Architectural Engineering Commons^™

Future Of The Library? Turning Conflicting Pressures Into Compelling Opportunities, Gerald Jay Schafer, Dugdale Strategy Llc, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham

Campus Planning Community and Conference Presentations

Many institutions are scrutinizing library space as a potential space bank in times of tight capital resources, while librarians are seeking ways to shift lesser-used collections into storage, create more user space, and improve services. Accomplishing these tasks at University of Massachusetts Amherst's Du Bois Library, a 26-story tower, posed a particular challenge. The library's master plan needed to explore compatible uses, partners for integrated services, and identify opportunities to repurpose space for university needs as well as the library's future vision.

Community Restoration: Reconciling The Legacy Of Contaminated Sites Within Our Communities, Kristofer H. Kennedy

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Separation, removal, and relocation are the initial steps in the “clean-up” of a contaminated site. While crucial to safeguarding the public health of adjacent communities and the surrounding environment, conventional remediation is subtractive from the community leaving many psychological wounds untreated. Architecture has the greatest potential to address the social concerns which contribute to the complexities of redeveloping a contaminated site.

Focusing on the 52 acre former General Electric Brownfield site in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, I have explored through design alternative approaches for the redevelopment of contaminated sites. My design research focuses on the ways in which architecture can be used …

Situated Architecture In The Digital Age: Adaptation Of A Textile Mill In Holyoke, Massachusetts, Dorcas A. Brooks

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The City of Holyoke, Massachusetts is one of many aging, industrial cities striving to revitalize its economy based on the promise of increased digital connectivity and clean energy resources. But how do you renovate 19th century mills to meet the demands of the information age? This architectural study explores the potential impact of sensing technologies and information networks on the definition and function of buildings in the 21st century. It explores the changes that have taken place in industrial architecture since 1850 and argues for an architecture that supports local relationships and environmental awareness. The author explores the industrial history …

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway: Making The Vision A Reality, Alec E. Zebrowski

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The $15+ Billion "Big Dig", replaced Boston's deteriorating six-lane elevated Central Artery, known as the Green monster, with a widened highway tunnel running underground through Downtown Boston and crossing the Charles River, creating more than 27 acres of new land area for reuse in Downtown Boston.

Today, a significant portion of the land has been turned into a system of parks known as the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. Since its completion in 2008, five civic and recreational developments planned for the Greenway have been abandoned due to poor funding, rising construction estimates, and a general lack of support. Disconnected, under-programmed …

Language Movement Museum And Library, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Mohammad J. Shahadat

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The project aims to restore the cultural and historical richness of Bengali nation in urban scale and preserve the historical site of the area which contains some glorious memories of our Language Movement. To pass the history to new generation and to establish our cultural richness, a Language Movement Museum and a Library are proposed to be designed in the Shaheed Minar (Martyr Monument) Complex in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This museum and library will represent the movement of 21 February, 1952 that depicts our love for the mother tongue which is an unprecedented event for the whole world.

Revitalizing Mumbai Textile Mill Lands For The City, Vinay Surve

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Cities are always in transition and so the city’s Architecture should respond to it. Transition brings opportunities of growth, expansion, improvement in social and urban fabric along with new development strategies. My thesis explores the current trend of textile mills development in the heart of the city of Mumbai, its drawbacks and proposes a development plan for a mill premise for the benefit of the city. It is an attempt to preserve the city’s old fabric, which at one time was a city in itself and merge its fabric with the new development in a cohesive manner.

I was looking …

Using Case Studies To Characterize The Broader Meaning Of Engineering Design For Today’S Student, Pamalee A. Brady, John W. Lawson

Architectural Engineering

Numerous organizations have undertaken the task of envisioning the education required to meet the engineering demands of the future. The ABET study EC2000, ASCE’s Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge and Body of Knowledge 2 and the National Academy of Engineering have documented the need to change engineering education from its historical focus on technical content knowledge to include greater emphasis on professional issues and to integrate engineering practice into education. To this end teaching methods such as project-based learning, and the use of case studies are being explored to address these broader learning outcomes. Case studies in particular facilitate telling …

Tracking The Use Of Leed® In Facilities For Higher Education, Shannon Chance

Articles

America’s 4391 institutions of higher learning own roughly 240,000 buildings according to The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (2009) and the United States Green Building Council [USGBC] (n.d.). Most of these buildings’ designs reflect a time when energy was cheap and material abundant. Throughout the past century, building designs frequently ignored their surroundings, usurped energy at appalling rates, and did little to teach inhabitants respect for the environment

