A7 Grades and Closing Thoughts

Hi Everyone,

All of your final assignments were graded as of 12/6, so please let me know if you do not see a grade there.  My apologies for taking longer than normal to grade, but these last few days have been pretty hectic, as I am sure you all are feeling similar stress.  Overall, everyone exhibited a good knowledge of the systems in Stratton Hall.  One thing that a lot of groups omitted was the dedicated paths for materials, people, and vehicles on the circulation diagrams as well as the space allocations.  Don't underestimate the importance of these diagrams, especially as you move into AE391.  It is essential when designing a building to consider how different people or things move through the building.  Building Programming is also really important.  The reason we had you put together those space allocation diagrams is to understand why parts of the building program are clustered together.  Speaking of AE391, please be sure to bookmark all of the AE390 resources, databases, and blogs before it disappears.  Trust me, they help so much!

If you have any questions on your grades for the term, please shoot me an email at amm543@drexel.edu.  If not, I will see you all in AE391.  Hope you all make it through your finals and have a relaxing break!

Happy Holidays!! :)

~Arthur

A7 Class Presentation Grading

Here are the in-class averages for your evaluations of the presentations in the different categories.  You were somewhat more charitable than I would have been, but the results are being used for the 5 points of A7.  Only one group got 4/5 points.  All others received 5/5.

Average of Attendance	100%
Average of Teamwork	96%
Average of Audibility	92%
Average of Content	95%
Average of Overall	96%

Here are my comments on what I would ideally have seen improved.

• All groups focusing on presentation skills, using appropriate media (not just website scrolling).
• More discussion of why was the specific system design chosen.
• More discussion of how you checked the actual design against values that you calculated.

Nonetheless you displayed overall good knowledge of the systems in Stratton Hall.  Congratulations and enjoying being designers next term.

Foundations

Question:

For the foundations presentation, what exactly are you looking for? 

I [thought] that the geotechnical systems of the soils would play a major role in the foundations but it really doesn't so I would really like your input. 

Response:

The foundation system is a combination of the soils on which the building rests and the below-grade structure that transfers the building loads into the soils.  Typically one needs to address a number of questions, giving and labeling assumptions if necessary:

• What is the soil profile, down to the bedrock if it's anywhere near the surface?
• What are the bearing capacities of those soils?
• What members of the above-grade structure carry loads into the soils?
• Typically these are either columns or bearing walls
• What are the magnitudes of loads being transferred through those above-grade structures?
• What are the below-grade structures that transfer the loads to the soils?
• What are the sizes and stresses in those below-grade structures?
• Why was that system below-grade system chosen over other possible systems?
• Here's a search link that illustrates many types of such below-grade foundation systems.

Lighting Fixture Information

Question:

I am working on the electrical system section for my group and can't seem to find a light fixture schedule anywhere in the 2013 drawings.  I didn't see any such information in the original drawings either.  Please let me know which fixtures and manufacturers I can look up to acquire more information on this.  Thank you for your time.

Response:

About all I can recommend is that you classify them generally (e.g. 2x4 fluorescent; Incandescent recessed downlight) and pick something from the internet that approximates it.  Making a reasonable assumption, with a note that it’s an assumption, is better than ignoring things.

A6 Grades and Comments

Hi Everyone,

Your HVAC Selection assignments have now been graded, and were very well done.  One thing that I was really looking for was comments on the results of the criteria matrix, and whether or not that made sense for the given building type.  Even if the matrix did not produce a very logical choice, it was important to address what the difficulties might be in applying it to atypical building types.  Overall, the assignments were very well done though.  I encourage you all to save these for your use in AE391 and Senior Design.  HVAC has been a traditionally difficult aspect to those courses, and having these will help you narrow down important considerations when selecting a system.  Also, as you move into the final project, remember to be as detailed as possible in your analysis.  Now that you have a lot of the information readily available to you, the final submissions should be reflective of that.

