Thursday 28 June 2012

Vth-yr-working drawing-nbc-application-to-stairs.

dear all,

in our last class we solved a few cases by taking occupant load for any user and arriving at total number of people using it. then with the help of tables 20, 21 & 22 we arrived at proper widths and number of stairs required for cinema. 

i would like to make a passing observation that in most public buildings like cinema, theaters, etc it will be more convenient to use a few stairs of more width then more stairs of minimum  width of 2000 mm. so in case we need to give stairs width of 5200 mm by calculation, then instead of providing 3 stairs of 2000 mm, it will be perfectly acceptable by standards to give 2 stairs of 2600 mm width, whereby you will get economy of stairs in relation to structural and space criteria or even a single stair of width 5200 mm if all exit doors linked by common corridor lead to this stair. 

so please be imaginative and pragmatic while applying principals of nbc. 

you see that in your design of cinema (case study of bhusan, i am trying to recall by memory), we required 2 stairs of 3600 mm or 4 stairs of 2000 mm whereas he had provided only one stair of 1350 mm width which is also not acceptable as minimum stairs as per nbc norms. so you can see that your design is completely un-done if we check it against stringent application of nbc. 

so please as discussed in our class, if you find that applying nbc will involve lot of re-design work, then i would expect it to leave it as it is and proceed to work more on grid-lines, dimensions, levels, door - window schedules indicators, room user number, etc.  please bring your up dated drawings in class on tuesday morning. plotted or cad reviews, i will leave it entirely to your judgement. 

with best regards,

prof. atule kedia
8692077376

Sunday 24 June 2012

IVth-yr-building-services-air-conditioning-system-basics

dear all,

please hit the link below for a pdf presentation on above topic:

http://tinyurl.com/7pe9co3
http://tinyurl.com/bnh3jnf

also read the following article taken from howstuffworks.com


Air-conditioning Basics

Air conditioners use refrigeration to chill indoor air, taking advantage of a remarkable physical law: When a liquid converts to a gas (in a process called phase conversion), it absorbs heat. Air conditioners exploit this feature of phase conversion by forcing special chemical compounds to evaporate and condense over and over again in a closed system of coils.
The compounds involved are refrigerants that have properties enabling them to change at relatively low temperatures. Air conditioners also contain fans that move warm interior air over these cold, refrigerant-filled coils. In fact, central air conditioners have a whole system of ducts designed to funnel air to and from these serpentine, air-chilling coils.
When hot air flows over the cold, low-pressure evaporator coils, the refrigerant inside absorbs heat as it changes from a liquid to a gaseous state. To keep cooling efficiently, the air conditioner has to convert the refrigerant gas back to a liquid again. To do that, a compressor puts the gas under high pressure, a process that creates unwanted heat. All the extra heat created by compressing the gas is then evacuated to the outdoors with the help of a second set of coils called condenser coils, and a second fan. As the gas cools, it changes back to a liquid, and the process starts all over again. Think of it as an endless, elegant cycle: liquid refrigerant, phase conversion to a gas/ heat absorption, compression and phase transition back to a liquid again.
It's easy to see that there are two distinct things going on in an air conditioner. Refrigerant is chilling the indoor air, and the resulting gas is being continually compressed and cooled for conversion back to a liquid again. On the next page, we'll look at how the different parts of an air conditioner work to make all that possible.

