, the dimensions are very unreasonable. If the future tenants were single, college students, there would be no issues. But because there will be graduate married couples (meaning two or more if they have children), the group believes the architectural floor plans should be improved. For instance, imagine putting a 76” x 80” king size bed in tiny 10’ x 10’ room. This will not be ideal.In real life, 17' by 17' bedroom overcharged with furniture might seem not that big. Therefore the square footage of the bedrooms should be increased.
From the 2nd floor to the 12th floor of the proposed design, the architects have designed the structure such that there is space left for green. This is believed to be a waste of space and the design should be optimized in order to fit more apartments therefore benefit the owner. Because the Electrical and Plumbing design team has decided to implement a green roof, this can supplement the space left for green; yet not take up much space.
The engineers could maybe try to improve their design such that the building is somewhat considered an intelligent and green building. For instance:
From the 2nd floor to the 12th floor of the proposed design, the architects have designed the structure such that there is space left for green. This is believed to be a waste of space and the design should be optimized in order to fit more apartments therefore benefit the owner. Because the Electrical and Plumbing design team has decided to implement a green roof, this can supplement the space left for green; yet not take up much space.
The engineers could maybe try to improve their design such that the building is somewhat considered an intelligent and green building. For instance:
- Dimmable fluorescent lighting could be integrated with sun blind control. Fluorescent lights last up to 10,000 hours when incandescent lights last from 800 to 1500 hours.
- Install lighting control with motion sensors integrated with security: this will provide lighting only as needed.
- Use of natural and displacement ventilation in order to provide a more efficient and effective distribution of ventilation.
EXTRA CREDIT
Students do not have any experience in neither plumbing nor electrical design. To make this assignment more bearable, maybe a class on plumbing or electrical should be implemented in the Architectural Engineering curriculum. This would be greatly helpful to this class and prepare students to understand how data and values in plumbing and electrical fields are obtained in real life. Other than that, students believe that there shouldn't be any changes made to this assignment and strongly agree that it is best that the group remained the same from the previous assignment.