Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons^™

Introduction To Prefabrication And Automation In Construction, Luciana Debs, Jiansong Zhang, Yunfeng Chen

Bowen School of Construction Open Educational Resources

New developments and recent advances in construction methods have the potential to change the future of the architecture, engineering and construction industry. Prefabrication, along with modular construction, provides a safe and controlled environment for the production of building construction elements and raises the need for improved collaboration and coordination from design to manufacturing and from transportation to final assembly. Prefabrication also provides relief from the skilled construction labor shortage while opening up new opportunities for mass customization within the building industry. Prefabrication and modular construction automation are emerging expansion routes for the construction industry. In addition, integral to developing the …

Building Services Engineering September/October 2021

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Evaluation Of In-Cab Air Quality For Nonroad Diesel Construction Equipment, Phil Lewis, Sherif El Khouly, Adam Mayer, Jeremy Johnson

The Professional Constructor

Previous research indicates that air quality near the cabs of nonroad diesel equipment may exceed recommended exposure limits for certain pollutants. The objective of this case study was to collect and analyze air pollutant data near the cabs of nonroad diesel equipment while performing real world activities. Using state-of-the-art instrumentation, the research team conducted 24 tests on nine different items of nonroad equipment. The team collected data related to pollutant concentrations of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter, and black carbon. Average concentrations of carbon monoxide and nitric oxide did not exceed published exposure limits on …

Prefabrication In Buildings With Focus On Emerging Mep Rack Systems, Mark Daniels, M.G. Matt Syal

The Professional Constructor

The growth in technology and automation has influenced the construction industry to explore prefabrication alternatives in building design and construction. In addition, the shortage of skilled labor is accelerating the push for the adoption of prefabrication in building industry. This paper provides an overview of the present construction market and labor trends and summarizes various levels and categories of prefabrication. It then provides detailed information on an emerging MEP prefabricated solution known as the MEP rack systems. The implementation of the MEP rack systems is discussed with the help of a hospital case study project. It concludes with the discussion …

Case Study Of Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems To Support Bridge Inspections, Joseph M. Burgett, Gurcan Comert

The Professional Constructor

This paper presents the results of a case study conducted to evaluate the potential benefit of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), commonly referred to as drones, as a tool to improve the bridge inspection workflow. The study conducted two experiments to determine how well deficiencies could be detected using a UAS. Both experiments were conducted using the same test bridge. The first experiment was carried out by the bridge inspection engineers (BIEs), who had previously inspected the bridge using traditional methods. They used the drone to search for inspection points identified in the inspection report. The second experiment was conducted by …

Stick Built Vs. Panelize Wall/Truss Framing For New Home Construction: A Time Study Labor Comparison., Eric A. Holt, Jim Anzlovar, Alexander Welsh

The Professional Constructor

Due to many trends in the construction industry (material cost increase, labor shortages, supply chain issues, pandemic, market demand outpacing supply), the homebuilding industry is looking for alternative ways to frame homes. In response to the National Housing Endowment (NHE) Request for Proposal, the researchers reviewed the literature on the housing market’s current state regarding the scale and scope of the skilled construction framers shortage and the current market share of single-family framing method; stick-built vs. panelization. Working with industry part ners, the team analyzed time studies for multiple new home builds. It was found that panelized wall framing systems …

Minority And Female Participation In Construction Industry Apprenticeship Programs, Richard Bruce, Aaron Sauer, Patrick Sells, Curtis Bradford

The Professional Constructor

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistic’s Current Population Survey, nearly 90 percent of the 10.7 million people employed in the construction industry are white males (2021). This statistic will remain unchanged unless more minorities and females are recruited into the industry. For craft workers, a primary recruitment mechanism is the registered apprenticeship program. This study analyzes the U.S. Department of Labor’s Registered Apprenticeship Database (RAPIDs) from 2000 to 2019 to identify trends for new apprentices. The study found that there was no change in the proportion of new female apprentices in the previous 20 years and no change …

Sustainable Building Materials Of The Future: Architectural Forms And Structural Design, Sean Sadler, Moritz Meditz

Symposium of Student Scholars

This research investigates the use of non-rigid formwork and the techniques aiming to create more efficient concrete forms. During casting, concrete takes the shape of its formwork; traditionally, these formworks are made of rigid materials like steel or wood. The results are prismatic members, which are not optimized for material usage but only for simplicity in construction. Most of the research in the area focuses on improving the constituent materials, while the formworks have remained unchanged throughout the years. By using the approach described in this study, optimized shapes are achieved. These geometries can save up to 30% of the …