The Parts of an Air Conditioner

Let's get some housekeeping topics out of the way before we tackle the unique components that make up a standard air conditioner. The biggest job an air conditioner has to do is to cool the indoor air. That's not all it does, though. Air conditioners monitor and regulate the air temperature via a thermostat. They also have an onboard filter that removes airborne particulates from the circulating air. Air conditioners function as dehumidifiers. Because temperature is a key component of relative humidity, reducing the temperature of a volume of humid air causes it to release a portion of its moisture. That's why there are drains and moisture-collecting pans near or attached to air conditioners, and why air conditioners discharge water when they operate on humid days.
Still, the major parts of an air conditioner manage refrigerant and move air in two directions: indoors and outside:
  • Evaporator - Receives the liquid refrigerant
  • Condenser - Facilitates heat transfer
  • Expansion valve - regulates refrigerant flow into the evaporator
  • Compressor - A pump that pressurizes refrigerant
The cold side of an air conditioner contains the evaporator and a fan that blows air over the chilled coils and into the room. The hot side contains the compressor, condenser and another fan to vent hot air coming off the compressed refrigerant to the outdoors. In between the two sets of coils, there's an expansion valve. It regulates the amount of compressed liquid refrigerant moving into the evaporator. Once in the evaporator, the refrigerant experiences a pressure drop, expands and changes back into a gas. The compressor is actually a large electric pump that pressurizes the refrigerant gas as part of the process of turning it back into a liquid. There are some additional sensors, timers and valves, but the evaporator, compressor, condenser and expansion valve are the main components of an air conditioner.
Although this is a conventional setup for an air conditioner, there are a couple of variations you should know about. Window air conditioners have all these components mounted into a relatively small metal box that installs into a window opening. The hot air vents from the back of the unit, while the condenser coils and a fan cool and re-circulate indoor air. Bigger air conditioners work a little differently: Central air conditioners share a control thermostat with a home's heating system, and the compressor and condenser, the hot side of the unit, isn't even in the house. It's in a separate all-weather housing outdoors. In very large buildings, like hotels and hospitals, the exterior condensing unit is often mounted somewhere on the roof.

Window and Split-system AC Units

A window air conditioner unit implements a complete air conditioner in a small space. The units are made small enough to fit into a standard window frame. You close the window down on the unit, plug it in and turn it on to get cool air. If you take the cover off of an unplugged window unit, you'll find that it contains:
  • A compressor
  • An expansion valve
  • A hot coil (on the outside)
  • A chilled coil (on the inside)
  • Two fans
  • A control unit
The fans blow air over the coils to improve their ability to dissipate heat (to the outside air) and cold (to the room being cooled).
When you get into larger air-conditioning applications, its time to start looking at split-system units. A split-system air conditioner splits the hot side from the cold side of the system, as in the diagram below.
The cold side, consisting of the expansion valve and the cold coil, is generally placed into a furnace or some other air handler. The air handler blows air through the coil and routes the air throughout the building using a series of ducts. The hot side, known as the condensing unit, lives outside the building.
The unit consists of a long, spiral coil shaped like a cylinder. Inside the coil is a fan, to blow air through the coil, along with a weather-resistant compressor and some control logic. This approach has evolved over the years because it's low-cost, and also because it normally results in reduced noise inside the house (at the expense of increased noise outside the house). Other than the fact that the hot and cold sides are split apart and the capacity is higher (making the coils and compressor larger), there's no difference between a split-system and a window air conditioner.
In warehouses, large business offices, malls, big department stores and other sizeable buildings, the condensing unit normally lives on the roof and can be quite massive. Alternatively, there may be many smaller units on the roof, each attached inside to a small air handler that cools a specific zone in the building.
In larger buildings and particularly in multi-story buildings, the split-system approach begins to run into problems. Either running the pipe between the condenser and the air handler exceeds distance limitations (runs that are too long start to cause lubrication difficulties in the compressor), or the amount of duct work and the length of ducts becomes unmanageable. At this point, it's time to think about a chilled-water system.

