Dissertations / Theses on the topic '120202 Commercial construction design'

The Design/Bid/Build (DBB) delivery method has historically been the most popular and the most effective means of determining the least cost for building a project based upon a set of construction documents. In recent years, however, other project delivery methods, including but limited to Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) and Design/Build (DB), have slowly taken a share of the construction market away from the DBB delivery method. The choice of delivery method that will produce the best value for an owner in the measurements of efficiency in quality, cost, and timeliness depends upon the type of project and the business culture of the project owner. A unique opportunity for a comparative study was presented by the Meetinghouse Facilities Department (MFD) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The MFD completed over 200 repetitive meetinghouse projects in the U.S. over a five-year period (1999-2003), contracting approximately two-thirds of the projects using a CM/GC delivery method with an attached partnering agreement. The remaining meetinghouses were contracted using a DBB delivery method. A comprehensive comparison was conducted measuring all of the efficiencies created by the selection of delivery method, including short- and long-term costs, direct and indirect costs, construction cycle time, and quality assessment scores. After identifying and then adjusting for several confounding variables in the historical data, the statistical analysis provided evidence that the CM/GC delivery method proved to be the best value for the MFD by producing a total cost savings of over 5.5 percent on the meetinghouse projects when compared to the DBB meetinghouse projects. Construction cycle time was 20% shorter on the CM/GC meetinghouse projects and quality assessment (QA) scores were consistently higher. In regards to a 10-year life cycle repair costs, the CM/GC delivery method produced a higher quality meetinghouse, reducing repair costs by 34% when compared to the DBB meetinghouse projects.

Energy and cost performance optimization for commercial building system design is growing in popularity, but it is often criticized for its time consuming process. Moreover, the current process lacks integration, which not only affects time performance, but also investors’ confidence in the predicted performance of the generated design. Such barriers keep building owners and design teams from embracing life cycle cost consideration. This thesis proposes a computationally efficient design optimization platform to improve the time performance and to streamline the workflow in an integrated multi-objective building system design optimization process. First, building system cost estimation is typically completed through a building information model based quantity take-off process, which does not provide sufficient design decision support features in the design process. To remedy this issue, an automatic cost estimation framework that integrates EnergyPlus with an external database to perform building systems’ capital and operation costs is proposed. Optimization, typically used for building system design selection, requires a large amount of computational time. The optimization process evaluates building envelope, electrical and HVAC systems in an integrated system not only to explore the cost-saving potential from a single high performance system, but also the interrelated effects among different systems. An innovative optimization strategy that integrates machine learning techniques with a conventional evolutionary algorithm is proposed. This strategy can reduce run time and improve the quality of the solutions. Lastly, developing baseline energy models typically takes days or weeks depending on the scale of the design. An automated system for generating baseline energy model according to ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 performance rating method is thus proposed to provide a quick appraisal of optimal designs in comparison with the baseline energy requirements. The main contribution of this thesis is the development of a new design optimization platform to expedite the conventional decision making process. The platform integrates three systems: (1) cost estimation, (2) optimization and (3) benchmark comparison for minimizing the first cost and energy operation costs. This allows designers to confidently select an optimal design with high performance building systems by making a comparison with the minimum energy baseline set by standards in the building industry. Two commercial buildings are selected as case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of this platform. One building is the Center for Sustainable Landscapes in Pittsburgh, PA. This case study is used as a new construction project. With 54 million possible design solutions, the platform is able to identify optimal designs in four hours. Some of the design solutions not only save the operation costs by up to 23% compared to the ASHRAE baseline design, but also reduce the capital cost ranging from 5% to 23%. Also, compared with the ASHRAE baseline design, one design solution demonstrates that the high investment of a product, building integrative photovoltaic (BiPV) system, can be justified through the integrative design optimization approach by the lower operation costs (20%) as well as the lower capital cost (12%). The second building is the One Montgomery Plaza, a large office building in Norristown, PA. This case study focuses on using the platform for a retrofit project. The calibrated energy model requires one hour to complete the simulation. There are 4000 possible design solutions proposed and the platform is able to find the optimal design solution in around 50 hours. Similarly, the results indicate that up to 25% capital cost can be saved with $1.7 million less operation costs in 25 years, compare to the ASHRAE baseline design.

