Construction Engineering Commons^™

Student Absenteeism And The Comparisons Of Two Sampling Procedures For Culturable Bioaerosol Measurement In Classrooms With And Without Upper Room Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation Devices, Chunxiao Su, Josephine Lau, Shawn G. Gibbs

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Upper room ultraviolet germicidal irradiance (UVGI) has been shown to reduce the concentration of bioaerosols in controlled chambers. However, there is a lack of experimental results on the reduction of bioaerosol concentrations by UVGI devices in actual uncontrolled buildings. This study was carried out in an American elementary school in the Midwest. Two sampling procedures were carried out in six selected classrooms with similar dimensions that were separated into two groups: (1) UVGI exposure group and (2) non-UVGI control group. Two-stage Tisch culturable impactors were utilized to collect airborne culturable bacteria and fungi. Monthly samples were collected during unoccupied period …

Cognitive Radio For Smart Grid With Security Considerations, Khaled Shuaib, Ezedin Barka, Nedaa Al Hussien, Mohammed Abdel-Hafez, Mahmoud Alahmad

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

In this paper, we investigate how Cognitive Radio as a means of communication can be utilized to serve a smart grid deployment end to end, from a home area network to power generation. We show how Cognitive Radio can be mapped to integrate the possible different communication networks within a smart grid large scale deployment. In addition, various applications in smart grid are defined and discussed showing how Cognitive Radio can be used to fulfill their communication requirements. Moreover, information security issues pertained to the use of Cognitive Radio in a smart grid environment at different levels and layers are …

A Prediction Method For Overall Economic Value Of Fault Detection And Diagnostic Tools For Rooftop And Split Systems, David Yuill, James Braun

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) tools for air-conditioning application may perform well or poorly, but it is difficult to characterize this performance in a meaningful way. Some recently proposed evaluation techniques have provided various statistics to characterize FDD performance, but these results can be difficult for a potential adopter of FDD to understand. A new method of characterizing FDD performance by predicting the overall economic value of the FDD tool is proposed in this paper. It is applicable to FDD tools intended for air-cooled unitary airconditioners, such as rooftop units (RTU) and split systems. The method gives an estimated dollar …

Use Of Concept Maps To Illustrate Barriers To Construction Industry Inter-Organizational Communication: A Comparative View From Students And Professionals, Mark Shaurette

Bowen School of Construction Faculty Publications

Because of the fragmented nature of construction industry inter-organizational communication, construction industry stakeholders must rely on information exchanges in order to produce new information and directives for the process. This communication process does not always happen smoothly due to possible barriers during the information flow. The purpose of this study is to understand these potential information flow barriers and to use concept maps to engage students in discussions about communication within the construction industry. Concept map activities performed with industry professionals and senior construction management students in separate phases are described. To complement the concept map findings, interviews with key …

Fault Detection And Diagnosis Process For Oversizing Design On Multiple Packaged Air-Conditioning Units, Denchai Woradechjumroen, Haorong Li, Thanapat Promwattanapakee

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems are seldom designed or commissioned properly. The situation leads to abrupt or degradation faults resulting in inefficient energy uses, excessive energy consumption and high service costs. To solve these aforementioned problems, fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) is utilized to firstly detect any abnormal conditions of a system and then diagnoses and determines their causes. In order to apply this concept in HVAC oversizing designs, this paper proposes the state-of-art procedure of a FDD procedure for analyzing the inherently faulty design (oversizing) of multiple packaged air-conditioning units used to supply cooling for an open …

Compressor Having A Control And Dagnostic Module, Hung M. Pham, Fadi M. Alsaleem

Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction: Faculty Publications

An apparatus includes a Voltage sensor, a current sensor, and a controller. The Voltage sensor measures Voltage values of alternating current power Supplied to a capacitor. The capaci tor is electrically coupled to a compressor. The current sensor measures current values of the alternating current power. The controller is configured to receive the Voltage values and the current values. The controller is configured to determine a first power factor value based on at least one of the voltage values and at least one of the current values. The controller is configured to selectively detect a first capacitor fault in response …

Elasto-Plastic Transient Dynamic Response Of Tubular Section Steel Cantilever Beam Under Impact Loading, Alial Aloosi, Zia Razzaq

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents the outcome of an experimental and theoretical investigation into the loadcarrying capacity of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) I-section beams subjected to four-point loading. The overall lateral-torsional buckling, web and flange local buckling as well as material rupture load estimates are also made using the American Society of Civil Engineers#x2019; Load and Resistance Factor Design (ASCELRFD) Pre-Standard for FRP Structures. Lateral-torsional buckling failure mode is found to govern for each of the beams studied. The study also revealed that the height of applied loads relative to the shear center has a very significant influence on lateral-torsional buckling load …

Lateral-Torsional Buckling Of Frp I-Section Beams, Mojtaba B. Sirjani, Zia Razzaq

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents the outcome of an experimental and theoretical investigation into the load-carrying capacity of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) I-section beams subjected to four-point loading. The overall lateral-torsional buckling, web and flange local buckling as well as material rupture load estimates are also made using the American Society of Civil Engineers Load and Resistance Factor Design (ASCE-LRFD) Pre-Standard for FRP Structures. Lateral-torsional buckling failure mode is found to govern for each of the beams studied. The study also revealed that the height of applied loads relative to the shear center has a very significant influence on lateral-torsional buckling load …

Bs News January/February

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Dispute Resolution Under The Principal Irish Forms Of Building Contract, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

The construction industry is known to be litigious (Latham, 1994). This is hardly surprising given the industry’s fragmented nature in which project teams comprising an extensive network of employers, designers and constructors are brought together to deliver once-off projects, following which, the organisation is almost always disbanded. The short term objectives of the various groupings are often competing and occasionally incompatible. For example, many employers will wish to minimise costs in developing a project, designers may resist pressures on budgets in order to safeguard their ‘brand’, and the commercial imperative of maximising profit will drive contractors towards charging what the …

Risk Allocation Under The Principal ‘Traditional’ Irish Forms Of Building Contract, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Construction projects are risky ventures. Risks are inevitable and cannot be entirely eliminated but they can be transferred through appropriate wording in the clauses of a contract. Construction contracts allocate particular risks between the parties in order to identify who bears the cost if a particular risk comes to pass.