A Financial Impact Assessment Of Ld 1725: Stream Crossings, New England Environmental Finance Center, Muskie School Of Public Service

Water

This report looks at the potential financial impact of LD 1725 on the estimated 30,000 stream crossings in the State of Maine that would be affected by the law. Our research for this report included the analysis of nearly 2000 stream crossings and the data collection necessary for the development of extensive stream crossing replacement cost models. We found that the 1.2 bankfull requirements in LD 1725 would result in a 75% ‐ 250% increase in structure widths for stream crossing projects across the state. An upsize of this magnitude would increase the cost of replacing stream crossings statewide by …

Crossings, Noel Brady

Books/Book Chapters

Chapter concentrates on the bridges of Dublin’s river Liffey; their importance to the vitality of the city, its commerce and people. It also highlights the importance of crossings in the city linking and opening up new paths to growth and development.

Perceptions And Experiences Of Diverse Architectural Technology Students Learning Through Formative Feedback & Formative Assessment: A Multiple-Case Study, Catherine Prunty

Masters

Technological leaps along with increased numbers and greater student diversity is altering the higher education teaching landscape constantly. The academic's workload is escalating all the time, arising from resource constraints in a time of economic stringency. This places even more pressure on dealing with assessment rather than on enhancing learning. Despite evidence that supports formative assessment as being vitally important to students' learning, it is not widely appreciated among lecturers in higher education. As a result, lecturers under pressure, understandably, will maintain existing assessment and teaching systems rather than attempt to apply new techniques. Immeasurable hours, days or even weeks, …

Sustainable Design Optimization Of Rural Houses In North China, Mingliang Li

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

With the rapid economic development of China, the living standards in rural areas have been experiencing improvement over the past two decades. One important aspect of the improved living standards is housing, which has been transformed from traditional adobe or stone structures into modern brick and concrete ones. In the meantime, active heating and cooling systems are gradually being incorporated and residents are requiring more comfortable indoor air temperatures during cold winters and hot summers. However, most rural houses have no insulation in their exterior walls and roofs. The question is whether or not it is economically viable to build …

A Web-Based Learning Module For Teaching Gis Within The Context Of Environmental Engineering, Sirjana Dahal, Richard H. Hall, Glenn Morrison, Seth Paul Lamble, Ronaldo Luna

Business and Information Technology Faculty Research & Creative Works

There is a Growing Need for Teaching Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Engineering Disciplines, Such as Environmental. However, There Has Been Limited Focus on GIS in Undergraduate Programs, Since It's Difficult to Fit a GIS Class into the Large Number of Class Requirements Already Included in Engineering Curricula. the Purpose of This Research is the Evaluation of Web-Based Learning Module Created by a Multidisciplinary Team at a Midwestern Technological Research University, Which Allows Instructors to Integrate GIS Instruction into Existing Courses. This Module is One Part of a Large-Scale National Science Foundation Funded Project in Which GIS Modules Are Being …

Localization Of Free-Spanning Damage Using Mode Shape Curvature, Guirong Yan, Xuelin Peng, Hong Hao

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Study Proposes a Damage Indicator based on Mode Shape Curvature to Localize Free-Spanning Damage of Submarine Pipeline Systems. the Feasibility of Curvatures of Low-Frequency Mode Shapes for Localizing Free-Spanning Damage of Pipeline Systems is Discussed, and Damage Indicators based on Mode Shape Curvatures Are Proposed. the Efficacy of the Proposed Damage Indicators is Demonstrated by Numerical Simulations of Dynamic Responses of a Submarine Pipeline under Ambient Conditions with Considering the Real Subsea Environment. the Proposed Approach is Simple, Which Does Not Require Baseline Data, and Thus is Promising in Practical Applications. © 2011 Published under Licence by IOP Publishing …

The “Bim’S 4d+” Dimension: Real Time Energy Monitoring, Mahmoud Alahmad, Wisam Nader, Adam Brumbaugh, Yong Cho, Song Ci, Hamid Sharif, Jonathan Shi, Jill Neal

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

With the current trend towards Building Information Model (BIM), facility managers have a new tool for raising efficiency. This paper discusses the integration of the BIM software with a real-time monitoring (RTM) system, as a 4D+ dimension in BIM, to track the electrical usage at every location in a building. This ability could be invaluable in identifying what unnecessary loads are connected to a device and could be disconnected. This would result in elimination of needless loads and phantom loads during non-business hours, causing significant reduction in energy consumption. A prototype of the RTM was built and the results are …

An Adaptive Photovoltaic-Inverter Topology, Mahmoud Alahmad, Mohamed Amer Chaaban, Siu Kit Lau

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

A new inverter topology for Adaptive photovoltaic (PV) system is proposed. An improvement in the power generation of the system during different operating conditions is achieved. The proposed configuration provides flexible connection between the PV modules and the inverters to meet current conditions of PV array. Preliminary simulation results are provided for an adaptive PV array. Efficiency comparison between traditional PV system configurations is discussed. Potential improvement using the proposed adaptive configuration is sited.

