Modern Methods and Innovations in Construction - Assignment Example

Fire And Built Environment Name Course Lecturer Date Part 1 Most builders in Britain are used to building with masonry or with brick and block. Timber framed buildings are also common in Scotland. These systems are employed by builders in constructions. There have been a series of innovations by builders in exploring alternative construction methods and materials. The reasons for such innovations includes but not limited to finished look, ease of manual handling of materials, the eco credentials, ability to source materials as well as the availability of contractors and expertise (Pan, Gibb & Dainty, 2008). The construction budget is also a factor but it varies with the type of construction. The construction methods for a sustainable building for a seven storey hotel in Preston includes insulated concrete formwork (ICF), straw bales, structural insulated panels, green oak, rammed earth and steel frame (Pan, Gibb & Dainty, 2007). In construction, the concrete industry has embraced modern methods and innovations. They provide concrete solutions as well as means of reducing construction period. Importantly, they also promote sustainable development in addition to offering cost savings. One of the construction methods to build the storey hotel in Preston is precast flat panel system. In this method, the wall and floor units are produce d in a separate factory; they are then erected on the construction site to form a robust structure that is very ideal for the purpose. The panels includedoors, windows, services and finishes. To increase accuracy and quality of the building, it is important to use load bearing elements such as decorative cladding and factory fitted insulation (Holt, Olomolaiye & Harris, 1995). This also increases the speed of erection as well. Another method is 3Dvolumetric construction; it is also known as modular construction. This method involves the production of three dimensional units in a controlled factory conditions before being transported to the construction site. The modules are prepared and can be brought to the construction site in various forms ranging from one with all external and internal finishes and services installed to basic structure. The benefit of this is that it would use the factory conditions to create service intensive units. In this case, the need for rapid assembly on the site and high degree of repetition would make its use highly desirable. This method is very good as it would offer inherent benefits of concrete such as fire resistance, sound resistance, and thermal mass (Bresnen & Marshall, 2000). Another method of construction is the tunnel form; this is a formwork system that would allow the contractor to build slabs and monolithic walls in just one operation. This method is good as it combines quality, speed and accuracy of ready mix concrete with economy and flexibility of construction. There are several possible strategies of design for fire safety; fire safety strategy is a significant component of the design of the storey building.It would ensure prevent accidents, injuries and deaths in event of fire, it also allows safe evacuation of building occupants. Fire safety design provides information relating to the design as well as the construction of the storey building. It also includes the services, equipments and fittings in or in connection with the building. These will assist in the maintenance and operation of the building for fire safety purposes. One of the strategies is ensuring that there are acceptable levels of design used in the construction in regards to fire safety. It is very essential for the contractor to provide an acceptable protection level to the baseline designs. Providing automatic fire detectors throughout the building is also necessary. The evacuation strategy is also very good; it is based on simultaneous evacuation. In this case, the actuation of fire detection and the alarm system will trigger an immediate evacuation of the building. Conversely, the structural elements of the building should be fire resistance in terms of integrity, loadbearing capacity and insulation. This strategy is efficiency and it also allows the installation of life safety sprinkler system (Hall & Purchase, 2006). Conclusion and Recommendations Buildings are constructed with an objective of providing better environments for people to work, socialise and live. The construction industry in the United Kingdom needs to meet the challenge of being a contributor to the economic growth, this is by way of continuing to provide new offices, homes, shops, and hotels and malls while still improving the quality of countryside and towns. The industry should provide enduring and lasting development that contributes to economic developments that last. Sustainability in construction is essential because it takes materials from the nature, produces a lot of waste and the energy consumption is very high. There are several possible strategies of design for fire safety; fire safety strategy is a significant component of the design of the storey building.It would ensure prevent accidents, injuries and deaths in event of fire, it also allows safe evacuation of building occupants. Fire safety design provides information relating to the design as well as the construction of the storey building. It also includes the services, equipments and fittings in or in connection with the building. These will assist in the maintenance and operation of the building for fire safety purposes. The evacuation strategy is also very good; it is based on simultaneous evacuation. In this case, the actuation of fire detection and the alarm system will trigger an immediate evacuation of