Facades And Building Envelopes Engineering Essay

Facades And Building Envelopes Engineering Essay Facades and building envelopes, which are the external skin of a building, project the image and creative intent. They can also become important environmental moderators and key influencers in project risk and commercial success. A well designed faà §ade allows a new building to work more effectively for its owners, occupants and the environment. The faà §ade plays a crucial role in heat and light exchange as it is the interface between the exterior environment and interior space. Comfort, productivity, energy use and running costs can all be improved. http://www.arup.com/Services/Facade_engineering.aspx Double skin facades are often used in Europe to resist the cold climate however double-skin systems in Australia are relatively new. One example where the double faà §ade system is demonstrated in Australia is Sydneys 1 Bligh Street high rise. The faà §ade provides great solar control while maintaining clear views of the Sydney Harbour. 1 Bligh Street is a premium grade high-rise building offering 27 levels of office accommodation and features a double-skin, glass facade with a naturally ventilated full height atrium. Amenities include a cafe, childcare centre, shower facilities, bicycle racks and parking for 92 cars. The buildings 6 Star, Green Star rating achievement is the highest awarded in NSW and includes the maximum allowable five points for innovation in categories such as environmental design initiative and exceeding Green Star standards. The building was designed with a focus on maintaining views while providing sufficient daylight levels and solar control. Ray Brown, director of Architectus, stated that the geographic and climatic conditions at 1 Bligh Street were major influences on specification of the double skin faà §ade. BACKGROUND Owners Co-owned by DEXUS Property Group, DEXUS Wholesale Property Fund (DWPF) and Cbus Property. Architects Australian Architectus and Germanys Ingenhoven who came together in 2006 for a design competition. Builders Grocon : Australias largest privately owned development and construction company. Facade Contractor Arup. Facade Consultant Enstrust. Awards 1 Bligh has received a number of awards and has been highly commended for its sustainable design, development and architecture. Awarded Best Retail/Commercial Development Urban Development Institute of Australia NSW Highly commended Office Development Australia category, Asia Pacific Property Awards (May 2011) Highly commended Office Architecture Australia category, Asia Pacific Property Awards Voted Best Tall Building 2012 for Asia and Australis by the CTBUH (Council for tall Building and Urban and Urban Habitat, IL, USA) 2012 NSW Architecture Awards Urban Design Award Sir Arthur G. Stephenson Award for commercial architecture 2012 Milo Dunphy Award for sustainable architecture DESIGN Ingenhoven produced a design allowing workers and the public to see and feel the whole of the community of the building. 1 Bligh Streets elliptical geometry effectively resolves the sites urban condition at the meeting of two city grids. The ellipse is rotated on the site to encompass views to the harbour, thus resolving the urban condition and maximising the buildings commercial value (). The disadvantage is that it is more costly to construct an elliptical building than a square building. However, this is made worthwhile by a magnificent curved atrium at the buildings core providing a sanctuary to its inhabitants. A naturally ventilated glass atrium climbs the full height of the building, providing a circulation of fresh air and a sense of openness on all floors. The glass provides dynamic views through the building making the atrium an arrival point for every floor, enhancing communication, connection and community. The buildings scale is broken in the centre by a large outdoor terrace cut into the floor plate at the lift transfer level. This space has been reserved as its reception floor, making it one of the most spectacular and unique reception of any legal firm in the city. The terrace also cleverly conceals the air intake for the air handling plant above, which is covered in a glass skin making it fully visible within the building. At the top of the building, the inner glass layer peels away, creating a large outdoor timber terrace incorporating banksia trees. This creates the buildings fifth elevation which is observed by taller surrounding buildings. ENVIRONMENTAL THERMAL STRATEGIES Cost effective and sustainable buildings have been a key focus in building design for years. Double skin faà §ade systems are becoming increasingly common in high profile buildings and are being enthused as an exemplary green building strategy. The system consists generally of exterior skins which respond dynamically to varying ambient conditions, which can incorporate a range of shading, natural ventilation, and thermal insulation strategies. The overall purpose of the double skin differs from the conventional system used in European buildings where the intention is to trap the heat by incorporating an extra thermal layer of air. The thermal skin of 1 Bligh is