This study examines how contractual risks are allocated to the contracting parties under the Royal Institute of Architects in Ireland Form, 2012 version, where quantities form part of the contract, commonly known as ‘the Yellow Form’, and the Public Works Contract PW CF1 Form v 1.10, 2014 where the design …

Cost Control During The Pre-Contract Stage Of A Building Project – An Introduction, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Cost overruns are commonplace on construction projects.

One of the most important tasks carried out by quantity surveyors (QS) involves providing advice to clients and design team colleagues to enable the design to be finalised within the approved budget. This financial management process is referred to as cost control. Cost control seeks to deliver a high degree of cost certainty during the various stages of the building project in order that the project can be completed within budget. Successful projects are those which are delivered to the required quality standards, on time, and within budget. Effective cost management therefore is …

A Fiscal Model Program Theory Proposal For Training Reentry Citizen Ex-Convicts To Remodel Abandoned Houses, James A. Hanson

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to develop and examine a fiscal program theory model and proposal for training reentry citizen ex-convicts to remodel abandoned houses. A sustainable program theory model describes ways that training and employing these citizens to remodel abandoned houses may be expected to have benefits to a community. The recently released ex-convicts will learn a construction trade, earn a sustainable wage, and the once-abandoned houses will be returned to the city tax rolls. Vocational education and workforce training are key to this program. The literature indicates that national jobless rates for recently released inmates is well …

Hacking The Urban Village | Architecture As Board Game, Xuyun Liu

Architecture Senior Theses

This thesis proposes the board game as a new research methodology and platform for the study of southern China's urban villages.

Hacking the Urban Village examines the urban villages that have, in recent decades, become a common but informal settlement type in China as a result of China's unprecedented period of urbanization.

This research forms the contextual core of a board game where game settings present the current urban conditions and players may explore alternative forms of urbanism. The board game offers players the opportunity to investigate both he formal conditions of the urban village life along with it attendant …

The Question Of Slim | A Critical Look At Manhattan's Recent Trend Towards Slenderness, Raymond Sova

Architecture Senior Theses

Manhattan’s real estate market since the turn of the 20th century to present day can be characterized as an extreme optimization of the economical elements of architecture. Most of the buildings in Manhattan’s diverse and complex skyline share a tenacious desire to maximize the profitability and feasibility of a site while minimizing overall building expenditure. This concept is defined in Koolhaas’s ‘Delirious New York,’ as the relationship between “the Needle” and “the Globe.” Seemingly immeasurable wealth and investment have given rise to a new sub-typology of super-tall strikingly skinny (Slim) residential skyscrapers that may very well result in the demise …

Exploring Emerging Technologies For The Built Environment Circa 2015 For Use In Architectural Engineering And Related Majors, Connor J. Hanlon

Architectural Engineering

For this senior project I am seeking to combine my knowledge of Structural Engineering with Construction Management. For this task, I have decided to look at Building Information Modeling (BIM). In this project I investigate the BIM tools Trimble Tekla Structures and Autodesk Navis- works Manage. Tekla is a modeling, fabrication, and design program. Navisworks is a visualiza- tion and Clash Detection tool. For this project I have identiÅied two main goals relating to Navis- works and Tekla:

1. Create content to allow students and professors learn how to use Tekla and Navisworks

2. Determine the capabilities of these softwares, and Åigure …

   ---

   Go to article

Tender Documentation For Construction Projects - An Overview, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

The tender documents form the basis of the contractor’s offer to construct the works. The tender documents are the means by which the employer’s design and/or works requirements are communicated to the tendering contractors. These inform the contractor of the scope and detail of the project, the conditions under which the work will be executed, and they identify the rights and obligations of the various participants under the proposed contract. The tender documents enable contractors to price the works requirements and submit an offer (bid) which, if accepted by the employer becomes a binding contract. Some of the tender documents …

"Defining Job Titles And Career Paths In Bim", Malachy Mathews

Conference papers

Ireland is undergoing a digital transformation. Some industries particularly in the areas of travel and retail have been radically transformed. However many industries are facing their biggest challenge in their existence already weakened by the economic crisis and constrained by their legacy business, it will be difficult for them to adapt and embrace the new rules dictated by digital change. Irelands design and construction industry is on the cusp of a digital transformation with early adopters now deriving some benefits from a move to a building information modeling (BIM) process. Digital transformation cannot happen unless there are personnel with the …

Appointing Main Contractors For Construction Work In The Republic Of Ireland. – An Overview., Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

This study examines the various options available for a client to appoint a contractor. The study investigates open tendering, selective tendering, prequalification, two stage selective tendering, competitive dialogue, negotiation and serial tendering. In most building contracts the contractor is selected on the basis of competitive tendering. The price which the contractor quotes for the job is heavily influenced by both the amount and intensity of the competition. Even in the case of negotiated tenders there is implicit competition, as the employer can break off negotiations. If there is no competition the contractor can, in effect, ‘name his price’. This study …

Bs News November/December

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.