If you want to resubmit your HVAC Selection for 2/3 of the points back, the link to improved website is due to my email, amm543@drexel.edu, by midnight next Saturday, November 19th, with a short description of what you have changed.

Have a good week and Thanksgiving!
~Arthur

Assignment 5 Grades and Comments

Hi Everyone!

      I have graded your A5 submissions and, like the previous assignment, saw a very high average in the A range.  For the most part, every system was discussed in good detail that warranted full points.  One of the most common issues that resulted in a loss of points was the lack of discussion in the numeric parameters section.  This part was given 30 points, and full points were not provided unless you discussed each of the presented parameters and how it effects system design.  Other than that, there were minor points deducted for things like not mentioning the class definition of a system for each HVAC system analyzed.  When working on your decision matrix for A6, I know it is easy to disregard a lot of these secondary systems for popular systems like VAV, CAV, Rooftop Package, etc., but take what you have learned about the advantages to things like chilled beam, geothermal, and other less conventional systems to cater your matrix to potential consider these systems as well.

     If you want to resubmit your A5 for 2/3 of the points back, re-submissions are due next week, Wednesday November 9th, at midnight to my email, amm543@drexel.edu.  As always, if you all have any questions, please let me know!  If not, have a great week!

~Arthur

Assignment 4 Grades and Comments

Hi Everyone,

      The grades for the Structural Selection Assignment are posted now for your viewing.  This assignment had the highest average in the class so far, and reflects good performance from the class as a whole.  The most common mistake was leaving out numeric parameters when describing the systems.  I also think that it is important to note some discrepancies between the decision results and what are actually used in practice.  It is important to realize that these methods are not absolute, and, in practice, the system is usually verified by an experienced PE.  While chosen systems were, in some cases, slight deviations from what would be ideal systems for your building type, you all were mostly on the right track, and none of the systems you chose would be inappropriate.

     Even though the grades were very high, if you decide to get a few points back and want to resubmit for 2/3 of the points back, you will have until next Wednesday, November 2nd at midnight to email them to me at amm543@drexel.edu.  As always, if you all have any questions at all, please feel free to reach out to me!

Have a good week,

~Arthur

Assignment 3 Grades and Comments

Hey Everyone!

      I have finished grading your Structural Variety Assignments, and, at this point in the term, it looks like you guys have all gotten the hang of these submissions.  All errors were minor, and didn't warrant that many points taken off.  One of the most notable errors, however, was that we were looking for a description or diagram of the load paths for both horizontal and vertical loading.  When considering structural analysis and design, the most important loads are not necessarily the dead and live load, which is what a lot of you were saying in your submissions.  Instead it is the combined effect of seismic/wind loading and gravity loads (Dead + Live).  I recommend reading all of the submissions if you have time throughout the next few days.  It will help you with A4, and prepare you further for AE391, where you will actually have to design one of these systems.

     If you want to resubmit your assignment, please email me directly with the link to your updated site, outlining exactly what you have changed.  This will get you 2/3 of the points back.  Re-submissions are due next Tuesday, October 25th at Midnight.  Please send your submissions to amm543@drexel.edu.

     As always, if you have a question about a grade, please feel free to ask!  Have a good week guys!

~Arthur

Update to A2

Hi All,

It was brought to my attention that, while the grades for A2 were posted last Friday, they were not view-able by students until yesterday, 10/12.  That was totally my fault!  In light of this, the date for re-submission has been moved to Wednesday October 19th at Midnight to my indox: amm543@drexel.edu.

Have a Good Day!
~Arthur

Hi Everyone!

