Building System nlysis - Case Study Example

BUILDING SYSTEM АNАLYSIS (RМIТ DЕSIGN НUB) Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Introduction RMIT Design Hub is located in the corner of the Victoria and Swanston Streets. It can be seen from the civic axis. This Hub is located exactly in one of the most popular sites in Melbourne. The well designed outdoor spaces attract people a lot. It is right in the western forecourt; there are design archive, exhibition space and a café. Besides, there’s a pedestrian links leading to the remainder of the site, which is designed for the commercial uses (Godsell 2016). The building was opened in 2012 by the Federal Minister for higher education, Chris Evans. The building is a nine-storey edifice of flexible loft-like workmanship covered by 17,000 sequin-looking 600 mm glass discs. . The discs, however, are more robust than sequin. The discs components, however, resemble steel drums. Each disc comprises of a 130mm-deep galvanizes steel rings filled with sandblasted glass. The building has embraced many building systems such as the façade system, site system, lighting, and ventilation systems. RMIT's Design Hub is located at the corner of Swanston and Victoria Streets and is visible from the civic Street, Victoria Street, and Swanston Street axis as the grid openness due north towards Carlton. The Hub occupies one of Melbourne’s most prominent sites. The architecture of the building paid Attention to the provision of well designed outdoor spaces, especially within and to the immediate west of the building, for instance, the western forecourt is flanked by a cafe, an exhibition space, and the design archive as well as providing pedestrian links to the remaining ground which is earmarked for a variety of commercial developments. The design hub has complied with the National Planning Framework that requires that new developments provide appropriate space that can mix public open space depending on the size of the development because, according to the policy developers, a well designed open space is a major factor in improving the quality of life as well as personal wellbeing (Austube, 2016). Open spaces are viewed as integrated and connected systems providing green spaces that avail space for recreational and leisure purposes. The Envelope Façade System As a system, the RMIT's Design Hub façade is made of bespoke double-glazed internal skin which is set positioned 700mm behind an operable veil. According to the architect, the façade was preassembled into panels that measured 1.8 by 4.2m, and each panel carried 21 discs. 12 panels are operable while 9 are fixed the panels placed on the ground or at the plant room levels are fixed (Austube, 2016). The operable panels or disks can open up to 900 while pivoting on horizontal axes placed at both the north and south elevations while the vertical axes are positioned on the eastern and western elevations, which allows the façade to give an orientation-specific response. The panels are managed through a controlled building management system with automated but separate electrically operated actuators. The control system is programmed respond to the sunlight by closing to prevent the direct sunlight reaching the curtain wall. It is also capable of retreating during strong winds. The RMIT's Design Hub caries many ESD features including water strategies as well as waste and recycling management. The outer skin of the Hub is fitted with automated sun shading that carry photovoltaic cells, fresh air intakes, and evaporative cooling that enhances the internal air quality while minimizing the running costs. The photovoltaic cells can be replaced easily when solar technology and innovation gets better. It is hoped that the cells may one day produce enough electrical power to run the building complex (Austube, 2016). The design Hub has already started working on solar energy innovation by dedicating the northern façade to solar cells research in cooperation with the energy sector industry. The external features of the façade are made of galvanized steel consisting of 16,500 rings. 260 corner rings and 320 half rings which are complimented by 710 frames (Pollard and Barch, 2008). Additionally, the internal parts building sections is fitted with galvanized features including handrails and grating. However, the most significant and outstanding feature of the RMIT's Design Hub is the magnificent aesthetic finish delivered by the galvanized rings which gives the building a stunning aspect to the rectangular building. The galvanized coated rings are durable and have a life expectancy of over 50 years with minimal maintenance. It is expected that the present lightness of the galvanized coating will, after a while, mutate to a deeper grey as the materials used in the galvanization process reacts with the environmental elements, however, it eventually turn to the lighter presentation after some time (Pollard and Barch, 2008). The most important point is that the coating does not react to UV light which makes it possible to have only minimal maintenance, either to stop the steel subtracting or corroding. Alternative to the Skin Façade The architect and the building engineers could also have used the buffer double skin façade which provides a buffer between the external surface and the interior. The cavity created serves as an insulating layer