Chilled-water and Cooling-tower AC Units

Although standard air conditioners are very popular, they can use a lot of energy and generate quite a bit of heat. For large installations like office buildings, air handling and conditioning is sometimes managed a little differently.
Some systems use water as part of the cooling process. The two most well-known are chilled water systems and cooling tower air conditioners.
  • Chilled water systems - In a chilled-water system, the entire air conditioner is installed on the roof or behind the building. It cools water to between 40 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 and 7.2 degrees Celsius). The chilled water is then piped throughout the building and connected to air handlers. This can be a versatile system where the water pipes work like the evaporator coils in a standard air conditioner. If it's well-insulated, there's no practical distance limitation to the length of a chilled-water pipe.
  • Cooling tower technology - In all of the air conditioning systems we've described so far, air is used to dissipate heat from the compressor coils. In some large systems, a cooling tower is used instead. The tower creates a stream of cold water that runs through a heat exchanger, cooling the hot condenser coils. The tower blows air through a stream of water causing some of it to evaporate, and the evaporation cools the water stream. One of the disadvantages of this type of system is that water has to be added regularly to make up for liquid lost through evaporation. The actual amount of cooling that an air conditioning system gets from a cooling tower depends on the relative humidity of the air and the barometric pressure.
Because of rising electrical costs and environmental concerns, some other air cooling methods are being explored, too. One is off-peak or ice-cooling technology. An off-peak cooling system uses ice frozen during the evening hours to chill interior air during the hottest part of the day. Although the system does use energy, the largest energy drain is when community demand for power is at its lowest. Energy is less expensive during off-peak hours, and the lowered consumption during peak times eases the demand on the power grid.
Another option is geo-thermal heating. It varies, but at around 6 feet (1.8 meters) underground, the earth's temperature ranges from 45 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit (7.2 to 23.8 degrees Celsius). The basic idea behindgeo-thermal cooling is to use this constant temperature as a heat or cold source instead of using electricity to generate heat or cold. The most common type of geo-thermal unit for the home is a closed-loop system. Polyethylene pipes filled with a liquid mixture are buried underground. During the winter, the fluid collects heat from the earth and carries it through the system and into the building. During the summer, the system reverses itself to cool the building by pulling heat through the pipes to deposit it underground [source: Geo Heating].
For real energy efficiency, solar powered air conditioners are also making their debut. There may still be some kinks to work out, but around 5 percent of all electricity consumed in the U.S. is used to power air conditioning of one type or another, so there's a big market for energy-friendly air conditioning options [source: ACEEE].

BTU and EER

Most air conditioners have their capacity rated in British thermal units (Btu). A Btu is the amount of heat necessary to raise the temperature of 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) of water one degree Fahrenheit (0.56 degrees Celsius). One Btu equals 1,055 joules. In heating and cooling terms, one ton equals 12,000 Btu.
A typical window air conditioner might be rated at 10,000 Btu. For comparison, a typical 2,000-square-foot (185.8 square meters) house might have a 5-ton (60,000-Btu) air conditioning system, implying that you might need perhaps 30 Btu per square foot. These are rough estimates. To size an air conditioner accurately for your specific application, you should contact an HVAC contractor.
The energy efficiency rating (EER) of an air conditioner is its Btu rating over its wattage. As an example, if a 10,000-Btu air conditioner consumes 1,200 watts, its EER is 8.3 (10,000 Btu/1,200 watts). Obviously, you would like the EER to be as high as possible, but normally a higher EER is accompanied by a higher price.
Let's say you have a choice between two 10,000-Btu units. One has an EER of 8.3 and consumes 1,200 watts, and the other has an EER of 10 and consumes 1,000 watts. Let's also say that the price difference is $100. To determine the payback period on the more expensive unit, you need to know approximately how many hours per year you will be operating the air conditioner and how much a kilowatt-hour (kWh) costs in your area.
Assuming you plan to use the air conditioner six hours a day for four months of the year, at a cost of $0.10/kWh. The difference in energy consumption between the two units is 200 watts. This means that every five hours the less expensive unit will consume one additional kWh (or $0.10) more than the more expensive unit.
Let's do the math: With roughly 30 days in a month, you're operating the air conditioner:
4 months x 30 days per month x 6 hours per day = 720 hours
[(720 hours x 200 watts) / (1000 watts/kilowatt)] x $0.10/kilowatt hours = $14.40
The more expensive air conditioning unit costs $100 more to purchase but less money to operate. In our example, it'll take seven years for the higher priced unit to break even.