I hope your first few weeks have been going well!  I have graded all of your Initial Building Analyses and, for the most part, you guys all did really well.  By now, most of you have gotten the hang of catering your website to the rubric, and a lot of you received at least 80% of the points for all your sections.  Still, I do have some comments on where you guys can improve a little.  The first is references.  Please make sure you cite all of your references on a works cited page.  You are publishing your research on the internet, where it is available for most of the world, and it is unacceptable to use other peoples' work without given them what was due.  As it relates to the assignment, a lot of you had buildings that were difficult to find information on, which is fine.  One of the points of the Sketchup Model is so that you can use it to get missing information (or at least estimate it).  If there was a section diagram missing from your research, you should have taken a section through the Sketchup Model.  Additionally, I would like to make a comment on "systems,"  This class is meant to teach you about major structural and HVAC systems, so I don't expect you all to be experts, but when the rubric asks you to mention specific systems, you need to invoke the exact Structural System (i.e. moment frames, diagrid, bearing walls, etc.) or the exact HVAC system (VAV, CAV).  Reinforced concrete or flexural steel is NOT a structural system.  You all will learn this as the term progresses but I would be remiss if I didn't bring it to your attention.

If you decide to resubmit your assignment, please email me directly at amm543@drexel.edu, describing exactly what you have changed.  You have one week from today, so resubmissions are due next Friday, October 14th at midnight.

Hope you all have a great first week of midterms :)  Good Luck!

~Arthur

Programs to use for making drawings

Question

I am working on the HVAC section of the building for my project and was wondering which program we could use to draw the diagrams because one of the links you provided are dead and the other has a questionable download that I'd rather not try.  Could I use Auto CAD for this section? Thank you.

Response:

We don't care what program you use.  I used Google Draw in class.  Autocad is fine, though a program with variable line widths usually "reads" better.

Here's a fine resource for many free programs.  For diagrams I'm particularly impressed with draw.io.

Assignment 2 Grades Complete and Comments

Hey Everyone!

As of tonight, I have graded all of your Revit Assignments and have a few comments to make.  First, there was a lot less information missing on this assignment, so it shows you guys have read the rubric and attended to that specifically.  So thanks for that!  There were a couple of common things that were missed on this assignment.  The first is that a lot of you had floor plans without measurements on them.  It says on the assignment page to provide a measurement, so I can check to see if the wall length requirement was met.  I only took off a point for this, since I could generally tell that most of the buildings were long enough.  Additionally, if you were among the first few students to submit your assignment and checked your grades last night, I had taken off 2 points for missing a shaded view in perspective.  To clarify, a "shaded view" in Revit is not a perspective with shadows, it is actually a simplified view of the building in color.  After discussing with Professor Mitchell, I have given any points taken for this back, since you all did provide a rendering, which was the most important part.  Just keep that in mind, since "Shaded" and "Realistic" views provide nice renderings for presentations (you can make good use of this in AE391).  To toggle the view, go to the bottom ribbon in Revit and find the Cube picture, which allows you to switch between wireframe, shaded, realistic, and hidden line views.  The only other major mistake was not including "Family Information" on the door schedule.  This is an option when selecting what to include in the schedule, and it information about the component itself.  Overall, I was really impressed with some of your models.  A lot of them were better than anything I had seen an AE student in my class produce.

If you wish to resubmit your Revit, please email me your sheet in PDF and the write up to amm543@drexel.edu.  With your email, you should include a few sentences on what you have addressed in your resubmission.  These will be due next Thursday, October 6th at midnight.

Hope you all have a fantastic week! :)

~Arthur

Assignment 1 Grades and Common Mistakes

Hi Everyone!

I will be using this blog to post common mistakes on each of the assignments throughout the quarter.  I have graded all of the first assignments and have noticed a few common problems.  I think there was a lot of confusion with the rubric.  In order to get full credit, you must complete all requirements in the "Average" column and the "Average +" column.  This was the biggest source of errors.  The best way to prevent lost points is to explicitly address all the rubric concerns i.e. "The most difficult aspects of this course are..."  I read all of your text and look for requirements that were addressed, but I am less likely to accidentally gloss over something if it is called out in this way.  If I have taken off points for something that you think you addressed, please bring it to my attention and I would be happy to look at it again!  Also, all of your images in these assignments should have captions that describe why you have included them.  There weren't any points associated with it, but please be sure to cite all your sources.  I tried to be pretty lenient on the use of web capabilities since this was a lot of student's first website, but please make sure you proofread your work.  Spelling and grammar errors will result in lost points.  If English is not your first language, have someone read over your website before you submit.  If anything is unclear, it is best to bring it to our attention.  That way you can address all the requirements accurately, and we can update the assignment requirements so they don't confuse future students.