This work addresses the capital cost implications of environmental impact allied to new highways. Those environmental impact considerations which are capable of being evaluated in terms of capital cost are distinguished from those which are concealed and cannot be evaluated using monetary values. The new design technique the Commercial Route Methodology (CRM) has been developed to evaluate in capital cost terms the concealed and unquantifiable impacts inter alia, visual intrusion, visual obstruction, effects on agriculture, ecological concern, heritage and conservation areas and aesthetic aspects.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) plays an important role in today's construction industry. Models are tools that help stakeholders communicate, visualize building geometry, perform trade coordination and clash detection among others. A less popular aspect of BIM that shows high potential is the quantity take-off (QTO) feature. Yet, its implementation among commercial general contractors (GC) has not received as much attention. The purpose of this study was to identify how the BIM QTO features were being implemented among commercial general contractors, what challenges they faced and how they worked to overcome those challenges. Through a three-step process including semi structured interviews with estimators, preconstruction, BIM and Virtual Design Construction (VDC) managers, valuable insights on the BIM QTO implementation state among general contractors were gathered and analyzed. Links between BIM QTO benefits, project design phases and delivery methods, software, training, leadership and jurisdictions were discussed. The data indicated that BIM QTO's benefits were best leveraged through early general contractor involvement, the adequate contract framework, trained BIM QTO estimators, and early and strategic communication between owners, designers and estimators. The conditions for increased efficiency were discussed along with the solutions to the common BIM-based QTO challenges.

It is a widely known fact that the only way to achieve sustainable development in the building sector is through green building design. The path to sustainability, however is riddled with the presence of existing buildings that are far from being efficient or environmentally practical. The way to overcome this problem is to deal with existing buildings in each city, and retrofit them to the level of being environmentally, economically and socially sustainable. This paper assesses the complete scope of retrofitting existing buildings in Hong Kong, the economic, social and environmental benefits of it, and the policy reforms to further expand its scope.
published_or_final_version
Environmental Management
Master
Master of Science in Environmental Management

The base tGSt method has been proposed by Carballo, Holzer and Murray [5] as a means of determining the strength of standing seam roof systems under gravity loading. The objective of this thesis is to evaluate the accuracy of the base test method. To do this, eleven sets of tests were performed at Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (VPl&SU). Each test set consisted of a single span base test from which a failure load was predicted for the corresponding three span confirming test. Results of two test sets recorded in Reference [5] were also used to evaluate the method. A secondary objective of this thesis is to comment on the effects that system components (purlin orientation, clip type, bracing configuration, panel type, insulation and purlin type) have on the strength of the system. Results from proprietary tests conducted at VPI & SU were used in conjunction with the results from this research to accomplish the secondary objective.
Master of Science

The tall office building is a uniquely American invention, designed to meet the demands of industry and commerce. The technical and architectural achievements of the Chicago school of architecture marked the beginning of a new style of architecture for commercial buildings.The creative vitality that was so prevalent in Chicago was felt throughout the Midwest. Chicago style structures in a selected number of Midwestern cities are examined in the context of this thesis and these structures are promoted as historically significant to their locales and as a body of work in general. The purpose of this thesis is to document these structures and to discern the possible reasons for the dissemination of the Chicago school of architecture in the Midwest.
Department of Architecture