with the advantage of getting the heat formed in the capacity being expelled during the warm months, often by natural ventilation. The buffer façade, however, requires automatic blinds which are fitted in the cavity to minimize solar gains in the months of summer. The double buffer façade does not have any opening along the internal skin except the ventilation inlets located at the base of the façade as well as the outlets located at the top of the façade. Although the façade ventilation inlets are managed by the automatic dampers, it is possible to install exhaust fans to help in removing the heated air inside the cavity. There are some facades that have the capacity to reclaim the heat and reuse it with the HVAC system which is an added advantage. The Energy and Lighting System The largest operating cost for commercial buildings across the world is lighting. Building Construction engineers often observe that lighting systems contribute more one-third of the electrical cost of commercial buildings. The lighting systems are also used for introducing heat into a building space while also increasing the building cooling loads. It is, therefore, important for an evaluation of the options available before a decision can be made on the type of lighting system is to be installed. The low energy HVAC has been touted as a viable option while day light is viewed as a significant contributor to the saving of energy consumption by commercial buildings. Figure 1: the Skin Façade, Architectural record.com In order to harness and control the energy consumption in this humongous building, the management installed a teletrol controls system. The control system is managed through 63 integrators and 486 controllers connected to the RMIT Design Hub through a wide area network with over 10, 000 physical VO points. The energy system also includes many air handlers which uses electro-pneumatic controls. There is also a chilled water plant which uses sea water and a heat exchanger system for the management of the chillers In order to monitor and control the entire installation, RMIT Design Hub utilizes nine PC workstations running on Panorama user interface software. The Telerol interface is used to program, configure, and control the ventilations, air conditioning, and heating systems as well as the other electrical installation at the Hub. The RMIT Design Hub is one building which is designed to take advantage of the available day lighting. The building has elaborate lighting system control that effectively dims the light or turns them off when enough daylight is available. The system is able to allow the electric powered lights to operate in maintaining various set lighting conditions that day lighting cannot handle. The less waste heat that is generated by the lighting system is redirected to the space so as to reduce the building’s cooling loads. The space conditioning loads come second to lighting systems as the most expensive systems to operate in the management of commercial buildings. However, through the participation of thermal cooling engineering during the architectural process, the RMIT Design Hub was designed with the daylight source of natural lighting in mind. The building also benefited from the solar gain avoidance and other important energy-efficient strategies. For instance, the envelope technology was introduced to minimize cooling, heating, and lighting energy loads. The architects and the energy engineers also considered several design strategies in the design process that would allow modifications to the design to accommodate future technological development that would improve on energy consumption (Awbi, 2015). For instance, the building architects and the energy engineers used computer simulation tools in the evaluation of the effect of energy strategies in assessing the HVAC system loads as part of the architectural strategies. The architects also considered the use of ambient lighting systems because of their smooth integration with the available daylight. The daylight often offsets the daytime ambience lighting loads. Figure 2: inside one of the Design rooms, RMIT Hub The RMIT Design Hub operates an effective HVAC system that maintains a healthy and comfortable indoor environment through responses to the lighting system, user’s activities, and the building’s envelope design. The building has elaborate control schemes that manage the heating and cooling of the interior as well as providing fresh air for the users of the building. The system also effectively removes contaminants a service that compliments the lighting, heating, and cooling designs of the building while reducing the energy consumption. Alternative Lighting Solution The lighting system and energy saving controls settings at RMIT Design Hub is an elaborate and well thought out strategy that combines both energy generated lighting and daylight. However, the lighting system could be enhanced and reduce energy wastage by the use of intelligent and energy-efficient lighting systems such as provided by Lutron. The systems are scalable, flexible, and easy to integrate with the lighting and sensors. The lighting systems are easily designed and configured to achieve the changing needs of the building. Figure 3: the MIRT Building, RMIT Hub The acoustic system The acoustic of a building has been defined as a section of a science of physic that often