designed to keep the building cool. It does this by stopping direct sunlight from hitting the internal glass. Between the inner and outer glass layers, motorised venetian blinds track the sun and automatically adjust to suit. The outer glass skin incorporates fixed horizontal ventilation slots at each level of the building to encourage upward airflow within the cavity which helps to expel unwelcome hot air. This flow is driven by natural wind since Sydney rarely experiences a completely still day. This result is that the internal skin will never be exposed to air temperatures that are vastly higher than the outside ambient air temperature. The outer glass layer also acts as a weather shield to protect the blinds from severe winds. The inner layer which is double gla zed for world class thermal efficiency acts as a barrier against heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter, thus complimenting the benefits derived from the venetian blinds. http://www.architectus.com.au/sites/default/files/06_0.jpg One of the major benefits of the double skin faà §ade is that operable external blinds can be introduced which normally cant be installed on a high-rise, thus producing a shading coefficient of 0.15 with the blinds down and uninterrupted views when up. Reduced heat and optimised light is obtained as a result, underpinning high performance sustainability and unprecedented environmental innovation. It can be foreseen that double-skin faà §ade systems require more cleaning than a single-skin glass faà §ade, however the outer skin which is the only surface exposed to the elements, will only require six-monthly cleaning with minimal cleaning required on other surfaces. The cavity between the skins is less vulnerable to environmental grime, and the gantry set up will significantly improve the speed and safety of the cleaning task. SUSTAINABILITY Overall, the key sustainability innovations which have been encompassed along with the double glass faà §ade include, natural ventilation to the atrium, 40% recycled concrete, 90% recycled steel, FSC certified timber, recycled timber, solar cooling, tri-generation, black water treatment, rainwater harvesting, sewer mining. 94% of the demolished buildings materials were recycled including steel and concrete (Horiso). An advanced hybrid of VAV and chilled beam air conditioning systems are run off a series of curved solar thermal collectors. The tri-generation system uses gas and solar energy to generate cooling, heating and electricity. The black water recycling method, which is the first to be used in an office tower, reduces the overall water consumption throughout the building with some of the recycled water being used for irrigation. Recycled rain water is also used for irrigation. http://www.architectus.com.au/sites/default/files/04_1.jpg The sustainability features of 1 Bligh Street result in the lowest operating costs of a premium grade building in Sydney, equating to estimated savings of approximately $2 million per annum (Horiso). CONSTRUCTION The inner skin was constructed of high-quality, double-glazed windows, while the outer skin was constructed of single-sheet laminated glass. A 600mm cavity between the two skins provides the required space to accommodate the automated venetian blind system, as well as walkway gantries at each level of the building for access by cleaners and maintenance personnel. 1780 blinds were used in total http://www.architectus.com.au/sites/default/files/05_0.jpg The construction process took ten years to complete. Where normally one subcontractor works the building perimeter, Grocon had three to coordinate the faà §ade contractor, the waterproofers and the blinds contractor. GLASS TYPE Office buildings typically incorporate some form of tinted or reflective glazing in order to minimise the amount of direct sunlight and heat entering the building. The trade-off is a darkened or pearlescent finish that can visually isolate the occupants of the building from the natural environment and create unwanted reflectivity, particularly at night, when the inner glass can resemble a mirror. The Bligh Street glass, supplied by G. James, has a 62% Visual Light Transmission (VLT), compared to normal office glazing specifications of approximately 25 40%. In other words, onlookers will be struck by the crystal clear views into the building; meantime, the occupants will experience true-to-life panoramic views of the harbour and the citys genuine colours. This is because the sun protection is very efficient, and therefore non-tinted glass could be used on the outer skin. This makes the building extremely transparent and offers the user a different experience.   CONCLUSION In conclusion, it can be seen that building strategies such as the double faà §ade system, can be adapted to suit a specific climate while maintaining sufficient sustainability and economic properties. Similarly, glass as a building material can be used in many applications not only for aesthetic purposes but also for a thermal and sustainable strategy. 1 Bligh Street may be the beginning of an effective double glass faà §ade system which will be implemented on high-rise buildings throughout Australia.