Many contemporary building codes are written based on building occupancy classifications. However, with the abundance of multiplexes and highly efficient communication through advanced technology today, this principle of classification of buildings through specific use in building code-writing may cause problems in building controls. This is especially true when the trend of modern and future building occupancy is towards flexible, mixed, and transferable uses with non-distinction between working and habitation. In the highly dense urban environment and under current Hong Kong building regulation controls, all buildings are classified for domestic or non-domestic use, which imposes control barriers to any mixed-use, merged-use or adaptive re-functioned buildings. Furthermore, the local profit-oriented real estate market always pushes the architectural design of buildings to follow the control regulations tightly. Thus, innovations are limited and usually sacrificed for the maximization of development potential in terms of economy and quality only. This research investigates the relationship between building controls and the architectural design of buildings in Hong Kong, with a focus on the impact that building codes have imposed on the architectural design of buildings through its occupancy-based categorization of domestic or non-domestic use. It also aims to open a fresh look at the control of buildings in a high density environment. By reviewing the origin of building laws and basic principles of building code creation, the research takes a comprehensive study with focus on four building sub-control aspects: building density, building safety, building environmental health and building sustainable designs. Case-studies, literature reviews, interviews, surveys and data analysis, and correlation analysis are used. To explore the effect of categorization of buildings, relevant professional terms and their significance also are addressed and studied. Through various findings, this research uncovers the relationship between building controls and architectural design of buildings in Hong Kong. Results from sub-control aspects are concluded and compared. The key sub-control aspect of building density control and its control variables are identified, analyzed and re-evaluated. Comparative cases from international cities with similar environmental contexts are studied and applicable references are made. In brief, this research provides an original perspective and approach in the field of study of building controls that related to the architectural design of buildings. It also establishes a refreshing base to understand different practical design-control issues. Moreover, some progressive and holistic recommendations in future policy makings and code writings of building control are advised.
published_or_final_version
Architecture
Doctoral
Doctor of Philosophy

Orientador: Flávio Augusto Picchi
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo
Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-19T20:46:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Gimenes_DominiquedaSilvaLoureiro_M.pdf: 2584063 bytes, checksum: dba74aba6c3c0310208951041ff00910 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012
Resumo: As edificações comerciais, de modo geral, estão em constante transformação e modernização para cada vez mais atender as necessidades do mercado consumidor. Em um ambiente de obra, sem um elaborado projeto, planejamento e padronização das atividades e em um ambiente de incertezas, o custo e o prazo de implantação de um empreendimento pode ficar exposto a uma sucessão de condições de risco. Práticas de gerenciamento vêm sendo aplicadas por diversas empresas que atuam no setor buscando uma maior competitividade, redução de custos, desperdícios e menores prazos na execução de projetos e obras. A abordagem gerencial conhecida como "Fast Track" surgiu no início dos anos 60 e passou a ser mais estudada e aplicada nos anos 70, mas sua aplicação prática vem se mostrando no cenário atual, uma importante ferramenta para o gerenciamento de projetos e obras de edificações comerciais, que necessitam de menores prazos de projeto e execução. Para investidores de edificações comerciais, como hotéis, centros de distribuição, indústrias, hipermercados, bancos, redes de fast food entre outros, uma obra entregue fora do prazo é sinônimo de prejuízo. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo propor diretrizes para a aplicação dos princípios da abordagem "Fast Track" no processo de gerenciamento de projeto e obras de edifícios comerciais. Esta pesquisa adota como estratégia, estudo exploratório com estudo de caso tendo o objetivo de analisar a aplicação prática em uma empresa dos conceitos desta abordagem gerencial, identificando os fatores de sucesso e dificuldades no processo de projeto e obra de edificações comerciais
Abstract: The commercial buildings, in general, are in constant transformation and modernization to increasingly better serve their customers. In a work environment, without a well developed project, planning and standardization of the activities and in an environment of uncertainty, cost and time of implantation of an enterprise can be exposed to a succession of risk conditions. Management Practices have been implemented by several companies that operate in the sector seeking greater competitiveness, cost reduction, less waste and delays in implementation of projects and works. The managerial approach known as the "Fast Track" emerged in the early 60's and became more studied and applied in 70's, but its practical application, has been showing the current scenario an a important tool for project management and construction of commercial buildings, which require less time for design and execution. For investors in commercial buildings such as hotels, distribution centers, factories, supermarkets, banks and others, handed out a work term is synonymous with the injury. This paper aims to propose guidelines for the application of the principles of the approach "Fast Track" in the process of project management and construction of commercial buildings. This research adopts as strategy, exploratory case study aimed to analyze the practical application in a company of the concepts of this managerial approach, identifying the success factors and difficulties in the process of design and construction of commercial buildings
Mestrado
Arquitetura e Construção
Mestre em Engenharia Civil