deals with the production and control of sound in structures such as building. The major purpose is the control is to create situations and conditions where people can listen with comfort. Sound has been found to be similar to light in many of its manifestation and actions for instance, it is refracted, reflected, and diffracted just like light, however, it should be realized that sound is materially different from light (Davis and Patronis, 2014). Essentially sound is viewed as a mechanical wave engaged in motion through a material medium. Light, on the other hand, is taken as an electro-magnetic reality in fictitious ether. Another consideration that contributes to the difference between light and the acoustic of buildings is that on average the wavelength of sound is approximately one million times more than the light’s average wavelength, consequently, it can be argued that the objects that are viewed as being optically large are, however, acoustically small. For instance, a rough plaster wall would often act as a polished mirror for moderate sounds frequency. A window that is partially opened diffracts sound in the same manner that the fine lines fund on a grating is seen to diffract light (Davis and Patronis, 2014). Sound is produced when a vibrating item pushes and pulls the air particle surrounding it, which, in essence, then generates compression and rarefactions that travel freely in the surrounding air at a high velocity that can be approximated at 1100 feet per second. The waves enters the ear pushes and pulls on the ear drum which then sends the motion through an effective arrangement of bones to the inner chamber of the ear where the seemingly mechanical energy is then translated into nervous energy that is the sound that a person can hear. In a building such as the RMIT Design Hub gallery, sound is manifested in two ways, there is the sound that is wanted and enjoyed and there is the unwanted or objectionable sound, which is described as noise (Davis and Patronis, 2014). In acoustic management, the objectionable sound should be eliminated while the wanted sound should be enhanced for a comfortable listening or hearing experience. Sound engineers opine that sound is a type of energy, and it is impossible to destroy energy, consequently, to eliminate or destroy the unwanted sound, it is necessary to transform the sound into some other forms of energy which essentially is heat. Figure 4: The Gallery, RMIT Hub Several line-array systems made of stackable elements seem to have installed for large-scale sound reinforcement. The arrays have made it possible to provide excellent control and delivery of low frequency limit and are currently being made use of by the touring music industry. It is possible that the arrays were not available when the project was started and possibly would not have met all the requirements of the demanding schedules of the opera The specification for the sound system were produced internally by the RMIT Design Hub personnel, however, the larger contribution came from the incumbent sound manager. The specifications demanded that the system be of international repute to accommodate the comfort of foreign performers. According to the manager, the supplier had to demonstrate that system would deliver the needed performance. Figure 5: the gallery, light moves.com The frequency coverage parameters and responses are derived from their impulse response of the various sub-systems and cover approximately 90% of the audience area. The system is expected to have delivered a frequency response in the range of 40Hz to 12 khz with 6Bb octave smoothing especially when measured with IR data for 125 Hz and IR data of 40Hz to 125 Hz. (Davis and Patronis, 2014). The consistency range of coverage was found to be less than 6Db. These specifications depart from ordinary specifications when evaluated through the total sound field in the auditorium and measured with the third octave analyzer. The configuration reflected the management attempt at meeting better aural perceptions of the audio frequency response. Figure 6: acoustic system, RMIT Designer Hub It can also be observed that the production of flat frequency over consistent SPL to listeners whether they are near or far from the loudspeaker is significant. Often, this is achieved by using systems whose directivity stands constant over the sound bandwidth and compensates for directivity for the various distance losses to every seat. References Architectural Feature RMIT Design Hub. [online] available at: http://www.gaa.com.au/uploads/RMIT%20Design%20Hub%20Case%20Study.pdf (accessed on 9 October 2016) Awbi, Hazim. 2015. Ventilation and air distribution systems in buildings. [Online] available at: http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fmech.2015.00004/full (accessed on 9 October 2016) Pollard, B. and Barch, B. 2008. Double Skin Façades More Is Less? [Online] available at: http://solar.org.au/papers/08papers/233.pdf (accessed on 9 October 2016). Davis, D. and Patronis, E. 2014. Sound System Engineering, CRC Press. Designhub 2016, RMIT Design Hub, [online] available at: http://designhub.rmit.edu.au/docs/rmih1789_exhibitionproposalform.pdf, (accessed on 9 October 2016) Austube 2016. RMIT Design Hub Smart Building—Smart Lighting. http://www.austube.com.au/wp-content/uploads/ANB_Iss1-2012.pdf (accessed on 9 October 2016) Read More