A Novel Photovoltaic/Battery Structure For Solar Electrical Vehicles [Pvbs For Sev], Mahmoud Alahmad, Mohamed Amer Chaaban, Lana Chaar

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

In this paper, we propose a new flexible Photovoltaic/Battery charging Structure for Solar Electrical Vehicles (PVBS), where the interconnection of the system is dynamically changing based on current shading conditions across PV modules to provide intelligent system, as well as to provide flexibility, performance, and efficiency enhancement for the SEV. PVBS is expected to 1) provide a battery charging efficiency improvement over existing employed topologies; 2) provide new means to match the computing load with the PV system performance metrics shading and mismatches; 3) and provide elastic reconfigurable system expected to spur research advancements and innovations to make future SEV …

Non-Intrusive Electrical Load Monitoring And Profiling Methods For Applications In Energy Management Systems, Mahmoud Alahmad, Hosen Hasna Hh, Evans Sordiashie

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

"Phantom Loads" cause energy waste in homes and the built environment as a whole. Consumers spend more than $3 billion a year on "Phantom Load" in the United States alone. The goal of this paper is to conserve energy by increasing consumer awareness on their energy usage and reducing and /or eliminating phantom loads in the built environment. A further goal is to improve upon existing power distribution systems in the built environment with limited hardware additions to increase energy conservation. This paper investigates remote identification of load types and the locations along the electrical circuitry where they (load) are …

Optimization Of Energy Storage Systems In Hev's, Mahmoud Alahmad, Mohamed Amer Chaaban

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

This paper introduces a novel battery model inspired by molecular structures mainly for applications in HEV’s. This novel 3-D adaptive battery topology shows potential for improvement in input and output performance as well as the charging/ discharging efficiency of batteries. The proposed topology provides flexible connections between battery cells to achieve different configurations of battery. A new switching matrix has been developed to achieve the required configurations. Preliminary simulations provide promising results for an adaptive 3-D battery configuration. Comparison between traditional battery configurations and the adaptive 3-D configuration is considered. A significant improvement in power curves is achieved by the …

Green And Sustainable Technologies For The Built Enviornment, Mahmoud Alahmad, Muhammad Zulfiqar, Hosen Hasna Hh, Hamid Sharif, Evans Sordiashie, Nasser Aljuhaishi

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Energy conservation is among society’s greatest challenges, and the built environment has a concentrated impact on our natural environment, economy, and health. Fundamental understandings of how energy is consumed, monitored, and controlled are key prerequisites for an energy conservation process. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of real-time energy monitors (RTM) to influence behavior change in residential consumers. A methodology for remote identification of load types and the locations along the electrical circuitry where they (load) are being consumed is also presented. The load type and status (on, off, standby) are determined both remotely and in a non-intrusive manner using Non-Intrusive …

Combinatorics & Power Consumption, Mahmoud Alahmad, Wisam Nader

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

in this paper the power consumption possible combinations for a number of loads and a single power source are discussed. The proposed mathematical model depends basically on combinatorics to estimate how many ways are possible to operate different loads powered by a single power source. This paper takes into consideration the different conditions and limitations to operate n number of loads limited by their minimum and maximum values of power consumption. Four different cases of operations are discussed and modeled. A flowchart and a step-by-step method to do the calculations for a general case is also illustrated at the end …

Addressable And Energy Management System For The Built Environment (I), Mahmoud Alahmad, Hosen Hasna Hh, Evans Sordiashie

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

The increasing awareness for a cleaner earth has created more interests in the electric vehicle (EV) technology. Electric vehicles (EVs) will not only cause a reduction in our current greenhouse gas emissions, but also stop or reverse the trend at which our natural resources are being depleted. However, the introduction of the EVs into our societies will still require energy usage in the form of electricity. Integration of charging infrastructures will eventually be required in the built environment for these vehicles. This will add to the current energy consumption in the built environment which will mean more emission of CO2, …

Industry-Experienced Graduate Student Program: Innovative Collaboration In Architectural Engineering At The University Of Nebraska–Lincoln, Clarence E. Waters, Steve Alvine, Michelle L. Eble-Hankins