Energy Efficient Cooling Systems

Because of the rising costs of electricity and a growing trend to "go green," more people are turning to alternative cooling methods to spare their pocketbooks and the environment. Big businesses are even jumping on board in an effort to improve their public image and lower their overhead.
Ice cooling systems are one way that businesses are combating high electricity costs during the summer. Ice cooling is as simple as it sounds. Large tanks of water freeze into ice at night, when energy demands are lower. The next day, a system much like a conventional air conditioner pumps the cool air from the ice into the building. Ice cooling saves money, cuts pollution, eases the strain on the power grid and can be used alongside traditional systems. The downside of ice cooling is that the systems are expensive to install and require a lot of space. Even with the high startup costs, more than 3,000 systems are in use worldwide [source: CNN]. You can read more about ice cooling in Are Ice Blocks Better than Air Conditioning?
An ice cooling system is a great way to save money and conserve energy, but its price tag and space requirements limit it to large buildings. One way that homeowners can save on energy costs is by installing geo-thermal heating and cooling systems, also known as ground source heat pumps (GSHP). The Environmental Protection Agency recently named geo-thermal units "the most energy-efficient and environmentally sensitive of all space conditioning systems" [source: EPA].
Although it varies, at six feet underground the Earth's temperatures range from 45 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. The basic principle behind geo-thermal cooling is to use this constant temperature as a heat source instead of generating heat with electricity.
The most common type of geo-thermal unit for homes is the closed-loop system. Polyethylene pipes are buried under the ground, either vertically like a well or horizontally in three- to six-foot trenches. They can also be buried under ponds. Water or an anti-freeze/water mixture is pumped through the pipes. During the winter, the fluid collects heat from the earth and carries it through the system and into the building. During the summer, the system reverses itself to cool the building by pulling heat from the building, carrying it through the system and placing it in the ground [source: Geo Heating].
Homeowners can save 30 to 50 percent on their cooling bills by replacing their traditional HVAC systems with ground source heat pumps. The initial costs can be up to 30 percent more, but that money can be recouped in three to five years, and most states offer financial purchase incentives. Another benefit is that the system lasts longer than traditional units because it's protected from the elements and immune to theft [source: Geo Exchange].






Vth-yr-working drawing-cibse/nbc/bye-laws: application to all parts....


dear all,

with reference to above i have received many answers for application of CIBSE guidelines. 

i would request you to bring a print out of above (all) and also of my e-mails on nbc application for lifts, basements, stairs,corridors, doors, and ramps (anyone student who present in wd class). 

now you guys are working at two levels. at one level u r correcting the design errors in  design of different parts of building as stated above. it goes without saying that before issuing final WDD's it is ur last chance to correct such mistakes. so normally all architects undergo this process during design and they check it one more time before issuing the WDD's. 

at second level u r reqd to put ur carpet dimensions, end to end dimensions for all building parts, after placing structural columns, u r reqd to put grid lines which may pass through centre of columns. i have already brought some reference drawings last time and given you fairly good idea how they are structured. so that should not be a difficulty. as also i mentioned to you, i am serious about giving soft copies of my 2d, 3d cad library, reference drawings, complete package including services and structural drawings to a few deserving students who will be able to produce substantial work by end of july. so again with help of such cadding tools you will be able to produce professional level of working drawings efficiently in less time then others.   

so please revise your drawings in both the levels as above and bring to class. taking out hard copy of above is entirely up to you. for soft copies to be checked on laptop, it must be your own personal laptop. borrowing laptop from others will waste time of owner of laptop.  

so for 1st level, regarding application of nbc, i want you all to work for higher floors for stairways, doors and corridors (minimum). if you do not have time to revise your drawings, then at least i want you to work it out on a4 paper or send me e-mail like last time as sent for cibse. 

