Building Materials in Terms of Performance, Availability and Aesthetics - Essay Example

Running Header: Masonry (Brick) Report Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: Contents Running Header: Masonry (Brick) Report 1 Contents 2 Masonry (Brick) Report 3 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Building Materials in Terms of Performance, Availability and Aesthetics 3 2.1 Brick 3 2.2 Stone 5 3.0 Principles of Building Envelope and Structures 7 4.0 Performance Criteria Different Building Details Need To Meet 8 5.0 Building Regulations in the Design of Construction Details 9 6.0 Practices used in Industry 9 7.0 Principles and Standard Drawing Conventions 10 8.0 Conclusion 12 References 13 The Self Build Guide 2009, The Building Regulations: Information for self builders,viewed 5 14 February 2011, . 14 Appendices 14 Masonry (Brick) Report 1.0 Introduction Building materials are any materials that are utilized for purposes of construction. There are many fabricated materials used in construction, some less and some more synthetic. Additionally, there exist various naturally available building materials such as rocks, wood, sand, and clay. Any person involved in a professional role in building requires a very wide understanding of building materials, their deficiencies and potentials in use. As a result of modern transportation systems, the variety of building materials available in many industrialized countries and cities has increased rapidly. Slate, terra cotta, plaster, mortar, timber, brick, and stones are the varieties commonly available today. With the increase of chemical, glass, aluminum, cement, and steel industries, there has been an expansion of new building materials. In early days, solid bricks were developed from sun-baked clay but currently, sophisticated machines creates and fires different types of clay combined with sand and other components to give an array of finishes, textures, and colors (Sullivan & Horwitz 2008, p. 48). 2.0 Building Materials in Terms of Performance, Availability and Aesthetics 2.1 Brick Brick materials share exceptional properties of the masonry that binds bricks together, producing a material that is durable and artistic to bear the normal tear and wear. Bricks are formed exclusively from natural resources, making these products among the most sustainable building materials available. In addition to performance, brick gives protection from high winds, fire, wind borne debris, and longevity as well as energy efficiency. Its variety of color options, modular size and textures allows it to fit into any style of architecture. Use of brick to fit into overall design context Use of brick to fit into overall design context (Sullivan & Horwitz 2008, p. 49). Insulation performance of bricks is excellent due to its natural mass. An insulated brick cavity wall offers strong thermal insulation, efficiently resisting heat gain more than fifty times better than double-reflective glass and 9 times more efficiently than an insulated metal sandwich panel wall. On durability, experiments have shown that brick is better to other siding materials in protection against debris blown by wind. Brick is long lasting material and if installed with effective craftsmanship and standards will last for a lot of years. A masonry building from bricks needs minimal maintenance mainly because bricks does not rot, buckle, dent, warp, shatter or rust, and hence no need for repainting and cleaning. Although brick offer various benefits, its main aspect is aesthetic. This attribute is the main reason why many people design with brick. It offers a feeling of permanence, human scale, and warmth. Currently, the brick selections have expanded rapidly, offering a huge pool of options. Manufactured brick are available in over 10,000 various textures, colors, and sizes combination. Brick are available in different colors ranging from a near polar white to a jet-black, with grays, pinks, reds, oranges, buffs, and brown in between. When glazed bricks are added, big ranges of color palettes are obtained. The textures vary from smooth and dimensionally exact architectural brick to the one with rough textures. Visual patterns of Brick Visual patterns of Brick (Sullivan & Horwitz 2008, p. 54) 2.2 Stone Stone is a valued building material due to its durability, availability, aesthetic appearance and relative simplicity of maintaining it. Technology has rapidly changed the sector of stone in the past years and has allowed manufactures to make stone into thin forms, thereby lowering waste. Moreover, due to upgraded systems, a material that was once viewed as a luxury is presently available to the entire population. Aesthetic property of stone in a building Aesthetic property of stone in a building (Mark 1999, p. 1) There are various types of stones as used in building sector. Igneous stones are types of stones that are durable, hard, and dense that may have coarse or fine-grained textures e.g. granite (Sustainable Building 2000). There are also found in appealing shades of black, white, yellow, pink, and green. There are mostly used for wall cladding, flooring, and tabletops among other uses that need resistance to staining and wear. Metamorphic stones are translucent and available in various colors. Other types of stones used are sedimentary stones. 