La construction de la propriété intellectuelle au Cambodge remonte à une date récente. Cetteconstruction se traduit, d’une part, par l’adoption d’un cadre juridique consacrant la notionjuridique de la propriété intellectuelle et, d’autre part, par l’élaboration des mécanismes deprotection de la notion consacrée.Comme la législation de la propriété intellectuelle a été adoptée pour assurer la conformité dudroit cambodgien aux exigences de l’OMC, il n’est pas surprenant de constater que la notion et lerégime juridique de la propriété littéraire et artistique et ceux de la propriété industriellecambodgiennes sont presque identiques à ceux qui sont prévus dans l’Accord ADPIC et dans lesTraités et Conventions administrés par l’OMPI. À cause des obstacles d’ordre juridique,économique et social, la plupart des lois cambodgiennes de la propriété intellectuelle ne connaitpas encore une application effective et correcte dans la pratique. En conséquence, la notion de lapropriété intellectuelle cambodgienne est très peu développée.Pour faire respecter le titre de propriété littéraire et artistique et celui de la propriété industrielle,les mécanismes légaux et judiciaires visant à prévenir les atteintes au droit exclusif dont disposentles titulaires du droit, à préserver les éléments de preuves et à réprimer des atteintes sont prévusdans la législation cambodgienne portant sur la propriété intellectuelle. Par ailleurs, le recours auxmodes alternatifs de règlements de litiges tels que l’arbitrage commercial, la médiation et laPreliminary Alternative Disputes Resolution est également possible. L’efficacité et l’effectivitéde la mise en oeuvre de ces mécanismes pour la protection de la propriété intellectuelle sur leterritoire cambodgien sont une question d’actualité
The construction of intellectual property rights in Cambodia dates back to a recent time. This construction implies, on the one hand, the adoption of a specific legal framework that establishes the notion of intellectual property and, on the other hand, the elaboration of protection mechanisms of the established notion. As the legislation on intellectual property was adopted to ensure the conformity of Cambodian law with WTO requirements, it is not surprising that the notion and legal regime of literary and artistic property and that of industrial property are almost identical to what is provided under TRIPS Agreement and other Treaties and Conventions administered by the WIPO. Because of legal, economic and social barrier, most of Cambodian laws relating to intellectual property have not been effectively and correctly applied in practice. Consequently, the notion of intellectual property has not been well developed.To enforce the exclusive right of literary and artistic property and that of industrial property, the legal and judicial mechanisms aiming at preventing infringement, preserving the proofs and punishing the infringement are provided under Cambodian legislation relating to intellectual property. Moreover, utilization of alternative disputes resolutions mechanisms such as commercial arbitration, mediation and Preliminary Alternative Disputes Resolution, is also possible. The efficiency of these mechanisms for the protection of intellectual property in Cambodia is, however, a topical question

Sölvesborg är en stad under expansion, dit lockas folk av en lantlig idyll nära havet. Sölvesborgs kommun har som mål att öka invånarantalet från 16 000 till 20 000 fram till år 2020. Kommunen äger fastigheten Hydro vilken är centralt belägen i Sölvesborg i anslutning till tågstationen. Idag används fastigheten Hydro till en parkeringsyta och kommunen vill att fastigheten ska planeras om för att bli en ny central knytpunkt i Sölvesborg som binder ihop tågstationen och förlänger centrumstråket. Detta examensarbete leder till färdiga förslagshandlingar för fastigheten. Koncept och handlingar tas fram utefter analyser som gjorts kring hur staden är uppbyggd och vilka intressen som finns. Detta resulteras i en byggnad som har en större kommersiell del i markplan och plan 2 till plan 11 är tillägnade med fyra stycken lägenheter per plan. Ledordet för arkitekturen har varit att försöka skapa ett nytt landmärke för Sölvesborg, föra in den moderna arkitekturen i en större skala i ett gammalt småskaligt samhälle på ett naturligt sätt.
Sölvesborg is a city under expansion, people are attracted by a rural idyll close to the sea and the municipality's goal is to increase the population from 16,000 to 20,000 until year 2020. The municipality owns the property Hydro which is located in the central parts of Sölvesborg adjacent to the train station. Today the property Hydro is used as a parking space, the municipality is interested to change the property. They want to make it to a new central hub in Sölvesborg, connecting the railway station and extend the center strip. Our work is to create concept drawings for the property Hydro, These concept drawings are based on analyzes regarding the context of the city and the city’s citizens. This has resulted in a building that has a larger commercial area in the ground floor and above the ground floor are ten floors with four apartments on each floor. The guiding principle for the design has been to try to create a new landmark for Sölvesborg, bringing in the modern architecture on a larger scale in the old small scale society in a natural way.