History of Panama Canal Essay

Christopher Columbus was on his fourth voyage and he was looking for a way to China. That’s when he came across the country named Panama, which stretches only 60 miles, where he found Indians who had tons of gold. But he was looking for a way to China so he sent his brother Bartholomew to search for more gold. At first Indians were willing to lead the Spaniards to the gold, but eventually they got tired and led the Spanish back to the coast. When the Indians did this they were abused. Eventually the Indians fought back and drove of the Spanish. Balboa is one of the people who found tons of gold and sent it back to Spain, but saved a lot for himself. With his earnings he decided to Balboa decided to settle in Hispaniola as a planter. But after some time he ended up in debt and had to abandon his life as a planter. Trying to escape his creditors Balboa hid in a ship and tried to escape, from Santo Domingo to San Sebastian, and was successful. When they arrived at San Sebastian, they discovered that it had been burned to the ground. Balboa convinced the others to travel southwest with him to a spot he had seen on his earlier expedition. In 1511, Balboa founded a colony, the first European settlement in South America – the town of Santa Maria de la Antigua del Darien. Balboa married the daughter of Careta, the local Indian chief. Soon after, in 1513, he sailed with hundreds of Spaniards and Indians across the Gulf of Uraba to the Darien Peninsula. Balboa headed an overland expedition west through very dense rainforests. Along the way they fought many local Indians and destroyed one Indian village, killing hundreds of Indians. Balboa was the first European to see the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean. Balboa and his men then traveled to the ocean and claimed it and all the land that touched it for Spain. The building of the Panama Canal came to light during the 1530’s. As they began to transport their riches back to the Spanish homeland, they were always interested in more efficient routes. It was suggested to Spanish Ruler Charles V that Panama might serve as an ideal place to construct a water passage joining the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. This would considerably cut the time it took to otherwise sail around the southern edge of South America. But wars back home put the idea on hold. In 1845 French company called the Compagnie de Panama wanted a railroad built by Colombia across Isthmus and administer it for 99 years. However in 1848 they couldn’t pay for it and lost their rights regarding the railroad. In 1848 the California gold rush occurred. This alone caused heavy traffic across the Isthmus of Panama. Later that year in December, U. S Company, the Panama railroad company negotiated a new contract with Bogota, Colombia to build the railroad across the Isthmus in 6 years. Part of the contract said that the trip would be guaranteed in less than 12 hours. The railroad was built and completed the journey in 4 ? hours. But Matthew Fontaine Maury, leading U. S. government scientist wrote to congress that the railroad Isthmus of Panama will lead to the construction of a ship canal between the two oceans, for a railroad can’t do the business which commerce will require it. Railroad was expensive it cost $250 in gold to ride the 47 miles. It cost 10-15 cents a pound to carry a passenger’s baggage. Express freight and merchandise was charged $1. 80 per cubic foot. Railroad Company made more than $7 million. This was too expensive for normal people and Maury’s words of 1849 came true as men from around the world began to arrive to build the Panama Canal. The first country to try and build the canal was France. Ferdinand de Lesseps, who supervised the Suez Canal, was interested in building the Panama Canal. He joined several French businessmen to form a private company with an impressive name: the Societe Civile Internationale du Canal Interuceanique du Darien. The societe sent Lucien Napoleon- Bon parte Wyse, grandnephew of the 1st French emperor, Napoleon Bon parte to Panama in early November 1876, to survey the site for a canal and, more important, to secure the permission of Colombia for such a project. Colombian government and Wyse had an agreement. That for an initial payment of nearly $200,000 as well as yearly rental fee, societe was granted permission to build and administer a canal for 99 year lease. Colombia gave societe a belt of land 200 meter wide across the entire width of Panama. However at the end of 99 years the canal and land would be returned to Colombia. In 1873 U. S. had conducted surveys of a potential route across Panama, but had rejected it. Wyes never did surveys, and decided to use the notes of U. S. surveys instead. After that he left Panama for home to report to Lesseps. The French plan was simple a channel across the Isthmus at sea level. They would follow a route that ran close to the existing Panama railroad. They planned to use the railroad to transport supplies and haul away the excavated dirt. Once the excavation had reached sea level the canal itself would be dug another 27 ? feet deep, and 72 feet deep at its bottom. They planned to complete the canal in 12 years. However the idea of sea level canal was impossible to achieve. Charges river valley, through which and canal would have to go through stood at an altitude of 80-100 feet above sea level. Nobody including de Lesseps ignored this problem and said it was not serious. However the French never finished the sea level canal. 1000’s of men died of malaria, yellow fever and other diseases. Eventually in 1889 the French court also declared the French canal company was bankrupt. In 1903 Panama declared its independence from Colombia and wins it with the help of U.  S. Soon the Hay- Bunau – Varilla treaty was signed which gave U. S. the right to build a canal through Panama. At this time President Roosevelt was in charge. Roosevelt wanted to build the canal to increase America’s navy power, and it made the trip from the east coast to the west coast of the U. S. much shorter than the route taken around the tip of South America. 1904, the Americans’ first year in Panama, mirrored the French disaster. The chief engineer, John Findlay Wallace, neglected to organize the effort or to develop an action plan. The food was putrid, the living conditions abysmal. Political red tape put a stranglehold on appropriations. Disease struck, and three out of four Americans booked passage home. Engineer Wallace soon followed. The Americans had poured $128 million into the swamps of Panama, to very little effect. Wallace’s replacement was John Stevens. Stevens had built the Great Northern Railroad across the Pacific Northwest. In rough territory from Canada to Mexico, he had proven his tenacity. And his new plan of action would ultimately save the canal. Stevens began work not by digging, but by cleaning. Thanks to the work of WILLIAM GORGAS, the threats of yellow fever and malaria were greatly diminished. Then on February 12, 1907, a dispirited Chief Engineer Stevens resigned, and Goethals took over as the chief engineer. Colonel George Washington Goethals, an Army engineer with experience building lock-type canals, assumed the Chief Engineer’s post. Demanding and rigidly organized, Goethals quickly picked up where Stevens left off. America had to face a couple of problems. First they had to dig at the Culebra Cut, where 100,000,000 cubic yards of earth and rock would have to be removed. The workers there made ten cents an hour — moved as much as 200 trainloads of spoil a day. When mudslides filled the Cut repeatedly, Goethals simply ordered it dug out again. There were accidents of all sorts, lost equipment, and deaths, but there was progress. The engineering problems were enormous. Because the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are at different elevations, a series of three sets of water-filled chambers, called locks, that raise and lower ships from one level to the next, had to be excavated and constructed.