Digital Construction And Bim Research In Ireland 2016-2020, Barry Mcauley, Roger P. West, Alan V. Hore

Conference papers

As the construction industry opens up post pandemic, new and significant challenges will demand considerable expertise, not least in financial viability, solving the housing crisis and facing the very significant climate change pressures to make the industry less wasteful and less carbon intensive. This presents an excellent opportunity to further inculcate aspects of lean construction, particularly BIM into many aspects of construction not traditionally associated with digital construction, provided the necessary expertise is available and known to exist. Following a well-received recent conference paper summarising BIM-related research published by academics in Ireland’s higher education institutions in 2020, this paper will …

Towards Creating Smart Cities In Nepal, Ambika P. Adhikari, Keshav Bhattarai

Himalayan Research Papers Archive

Many urban centers in the world are seeking to become smart cities. Nepali city leaders are also aspiring to make their cities smart. A smart city basically has clever improvements made in three sectors of its operations: technological, human, and institutional. Globally, many cities have recently made impressive enhancements in at least one or more of these areas. Nepal’s National Planning Commission (NPC) in 2016 had released a concept paper on smart cities for Nepal, defining smart cities as sustainable, information and technology-based, with high quality services and replicable (NPC 2016). As most Nepali cities still operate with limited infrastructure, …

Complete Streets, Jim Speer

2021 Spring Reports (Sullivan)

The City of Sullivan enacted a Quality of Life plan to address multiple improvements to their city, including some of the city’s infrastructure. Mayor Clint Lamb’s goal is to connect the city via roadways and trail systems that are accessible for all transportation methods and attractive for community members and tourists. ENVI460 students provided recommendations based off the city’s need for improvements to road systems and attractiveness. Students recommended a new roadway design for the Main Street section, sustainable infrastructure additions and buffer zones, and green space for attraction sites.

Reasons And Remedies To The Dying Plant Walls, Hayley Q. Mcgough

Construction Management

Sustainability in construction has been increasingly popular and detrimental with the state of the planet and climate change. One of the more popular solutions is the addition of plant façades to a building, which are plants that are put on the vertical of a building. The benefits that come with plant facades include and are not limited to: Reduction of the urban heat island effect, improved air quality, local job creation, improved energy efficiency, building structure protection, noise reduction, increased biodiversity, urban agriculture. These benefits are not reaching their full potential because these plant façades keep dying creating a bigger …

Single-Family Residential Flood Loss Reduction Through Freeboard, Ehab Said Gnan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The lack of flood loss estimation methods conducted on a micro-scale level that consider the full loss‐exceedance probabilities curve poses a significant problem in flood risk assessment. Also, the lack of robust benefit-cost analysis (BCA) that quantifies benefits at the micro-scale level leads to sub-optimal results, and therefore sub-optimal decisions when determining the optimal freeboard. Further, flood loss assessments focus on owner-occupied housing and neglect rental housing. These loss assessment deficiencies underscore the need for a robust assessment that quantifies the life-cycle benefits for all stakeholders and provides actionable information to enable informed decisions.

This research presents a comprehensive methodology …

Propositions For A Resilient, Post-Covid-19 Future For The Aec Industry, Hala Nassereddine, Kyung Wook Seo, Zofia K. Rybkowski, Christian Schranz, Harald Urban

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

The coronavirus outbreak has challenged and continues to challenge every aspect of the supply chain within the AEC industry, forcing stakeholders to cope with increasing uncertainties and continuous change. The notion of resilience is especially salient now. While the need for the AEC industry to focus on resilience has been highlighted in recent articles, there is a need for a comprehensive discussion on what resilience means for the AEC industry and how companies can create built-in resilience. This paper takes the form of a high-level overview of where the industry is headed and aims to establish eleven propositions for a …

Achieving Domestic Internationalization And Global Competence Through On-Campus Activities And Globally Responsive Education, Sanjay Tewari, Peng Zhang, Yuan Zhuang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on students and educators are well known. However, there is a paucity of literature available on its impact on educational institutions in the context of their abilities to develop global competence in the middle of an ongoing pandemic. The virtual communication and remote delivery of educational content have been a popular trend for many universities to adapt to the pandemic challenges and re-think their internationalization strategies.