the building. Conversely, the structural elements of the building should be fire resistance in terms of integrity, loadbearing capacity and insulation. This strategy is efficiency and it also allows the installation of life safety sprinkler system (Hall & Purchase, 2006). The construction industry should avoid unnecessary damage to the natural environment or consume disproportionate energy amounts during construction (Cole, 2005). Builders should not use materials from species or environment that is in danger of extinction. The construction should also not endanger the lives of the occupants. It should generate minimum waste over its lifetime. The construction industry should use renewable resources where possible. The constructions should enhance lives, leisure environments and work (Slaughter, 1998). Part 2 One of the biggest fire accidents on buildings to ever be witnessed in United Kingdom was on a landmark chemistry laboratory building belonging to the University of Nottingham.The fire broke out around 8.30pm on Friday of September 12th 2014. The construction and stocking of the building had just completed and it was ready for launch. The project was dubbed “innovative and sustainable chemistry building.” It was meant to fundamentally change how chemistry is done in a sustainable way. In addition, it was the first of its kind in the world’s first neutral laboratory. The building was completely destroyed by the fire; this was a major setback in revolusionalising sustainable chemistry in the United Kingdom. Several fires broke inside of the chemistry building. This chemistry building was described as a state of the art building which would have changed how chemistry is done in term of sustainability and refinement. The Nottinghamshire fire and rescue service were called in by the university, they tried to contain the fires but they were not able to avert it. Unfortunately, the magnitude of the fire was so big that they said that the chemistry building would continue to burn for the next 24 hours. The fire did not affect any other building. Positively, no person was involved in the fire. No person was injured or died because of the fire. There were a total of 60 fire fighters trying to contain the fire. They really did a good job as they were able to pull out all stops to prevent the fire from spreading to the other buildings. The fire was already of significant size when the fire fighters and rescue team arrived, it could be seen from a distance as the fire fighters asserted. There was a smoke plume and it was spreading towards the university area. This made the fire fighters and the university staff to send messages for people to close the doors and windows as well as vacate the other buildings. The members of the public near the chemistry building asserted that they were alarmed by a large and loud bang which they thought was an explosion. The fire fighters indicated that the loud bang do happen to buildings when they are exposed to extreme pressure and heat but they said it was a risk that they are able to manage as they are trained to deal with such incidences. Another fire incident is the kiss nightclub fire in Santa Maria, Brazil. This was a deadly fire accident as it killed 242 people while injuring more than 630 other people. This fire accident occurred around 2:30 Brazilian time on 27th January 2013. It is also the second deadliest fire history in Brazil behind the greatNorthAmerican circus fire that killed 501 people (Dal Ponte et al., 2014). The kiss nightclub fire was a high casualty fire, it as cause by presence of illegal indoor usage of pyrotechnics. The nightclub was occupied with students from various universities and colleges who had organised the night out to celebrate “fresher’s ball.” The fire broke out while the students were partying. This made the students to start running out of the club and a stampede occurred following the outbreak of the fire. The building was poorly maintained, the lack of exit signs and emergency exits contributed significantly to the deaths (Martins de Albuquerque et al., 2013). The number of people in the building also exceeded the maximum capacity. The building had only one door which was the only access inside and out of the building. About 90% of the victims died of inhaling smoke. Poor managed of the nightclub made the security guards manning the only door to lock people inside when the fire started. This made people to inhale smoke while others succumbed to burns and severe injuries. The deaths would not have occurred if the building was properly operated and maintained. The victims would not have died in the bathrooms and stampede trying to look for exits (Atiyeh, 2013). The fire did not affect any other building. Positively, no person was involved in the fire. No person was injured or died because of the fire. There were a total of 60 fire fighters trying to contain the fire. They really did a good job as they were able to pull out all stops to prevent the fire from spreading to the other buildings. The fire was already of significant size when the fire fighters and rescue team arrived, it could be seen from a distance as the fire fighters asserted. There was a smoke plume and it was spreading towards the university area. This made the fire fighters and the university staff to send messages for people to close the doors and windows as well as vacate the other buildings. The members of the public near the chemistry building asserted that they were alarmed by a large and loud bang which they thought was an explosion. The fire fighters indicated that the loud bang do happen to buildings when they are exposed to extreme pressure and heat but they said it was a risk that they are able to manage as they