Bibliography: leaves 220-229.
xxiv, 229 leaves : ill. (some col.) ; 30 cm.
Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library.
Investigates alternative reusable launch vehicle design concepts and develops a robust guidance strategy for use on the ascent and flyback phases of flight. The first concept vehicle uses air breathing engines to perform a powered return flight to the launch site; the second employs only aerodynamic forces to achieve flyback, returning unpowered. Software simulation shows that a powered return flight delivers more payload than an unpowered return flight. The guidance strategy developed is a numerical guidance system robust enough for use in real time and works by integrating the current state, along the trajectory, to the final state of the vehicle. It then compares the achieved final state to the required target state and calculates the target condition error. A parameterised non-linear optimisation technique is then used to determine the new values of the optimisation parameters required to steer the vehicle from its current position and velocity to the desired position and velocity.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Mechanical Engineering, 2003

M.Ing. (Engineering Management)
New and enlarged energy consumption behaviours driven by manufacturing, processing, transportation and an ever growing human population drives the increased extraction and consumption of earths' natural energy sources to such a degree that the energy sources once thought of as infinite now dwindle on the brink of exhaustion. The earth and all systems related to, and contained within it can be regarded as a finite system in which the different components interact and depend on one another. It is through the recognition of this interdependence and the dire situation thereof that a movement towards renewable energy and ultimately survival has been awakened. A movement powered by numerous commissions and associations working tirelessly to decrease environmental impacts and to improve the lives of all people living on the planet Earth. The current research investigates the Green Building Design Movement and how it contributes to a safer and healthier work and global environment. The current research not only investigates the background of the movement and reveals it as a multi facetted approach stemming from the depletion of existing energy sources and social consciences, but also provides insight to the direction which Green Design and future technological advancements are moving From the conclusions contained in this study the reader will gain a better understanding of the technology, processes and development phases used in Green Building design and how these contribute to lower emissions, lower energy consumption and a more responsible habitation of Earth and its finite systems. In conclusion, the author employs a product and alternative energy source discussion, along with a case study to practically illustrate how the knowledge gained can be applied to optimize a building and the systems within it, while reducing energy consumption and the environmental impact of the building.

Conventional commercial buildings are among the highest unwise consumers of enormous amounts of energy and hence produce significant amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). These have been built for years without considering their contribution to global warming. However, green buildings (GB) simulation for energy efficiency commenced in 1973 and many countries—in particular the United States—has responded positively to minimise energy consumption. Therefore, software companies have developed unique building energy efficiency simulation software, interoperable with Building Information Modelling. Hence, the past decade has witnessed a rapid increase in the number of studies on GB energy efficiency systems. However, similar studies also indicate that the results of current GB simulations are not yet satisfactory to meet GB objectives. In addition, most such studies did not run simulation to determine comprehensive building energy efficiency. This study aims to meet GB objectives through design, modelling and simulation of comprehensive ‘multilevel hexagonal-curve shape’ commercial office building, energy efficient system. In this study, every particular part of the building construction element was simulated for ensuring energy efficiency. Additionally, a control method is introduced that almost satisfies GB objectives by using appropriate modern cost-effective technologies, such as ‘Actuator Sensor Interface’. This method reduces the initial, running, and maintenance costs of electrical/electronic devices and limits wiring installations, leading to significant energy consumption reduction of about 50%. Further, renewable energy or green power, currently the key solution to tackle the energy crisis, plays a significant role in removing CO2 (negative emissions). In this research, its use is significantly maximised, hence decreasing the impact of global greenhouse gas emissions. This study not only considers energy sufficient buildings, but also building occupant comfort and building stability through simulations. In conclusion, energy saving of 63.5% is achieved overall, approaching NetZero energy saving/building energy self-sufficiency.