If you decide to resubmit this assignment, you have one week from today.  Resubmissions for 2/3 of the points lost are due on September 29th at midnight.  Please email them to me at amm543@drexel.edu and DESCRIBE WHAT YOU HAVE CHANGED.  As always, if you have any questions, feel free to email me or come find me in the Cadlab!

Have a Good Week Everyone!

URL for RMI Video on High Performance Design

Question:

I know we have to comment on the video we watched in class for assignment 1 but the link that is provided in the overview is not the same video we watched. Is there another location for this link?

Response:

Hmm - Here's the YouTube address - it's in the "General Resources" section of the website.  I guess RMI changed the link.

Building Systems – Rules of Thumb

Site

• Site - to Consider
• Zoning
• Setback
• Parking Requirements
• Height limitations
• Relationship to other buildings
• Shading issues
• More in other countries than US at the moment

Architecture

• SF/ Person - 200-400
• Circulation % of building 15%-50%
• Exiting requirements
• 2 separate exit paths (protected) with 20' of exit from room or suite
• Floor to Floor
• 9' in apartments/hotels
• 12-14+ in commercial

Structure

• Depth of Beam in 1/12 of Length
• Ie. Depth in inches = Length in Ft
• This is conservative - often 2/3 to 3/4 of this
• Studio Companion is great Resource
• Design Loads
• Live Loads
• Gravity
• 40#/SF residential
• 80-100#/SF commercial
• 250#/SF+ for storage and other special conditions
• Snow - up to 30#/SF
• Dead Loads
• Self-weight
• Lateral Loads
• Live
• Wind - 90mph ~ 28#/SF
• Seismic
• Blast

HVAC

• Duct velocity - 800FPM to 3,000FPM
• Chiller Sizing - 200-400 SF/Ton
• Ventilations - 10-40 CFM/person - depending on activity
• Equest is great resource for first approximation
• Design Temperatures
• Indoor
• 72-78 DegF depending on age, season, culture
• Outdoor
• 14 DegF Winter
• 90 DegF Summer

Electrical

• Typical feeds (in Philadelphia) 13.2KV 3-phase
• Typical in-Bldg voltages
• 480/277 - motors and lights
• 208/120 - Convenience, portable appliances, some lights
• Emergency System
• Range from corridor lights only (2fc -> battery packs)
• 100% backup
• Duplicate feeds from separate substations
• Emergency Generator
• Depends on purpose of building, client desires
• Increasingly will see tied to alternative energy &/or electrical storage (batteries mostly)

Other Systems – Non-Exhaustive list

• Geotech
• Fire Protection
• Stormwater
• Lighting
• Circulation
• Transportation
• Plumbing
• Security
• Telecom

Google Docs Sheet with many of the same rules of thumb

AE Rules-of-Thumb and Calculation Tools

The following may be of assistance in ROUGH approximations.

AE Rules of Thumb – Google Sheet with rules of thumb for several systems
AE Calcs Spreadsheet – Basic Calculations for several systems.

• Note that it’s part of the AE-Resources website – Which may have other useful tools
• It’s in the Excel group of AE Tools

Remember that these are only to give you a rough estimate.  They should never be used for actual design.

About This Blog

We'll use this blog to post announcements and answer questions that are raised throughout this term related to AE-390.  We advise you to subscribe to it via an RSS reader – I use Feedly.  That way you won't have to go into BbLearn to see any changes.  There are many many blogs available on interesting topics.  A good place to search for others that may interest you is Technorati.