3.0 Principles of Building Envelope and Structures According to Peter (2003, p. 1), the major function of the building envelop is to separate various environments, particularly the exterior from interior, by managing the moisture, airflow, and heat between them. The envelope should also look into the impact of architectural styles and orientation as well as venting and heating plans, future requirements, and expectations of the owner. An effective design of envelope incorporates all these requirements, while taking into consideration synergies in design. In perspective of green or sustainable design, the envelope should perform its roles for the building life devoid of repeated renewals or maintenance. Additionally, the materials should be locally manufactured or produced, reusable/recyclable, resistant to degradation, and balanced embodied energy and lifecycle cost. Combination of these aspects forms envelope durability. To design for a 100 years structure, the envelope is required to attain both future and present energy demand and performance (Seagull 2000, p. 135). The envelope will need future proofing. Materials for building should be acquired for their future and present performance, low maintenance cost, ease of disassembly, and finally recycling or reuse. Insulation should be correctly placed for optimum effective values, allow easy removal or increases in thickness and replacement. Building structures are designed to carry the applied loads safely. The structure must have enough stiffness and strength to counteract the applied loadings due to wind and gravity. The utility of the structure to counteracting horizontal loads due to wind and vertical loads due to gravity is considered separately. 4.0 Performance Criteria Different Building Details Need To Meet The fundamental criterion guiding design should be one that offers an optimum solution to the desired requirements in the range of budget. This helps to produce an economical, pleasing, and functional building. The spaces that are developed from the effort of design must serve effectively the functions that will occur in the specific areas and must offer an inviting and attractive atmosphere. Therefore, solutions of design must be based on the dual criteria of environmental and functional concern. The space created in the building must be aesthetically pleasing while at the same time providing for future change and adaptation within a total framework of cost value. The selection of finishes and building materials is important in building performance. Finishes and materials, both exterior and interior, should be selected to meet 6 criteria: indoor environmental quality, conservation of energy, ease of maintenance, acoustical requirements, durability, and aesthetic considerations (Reed 2006, p. 6). Architectural finishes are vital in the building and must consider durability and maintainability. Surfaces should be selected to offer scrubbable and monolithic surface free of ridges or cracks. In acoustical performance of building, every space in building should be designed to offer optimal hearing conditions within the space, with concern extended to the exclusion of unnecessary sounds from entering the building. In indoor environmental quality, factors such lighting, air conditioning, ventilating and heating are considered. Conditions of indoor environment should be based on every space utilization and its occupancy class. Year round humidity, thermal, and air quality control of the building environment should be catered in the design. Life and fire safety are vital design consideration, and the criteria should consider all potential fire and life safety areas. 5.0 Building Regulations in the Design of Construction Details The designer is always bound by regulations and codes that are considered legally and ethically minimum criteria that should be achieved by design and construction professions. All buildings designed to be built using brick or stone should protect safety, health, and welfare of the occupants. Building regulations are legislation tools that aim to make sure that the policies put in place are adhered to in the design of construction details. The regulations on building are classified into various sections where every part wraps a section of work and sets out constriction and design standards (The Self Build Guide 2009). The Structure part needs building to be constructed, designed, and altered in a manner that robust and safety is maintained, and also not to affect the stability of other structures. This section of regulation outlines design standards to be utilized on every building while offering simple rules of design for various timber and masonry elements. Another section is fire safety, which considers escape means, internal fire spread considerations on linings and structure, facilities and access for the fire service, and external fire spread. Regulations also consider resistance to moisture and contaminants, toxic substances and resistance to entrance of sounds. Air quality, hygiene and ventilation standards are part of regulations. Additionally, design construction details should consider use and access to building. This needs the ease to circulation and access within every building, in conjunction with necessities for amenities of disable persons. 