The limited travel opportunities because of the pandemic have highlighted a big need for the domestic internationalization mechanism at educational institutions. In this paper, the authors discuss how …

Random Packing Material In Disinfection Contactors: Effects On Baffling And Energy Loss, Jessica L. Baker, Subhas K. Venayagamoorthy, Susan K. De Long

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study investigates the potential improvement in the hydraulic disinfection efficiency and the possible energy loss as a result of the presence of random packing material (RPM) in a laboratory-scale chlorine contactor. Tracer tests were conducted on a 55-gal drum tank filled with RPM in varying amounts in different configurations to measure the efficiency of each setup in terms of baffling factor (BF). The bulk pressure drop was measured to determine the energy loss for each configuration. The results of this study show that securing RPM near the inlet, in any amount, improves the BF by 300% to more than …

Building Services Engineering July/August 2021

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Early-Age Strength Of Co2 Cured Alkali-Activated Blast Furnace Slag Pastes, Yubin Jun, Seong Ho Han, Jae Hong Kim

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The effect of CO₂ curing including pre-conditioning on alkali-activated slags, activated by different alkaline activators (NaOH, Na₂SiO₃, and KOH solution), is studied. While dry pre-conditioning before the CO₂ curing increases the strengths of all mixtures, the effect of pre-conditioning time is dependent on the alkali activator used to produce samples. The CO₃-bearing reaction product in samples also depends on the alkali activator. Gaylussite, pirssonite, hydrotalcite, and calcite are observed in the NaOH activator, and calcite, hydrotalcite, and C₄AcH₁₁ are detected in the NaOH and Na₂SiO₃ (9:1) …

Assessment Of Carbon Dioxide Emission And Its Impact On High-Rise Mixed-Use Buildings In Egypt, Ahmed Salah Hamza

Theses and Dissertations

With Egypt's vision of 2030 focusing on sustainable development with a true emphasis on Carbon Dioxide (CO₂) emission reduction in the newly built cities and high-rise buildings, efforts are exerted on various levels towards accomplishing the vision’s goals. This is achieved through multiple tools and models associated with aiding the reduction of carbon emissions, yet not a clear one was introduced for the mixed-use buildings in Egypt.

Through this work, a significant gap was identified with respect to high-rise buildings carbon emission assessment in Egypt. This was a main driving force for this work in an attempt to …

Influence Of Seawater On Alkali-Activated Slag Concrete, Yubin Jun, Jae Hong Kim, Seong Ho Han, Taewan Kim

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This study examines the use of natural seawater as mixing water for alkali-activated slag concrete and reports the characteristics of alkali-activated slag concrete with exposure to seawater. Preliminary experiments were conducted on pastes in order to measure pH and select optimum activator content under the experimental conditions. Wet-sieved pastes from fresh concrete were used to evaluate the mineralogical and microstructural characteristics of reaction products. Compressive strengths and chloride contents were measured with the hardened concrete samples. The activators used in alkali-activated slag concrete were sodium hydroxide (5% weight of slag) and liquid sodium silicate (5% weight of slag). The alkali-activated …

Blacow Road Improvement Plan, Nishita Kandikuppa

City and Regional Planning

Providing safe and accessible entrances to schools, especially elementary, middle, and high schools where children are below the age of 18, should be of utmost priority to cities. Providing wide sidewalks, painted bicycle lanes and continental crosswalks (with the lateral lines) are just basic infrastructure improvements that can be made within the vicinity of a school. However, due to lack of funding or attention from the city departments, many school entryways are being neglected and the direct impact of this is increased collisions among students, drivers, and bicyclists. My senior project studied one such school in Fremont, California where the …

A Case Study On The Ucsf Transplant Center Renovation: Mitigating Covid-19 Risks And Tracking Cost Impact, Alec Steven Woodyatt

Construction Management

At the beginning of 2020, the world was turned upside down at the hands of the global coronavirus pandemic. Today, economies and business are counting the costs and wondering what recovery will look like – how to navigate and adapt to a new style of life after returning from government-mandated lockdowns. The question on everyone’s minds is, “how do we continue to work while keeping people safe?” This question is extremely relevant in the construction industry where, for most people, working from home is not an option. This case study will delve into how Dome Construction, along with their client, …

Analysis Of The Implementation Of Fluid Viscous Dampers In A Steel Special Moment Frame, Brad D. Weber

Architectural Engineering

This report examines the effects of adding fluid viscous dampers to a steel special moment frame through a series of analysis methods. Simple analysis procedures are first carried out and described, including a linear static procedure and a linear dynamic procedure. Then further analysis is carried out using a nonlinear dynamic analysis procedure. Multiple parameters are modified throughout the analysis processes to determine the impact on results and the data from all the analysis methods are compiled and used to demonstrate the overall impact of the use of fluid viscous dampers in a steel special moment frame.