hoping to see some progress. 

prof. atule kedia
8692077376

Thursday 21 June 2012

Vth-yr-working drawing-NBC-application-to-parts


dear all,

it is heartening to know u r keen to learn more and work hard to apply it in current WD package.

i m talking to other institutes hod's and they too agree w/me  that it is reqd by students to learn these matters (application of nbc, cibse,etc).

so for different parts i will tell u how it is done. 

basic rule to apply in design of facility is as follows:

1). if u r designing say for example a 5 hotel project, and you have banquet halls, it is always better to put such facilities like banquet hall etc, which are high people density on ground floor leading to safety.

because for exits you are only required to provide doors wide and sufficient in numbers leading to outside or to corridor which will lead to outside. again corridor width and numbers should be sufficient as per nbc (national building code). but u r saved the cost of stairways.

2). Municipal bye-laws will always insist to give minimum width of stairs, corridors, (passage ways) and door exits. but u must always add extra over minimum required as per occupant load as given in NBC. so for example if i have 1000 seats assembly facility like conferencing on second floor, then as per occupant load per exit unit i will get 1000/40 = 25. one exit unit = 500 mm. so total exit unit for stairway reqd is 25x 500 mm = 12500. now minimum width of stair for assembly building is 2000. so i will require 12500/2000 = 6.25 staircases to give quick exit time for 1000 ppl to go out to safety on ground level. 6.25 (below 0.5) can be rounded to 6 stairs. 

3). for same 1000 ppl doors reqd will be 1000/60 = 16.66 units of exits. so total door width reqd is 16.66 x 500 mm = 8333 mm. so u can give 4 doors of 2100 mm width on two sides of hall or on one side at sufficient intervals to avoid overcrowding near doors. please exit for assembly building shall not be less than 2000 mm width. for other facilities no door will be less than 1000 mm. 

4). for ramp for same 1000 ppl width reqd will be 1000/50 = 20 x 500 mm = 10000 mm. so u can give single ramp of above width or 2 ramps of 5000 mm width or 4 ramps of 2500 mm width.

5). for corridors: please keep this in mind: 
      NBC states as follows: Exit corridors and passage ways shall be of width not less than the aggregate required width of exit doorways leading from them in the direction of travel to exterior. 

the interpretation of above statement in our case of 1000 ppl assembly building will be as follows:

total aggregate width of doors = 8333 mm. so width of corridor will be 4200mm if 2 doors of 2100mm size open into it. it will be 2100 mm if one door open into it. it will be 6300 mm if 3 doors of 2100 mm open into it. 

hence i told u in the beginning that for high occupant load areas which ask for wider exits, please put them on ground floor. so u will at least save money on stairways. so stairs are always provided for less occupant facilities like residences / offices on upper floors.

please remind me to give you a copy of all necessary nbc tables like 20 for occupant load, 21 for occupants per unit exit width for stairways, ramps and doors for various group of occupancy like residential, educational, assembly, etc. also travel distance for the same. 

with best regards,

atule kedia 




Saturday 16 June 2012

IV th-yr-building-services-comfort-conditions

dear students,

human beings give off heat, around an average of 100 kcal (kilo-calories) or 400 BTU (british thermal unit) per hour per person, due to what is known as 'metabolism'. the temperature mechanism within the human body maintains a body temperature of around 36.9 degree C (celsius) or 98.4 degree F (fahrenheit). but the skin temperature varies according to the surrounding temperature and relative humidity. to dissipate the heat  generated by metabolism in order to maintain the body temperature at the normal level, there must be a flow of heat from the skin to the surrounding air. if the surrounding temperature is slightly less than that of the body, there will be a steady flow of heat from the skin. 