are trained to deal with such incidences. Essentially the fire safety engineering issues witnessed in these two cases are illegal firework devices. They ignited the acoustic foam on the ceiling and caused the fire in the kiss nightclub fire in Brazil. Lack of emergency exits and lack of authorization to use any fireworks were a major factors contributing to the high number of deaths (Castana et al., 2013). Part 3 Question 1 Halon system is Chlorofluorocarbon that was used in fire suppression system. It was used especially expensive electronics wereapplied; this is because it does not damage the electronics. However, it is not applied any more, this is because it is more like Chlorofluorocarbon (like Freon) and it can damage the ozone layer. Importantly, the existing installations can use the Halon until it is used up, then it is replaced. There are various environmental impacts of Halon. The main impact is that it depletes the ozone layer. They are not destroyed in the lower atmosphere; they find their way upwards to the stratosphere, they then breakdown in the stratosphere. They destroy tens hundreds of thousands of ozone molecules. As such, they contribute to the thinning of the protective ozone layer. Another impact is that they act as greenhouse gases, they are major contributors. The main reason for Halon replacement in fire protection industry, as under the Montreal protocol, is that it depletes the ozone layer. Replacement of Halon is the right decision; this is because it depletes the ozone layer which protects the human from direct sunrays. Halon can be used by the military aircraft. Their low weight combined with their excellent fire extinguishing properties makes it to be almost irreplaceable in this case. Question 2 ε=0.75 ε=0.25 = 0.25 x 0.75 = 0.1875 The maximu7m radiant heat flux exposes the skin more. This gives rise to skin dsamage Question 3 Fahrenheit/Rankine is a thermodynamic temperature scale. The freezing point of water in Fahrenheit/Rankine is 32 degrees Fahrenheit (°F) and the boiling point 212 °F. this puts the boling point of water at exactly 180 degrees apart. Celsius/Kelvin temperature scales have an absolute zero, below this temperatures do not exist. The absolute zero is 0°K, at this point, the molecular energy is at minimum. It corresponds to a temperature of - 273.15° on the celcius temperature scale. Question 4 methane percentage = 0.45 carbon monoxide =0.15 hydrogen =0.40 the lower flammable limit is = 0.45 x .015 x 0.40 = 0.027 The concentration of each component in the mixture with air is 0.027. Question 5 The flammable heignt under the normalatmospheric conditions is calculated as; = 1.2m x 490kW/m2 = 588m Question 6 Reaction rates i) = 100 x 100kJ/mole = 10,000 kJ/mole ii) = 500 x 100kJ/mole = 50,000100kJ/mole iii) = 1000 x 100 x 100kJ/mole = 100,000100kJ/mole The 1000 temperature has the highest reaction rate. This is because it has the highest temperatures. Question 7 The wavelength for the infrared thermal radiation is; = 1014 Hz/100.4 = 10.099 Question 8 B C V0=1.2 m/s FireExit BC =3 m AD=7 = 1.25m/s x 7m x 3m = 26.25s The person needs 26.25 seconds to achieve the fire exit. Question 9 B C FireExit U= 0.3m/s AB= 10m = 30° α V0= 1.25m/s the minimum time needed to reach to the fire exit is; = 1.25m/s x 0.3m/s x 10m = 3.75 seconds The person will take a minimum time of 3.75 seconds to reach the firew exit. The 3.75 seconds is the shortest time possible, this time is through the shortest distance hence the minimum time. There is also no height aiding the movement. Question 10 If the a fair movement changes its dir4ection on the opposite, the time will still be the same. This is because the slope has the same angle and height. As such, the result would not be different. References Atiyeh, B, 2013, Brazilian Kiss Nightclub Disaster. Annals of burns and fire disasters, 26(1), 3. Bresnen, M., & Marshall, N, 2000, Building partnerships: case studies of client–contractor collaboration in the UK construction industry. Construction Management & Economics, 18(7), 819-832. Castana, O., Kourakos, P., Moutafidis, M., Stampolidis, N., Triantafyllou, V., Pallantzas, A., ... & Alexandropoulos, C, 2013, Outcomes of patients who commit suicide by burning. Annals of burns and fire disasters, 26(1), 36. Cole, R. J, 2005, Building environmental assessment methods: redefining intentions and roles. Building Research & Information, 33(5), 455-467. Dal Ponte, S. T., Dornelles, C. F., Arquilla, B., Bloem, C., & Roblin, P, 2014, Mass-casualty response to the Kiss Nightclub in Santa Maria, Brazil.Prehospital and disaster medicine, 1-4. Hall, M., & Purchase, D, 2006, Building or bodging? Attitudes to sustainability in UK public sector housing construction development. Sustainable Development, 14(3), 205-218. Holt, G. D., Olomolaiye, P. O., & Harris, F. C, 1995, A review of contractor selection practice in the UK construction industry. Building and Environment,30(4), 553-561. Martins de Albuquerque, I., Schmidt Pasqualoto, A., Trevisan, M. E., Pereira Gonçalves, M., Viero Badaró, A. F., Potiguara de Moraes, J., & Cervi Prado, A. L, 2013, Role of physiotherapy in the rehabilitation of survivors of the Kiss nightclub tragedy in Santa Maria, Brazil. Physiotherapy, 99(4), 269-270. Pan, W., Gibb, A. G., & Dainty, A, R, 2008, Leading UK housebuilders' utilization of offsite construction methods. Building Research & Information,36(1), 56-67. Pan, W., Gibb, A. G., & Dainty, A. R, 2007, Perspectives of UK housebuilders on the use of offsite modern methods of construction.Construction Management and Economics, 25(2), 183-194. Slaughter, E. S, 1998, Models of construction innovation. Journal of Construction Engineering and management, 124(3), 226-231. Read More