Reconceptualizing Mies' Glass House, Araceli Avelar, Armando Castaneda Jr, Madison Lam, Ignatius Malari, Alejo Favero, Augusta Orlauskaite, Ella Gleason

Architectural Engineering

Our team used the glass house studio to explore class stratification, particularly using the glass as a reflection of class dichotomy in our society. The glass and Miesian design approach glorifies the clean cut, picture-perfect utopia only accessible to the wealthy few. But reality proves that there is more to this. As architects and engineers, we should strive to create environments that may uphold our values of equity and diversity and ultimately serve all sectors of society.

The Nolan House, Keiko-Ann K. Sanders, Gilbert C. Munoz, Michael A. Bahr, Titas Kalvalnis

Architectural Engineering

As a precedent, The Green Team analyzed the history of glass architecture, literature, and culture. Based on our research, we found that glass is often depicted as breakable, delicate, and a way to expose or display aspects that would otherwise be hidden. We challenged ourselves to incorporate safety and privacy into our glass house as a way to combat the pre-existing notions of glass in architecture.

Design And Construction Of Modular Concrete Footings And Testing Assembly For Use In Cal Poly's High Bay Laboratory, Thomas Little, Anders Johnson

Architectural Engineering

The purpose of this project was to improve the testing capabilities of the ARCE High Bay lab by designing and fabricating a pair of modular concrete footings along with a reusable testing frame capable of testing full-scale steel moment connections.

Journeyman International: Dwell Being Jonestown, Mississippi, Autumn Wagner

Architectural Engineering

Journeyman International is a non-profit organization that works with countries all over the world to support humanitarian projects by pairing clients with design professionals and volunteers to oversee the design and construction of projects. This specific project partners with Third Lens Ministries and But God Ministries, two organizations that are hoping to empower the community in Jonestown, Mississippi. Dwell Being promotes sustainability and affordable housing in a new housing community in Jonestown that is designed for healthy living and community interaction. Jonestown is a very small 0.4 square acre town that has roots in systemic racism and oppression. A once …

The Leed Decision-Making Processes For Northern California Commercial Construction, Shannon Marie Coyle

Construction Management

The purpose of this project was to establish a common decision-making process behind selections on the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) scorecard. This report describes the similar and dissimilar motives and processes that lead construction project teams to choose the LEED credits to be implemented. By interviewing experienced project executives, architects, project managers, and LEED accredited professionals at industry-leading companies in the Bay Area, a summarization of the motives behind credit selection have been reported and commonalities and differences in the process have been noted. Through these interviews, time, cost, efficiency, and sensibility have all been considered prioritizing …

Outsourcing Vdc Workflows, Kyle K. Bresnahan

Construction Management

In an increasingly demanding world for infrastructure, technological methods have been found to assist construction project's. As innovative construction methods are constantly increasing, so is the demand for technological needs within the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. To ensure technological adoption, many countries have started to mandate higher levels of building information modeling (BIM) documentation beyond the 2D construction documents traditionally required throughout construction review and permitting. Some companies have capitalized on this change to the extent of making BIM their primary business. These companies focus solely on virtual design and construction (VDC) and determine whether clients lacking this …

Journeyman International: Haiti Hac Innovation Center In Croix Des Bouquets, Brent K. Underwood

Construction Management

The purpose of this project was to create and provide the necessary pre-construction documents for a multi-purpose building in Croix des Bouquets, Haiti. This project aims to give occupants a new space to work freely in as it will be equipped with the essential needs. The rooms to be included within this building are offices, meeting rooms, general spaces, a workshop and computer lab – all of which will give the occupants the ability to work in an innovative environment. The project is overseen by three organizations. These groups are Journeyman International (JI), the Haitian American Caucus (HAC), and Third …