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

In 2001, the Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, along with industry partners, established an industry-experienced graduate student program. The program was developed to bring experienced design professionals to collaborate with the industry while pursuing a Ph.D. in architectural engineering. This program is designed to be mutually beneficial to industry partners, -graduate students, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Architectural Engineering Department, and the building industry at large. The first doctoral candidate in the program graduated, and significant collaborative work was completed for the industry partner. All parties to this initial offering are pleased with the outcome and believe the …

Lv-11-C031: Measured Levels Of Hospital Noise Before, During, And After Renovation Of A Hospital Wing, And A Survey Of Resulting Patient Perception, Cassandra H. Wiese, Lily M. Wang

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Acoustic conditions in hospitals can negatively influence a patient’s physical and psychological health. This paperreports on noise levels measured before, during, and after renovation of a hospital wing in an Omaha, Nebraska, facility thatregularly receives unsatisfactory noise scores on patient satisfaction surveys. Sound pressure levels were logged every 10seconds over four-day periods in three different locations: at the nurses' station, in the hallway, and in a nearby patient’sroom. The resulting data have been analyzed in terms of A-weighted equivalent sound levels (LAeq) as well as variousexceedance levels (Ln). Results indicate that sound levels did not change much due to the …

Physical Impact Of Waterjet-Based Sediment Remediation On Benthic Organisms, Grace Harper, Andrew Curtis Elmore, Christopher Redell, Gavin Risley, Joel Gerard Burken

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Adding Activated Carbon to Sediments Has Been Shown to Be an Effective Means of Reducing the Bioavailability of Certain Contaminants. the Current State of the Practice is to Mechanically Mix Activated Carbon to a Target Concentration of 3 Percent at Depths of Approximately 30 Cm using a Rotovator or Similar Construction Equipment. Waterjets Have Been Used to Cut Hard Material using a Mixture of Water and an Abrasive. If Activated Carbon is Substituted for the Abrasive, Waterjets Have the Potential to Use Surface Injection as a Replacement for Mechanical Mixing during Sediment Remediation. a Perceived Benefit of Waterjet-Based Sediment Remediation …

Development Of A Waterjet System For Direct Delivery Of Granular Iron And Activated Carbon To Remediate Contaminated Aqueous Sediments, Gavin H.R. Risley, Andrew Curtis Elmore, Joel Gerard Burken, Grzegorz (Greg) Galecki

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

While the Techniques and Technologies Associated with Contaminated Sediment Remediation Are Relatively Mature, There Are Several Issues Associated with These Practices that Make Them Unattractive. the Inability of Currently Used Mechanical Mixing Implements to Place Amendments in Aqueous Environments and their Intrusive Behavior toward Benthic Communities Are Just Two Examples of a Necessity for an Improved Delivery Method. Waterjets May Be a Viable Option for Placement of Particulate Remediation Amendments, Such as Activated Carbon and Granular Iron, at Depth. a Custom Waterjet Nozzle and Injection System Has Been Fabricated by the Authors to Examine This Delivery Concept. the Developed Injection …

A Financial Impact Assessment Of Ld 1725: Stream Crossings Presentation, New England Environmental Finance Center

Economics and Finance

This report looks at the potential financial impact of LD 1725 on the estimated 30,000 stream crossings in the State of Maine that would be affected by the law. Our research for this report included the analysis of nearly 2000 stream crossings and the data collection necessary for the development of extensive stream crossing replacement cost models. We found that the 1.2 bankfull requirements in LD 1725 would result in a 75% ‐ 250% increase in structure widths for stream crossing projects across the state. An upsize of this magnitude would increase the cost of replacing stream crossings statewide by …

Nonlinear Modeling Of A Sustainable Material, Jorien Gill Baza

Master's Theses

This study developed a nonlinear constitutive model for a sustainable orthotropic material. Existing methods for constitutive models of wood were improved upon to include the nonlinear stress-strain response not only in the two orthogonal axes but at any orientation to the strong axis of the material. This method also simplifies the nonlinear stress-strain relationships into bilinear stress-strain curves which can be valuable in hand calculations as well as finite-element analyses. The effectiveness of the proposed constitutive model is demonstrated by comparing bilinear stress-strain predictions to experimental data.

Interpretations Of Sustainability In Higher Education, Omidreza Saadatian

No abstract provided.

Culvert Material Cost Comparison, New England Environmental Finance Center

Water

The following tables provide a detailed look at the role that culvert material and culvert diameter play in the overall cost of a culvert replacement project.