6.0 Practices used in Industry According to American Institute of Architects (AIA) (2005), there is recognition of expanding trends of current design, planning, construction, and real estate practices contribute to patterns of resource consumption that greatly destroy the future population of the globe. AIA is advocating for architects to embrace responsibility for their role in developing the built environment and hence should alter their professionalism actions and encourage their customers and the whole construction and design sector to join in the course of sustaining the planet. Life cycle analysis (LCA) calculations indicates that embodied energy of brick i.e. the energy needed for raw material extraction, transportation, and manufacturing, is much lower compared to other building materials such as fiber-cement, steel, glass, and concrete (Paul & Svetlana, 2010, 415). In terms of reuse and management of waste, brick produces less waste in its process of manufacturing. Bricks that are light colored can contribute to lowering energy requirements and heat island effect. The utilization of permeable pavers also aids to manage storm water runoff. Therefore, architectural organization should encourage the use of sustainable building materials such as bricks in an effort to effective of building resources. Changing present practices of construction and design is vital in realizing significant reductions in the utilization of non-renewable energy sources, natural resources, production of waste and promotion of natural resources regeneration. 7.0 Principles and Standard Drawing Conventions Construction drawings show how structure will be constructed by giving particular assemblies and by using architectural drawing conventions. The conventions are standardized throughout the sector and are employed to shorten the drawing time and space required to pass information. Graphic symbols, abbreviations, legends, and keys are utilized as shorthand to shorten drawing time while passing vital information (Kilmer & Rosemary 2001, p. 70). The other convention guides on how the dimensions are placed in a drawing. Standards of dimensioning make sure that exact placement and size of assemblies are conveyed using system that is understood by both the builder and designer. Legends in construction drawing combine notes with graphic symbols. They are utilized on various drawings like lighting plan, electrical plans, furniture plans, and floor plans. A wall legend can be employed on plan of floor to designate a particular wall construction assembly. A wall legend A wall legend (Kilmer & Rosemary 2001, p. 70) Abbreviations for short phrases and words are mostly employed in drawings for construction. The engineer, architect, interior designer, contractor, and drafter must be able to understand what every abbreviation means. Dimensioning is to include numerical values in drawing to accurately size and locate different assemblies and objects in interiors and buildings. Dimension arrows and lines are utilized to show precisely where the dimension starts and ends. Dimensions are needed on all drawings of construction where most are in metric or imperial systems, using meters or inches. Standard views employed in architectural drawing are site plan, floor plan, cross section, elevation, detail drawing, and axonometric and isometric projections. 8.0 Conclusion Bricks are made from natural resources and therefore they are most sustainable materials available. They have excellent insulation performance and have high durability if installed effectively. Brick has an outstanding aesthetic value since they are available on various textures, colors, and sizes combination. Stone is a valued building material due to its durability, availability, aesthetic appearance and relative simplicity of maintaining it. The envelope should look into the impact of architectural styles and orientation as well as venting and heating plans, future requirements, and expectations of the owner. The design solution should be based on the dual criteria of functional and environmental concerns. Every building designed to be constructed using brick or stone should protect safety, health, and welfare of the occupants. The designer is always bound by regulations and codes that are considered legally and ethically minimum criteria. Life cycle analysis calculations indicate that embodied energy of brick is much lower compared to other building materials and therefore it should be promoted as a sustainable building material. Drawing conventions are standardized throughout the sector and are employed to shorten the drawing time and space required to pass information. References Kilmer, W & Rosemary, K 2001, Construction Drawings and Details for Interiors: Basic Skills, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York. Mark, A 1999, Architectural Stone: Fabrication, Installation, and Selection, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York. Paul, J & Svetlana, T 2010, ‘Sustainable Non-Metallic Building Materials’, Sustainability, vol. 2, no. 30, pp. 400-427. Peter, W 2003, Integral Building Envelope Performance Assessment, pp. 1-35. Reed, R 2006, Building Performance Criteria, pp. 1-17. Seagull, W 2000, ‘Sustaining the legacy’, Building Envelope Design Principles, vol. 2, no. 1, pp 135-139. Sullivan, C & Horwitz, B 2008, ‘Building with brick’, Building Design & Construction, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 48-57. Sustainable Building 2000, Stone Construction, viewed 5 February 2011, . The American Institute of Architects 2005, Sustainable Architectural Practice Position Statement, p. 1-2. The Self Build Guide 2009, The Building Regulations: Information for self builders,viewed 5 February 2011, . Appendices Use of brick to fit into overall design context Use of brick to fit into overall design context (Sullivan & Horwitz 2008, p. 49). Visual patterns of Brick Visual patterns of Brick (Sullivan & Horwitz 2008, p. 54) Aesthetic property of stone in a building Aesthetic property of stone in a building (Mark 1999, p. 1) A wall legend A wall legend (Kilmer & Rosemary 2001, p. 70) Read More