Analyzing Frankenstein - Formalist Perspective.

The formalist method of literary criticism is primarily focused on the text itself, rather than external topics such as history and background, the authors biographical information, or the social contexts which surround a piece of work. In the formalist perspective, we ask ourselves, why did the author choose to write his or her work in this specific style? Why did he or she choose to include certain literary elements? What matters most to the formalist critic is how the work comes to mean what it does--how its resources of language are deployed by the writer to convey meaning (DiYanni 2076). A reader can employ the formalist method to decipher many meanings in Mary Shelleys classic text Frankenstein. Shelley uses setting,†¦show more content†¦Waltons second letter introduces the idea of loss and loneliness, as Walton complains that he has no friends with whom to share his triumphs and failures, no sensitive ear to listen to his dreams and ambitions. Walton turns to Victor a s the friend he has always wanted. His search for companionship parallels the monsters desire for a mate later in the novel. But I have one want which I have never been yet to satisfy...I have no friend, Margaret: when I am glowing with the enthusiasm of success, there will be none to participate my joy; if I am assailed by disappointment, no one will endeavour to sustain me in dejection...I desire the company of a man who could sympathize with me, whose eyes would reply to mine.-- (page 18). This similarity between man and monster becomes clearer as the novel progresses. It suggests that the two may not be as different as they seem. Framing helps the reader find the interrelation among the characters and come up with observations that would be concealed in other circumstances. The framing technique also makes the story more compelling because Walton will eventually see the monster at the end of the novel. The story about the creature would just be a story, if not for Waltons person al encounter with Frankenstein and his creation. Shelley uses Walton and the framing perspective to add validity to the novel. Another

Essay on Persuasive Speech Salem Witch Trials Persuasive...

Specific Purpose Statement: To persuade my audience to stop the witch-hunts Character: Concerned citizen of Salem just before the hanging of Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor Concerned citizens of Salem, if it were a good mornin I would bid you that, however it is not. This mornin a grave injustice is looming like the grey clouds before a storm. This morning we will bear witness to yet another brutal and senseless murder of two innocent Christians, Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor. Ladies and gentlemen, for four long months the very court that proposed to protect us from all evil has deceived us and in fact perpetuated the evil doings running rife throughout our fair town. For four long months a prodigious fear has settled itself in†¦show more content†¦They did not possess the moral fibre to uphold their integrity as the virtuous Rebecca Nurse or honourable John Proctor. ‘Twas also the guilt that drove Bridget Bishop to confessin a connection with the devil, for she lived with Bishop for three years before marriage. Isaac Ward, who drank his family to ruin, also confessed obviously out of the deep, deep guilt he felt for destroying his family. These confessions alone prove to any intelligent citizen of Salem, that the word of such people cannot be trusted for not only are their reputations already tainted, but their confessions are only a desperate ploy to live or out of their own deep-seeded guilt. Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor are two upstanding members of our close-knit community. How is it that Rebecca Nurse, a wise and kind lady and John Proctor, a well-respected and steady mannered farmer have become the victims of such vengeful accusations? Rebecca Nurse, who is widely known for her incorruptible nature and John Proctor, to whom many often flock for advice, both possess these favourable reputations because they have earned them. They have earned their trust. They have earned their respect. They have earned their love. Why should we then persecute Rebecca Nurse and John Proctor, two of the few who are brave enough to die as testimony to the truth? We shall not Salem. We shall not allow this grand injustice to come to fruition! It be naught the devil that possesses the accused rather the devil in theShow MoreRelatedPersuasive Speech for the Inclusion of The Crucible in the 2013 Play Season of the Queensland Theatre Company1084 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿The Crucible Persuasive Speech Greetings to you all; thank you all for taking the time to hear my arguments and for considering my suggestion for the inclusion of The Crucible in the 2013 play season of the Queensland Theatre Company. My understanding is that the companys intent is to pursue the culture of fear as the overarching theme for this years selection of plays. This is an ideal theme because we are, unfortunately, living in a time of great fear and distrust, with good reason considering