but if the surrounding temperature is very low, as on a cold winter day, the rate of heat flow from the body will be quite rapid, thus the person feels cold. that is why we wear woolen winter clothing, which impede the rapid flow of heat from the body. on the other hand on a hot summer day, the surrounding temperature is higher than that of the body, and so there cannot be flow of heat from the skin to the surroundings; thus the person feels hot. in such a situation water from the body evaporates at the skin surface dissipating the heat due to metabolism. this helps in maintaining normal body temperature. but if the surrounding air is not only hot but highly humid as well, very little evaporation of water can take place from the skin surface, and so the person feels hot and uncomfortable. 

a movement of air (such as by a fan) over the body helps in slightly improving the rate of evaporation of water at the skin surface, thereby giving some relief. too high a level of relative humidity causes a damp unpleasant feeling because of the accumulation of moisture in clothing and also leads to emanation of body odours. while too low a level of relative humidity causes the skin, mouth and nose to become dry and parched. so to obtain comfort, the temperature, relative humidity and air movement within the room are maintained by air conditioning. this is done so that the heat dissipation from the body is steady to maintain a normal body temperature resulting in a sensation of comfort. 

in addition to maintaining proper temperature and relative humidity, it is evident that there must also be certain amount of air movement in the room. here again, too much of air movement (or draft) can cause discomfort. so the movement of air within the room should be gentle and uniform. the body odours emanating from people can become unbearable and for this, sufficient ventilation has to be provided. this can be done by taking in a certain amount of fresh air for dilution of the body odours. removal of dirt/dust particles is important from the health point of view, and also to maintain a neat environment.

since the combination of temperature, relative humidity and air motion influence the rate of heat dissipation from the body, these three can be considered interrelated for creating the sensation of comfort. therefore different combinations of temperature, relative humidity and air motion will give the same sense of comfort. again the sense of comfort can vary from person to person and also depends on the nature of their activities. for example, persons involved in heavy manual labour in a factory may need a different temperature, humidity and air motion combination from those seated in an auditorium. 

in general, the range of temperature and humidity conditions maintained in the air conditioned space during summer are 23.5 to 25.5 degree C (74 to 78 degree F) and 55 to 65 RH with an air movement of 4.5 to 12 m/min. (15 to 40 ft/min.).

please heat the link below for more discussion on above topic:

http://tinyurl.com/cl667xq


prof. atule kedia
8692077376

Vth-yr-working drawing-building-parts-as-per-fire-safety-nbc.

dear students,

it was a nice group meeting on friday afternoon. i thank you all for being  present after  college hours. your dedication to the subject is appreciated. as i mentioned to you during interaction, whether following  CIBSE public health guidelines and occupant load as per international standards, in our building designs; is required to be shared with other groups. for that i interacted with their group teachers. they are of opinion that they know there are defects in your designs. but they want to focus more on finishing WD asap and allow you to devote balance time to THESIS. if we want to buy this argument, i have no issues, to be at par with other groups. but i would still insist that you solve toilets for at least 2 spaces as per above. so you should have minimum 2 men's toilets and 2 women's toilets solved by above method and show it to me on tuesday morning without fail. even those students who were not present on friday, should understand the process from others and bring it to class. regarding redrafting on your WD's as per above changes, we will decide on consensus basis on tuesday. if you do as i say on tuesday, it will give you good hands-on practice as regards how to use these guidelines properly. this in turn will help you to use it correctly and completely on your THESIS design, which i would insist you should do to make it look more authentic. 

i promised you that i will upload more data related to how to apply fire safety norms for all building parts. i am giving you tips for designing as per national building code (NBC). please note NFPA (national fire protection association) norms may vary slightly. but do not worry for NFPA. 

1. staircase: the staircase shall be ventilated (min. area 0.5 sq.mt.) to the atmosphere out side at each landing and a vent at the top; or alternatively a positive pressure 50 Pa (pascal=1 newton per sq. mts.) will be maintained mechanically to operate automatically with fire alarm.

the minimum width of staircase shall be as follows:
a). residential buildings (dwellings)              1.0 m
b). residential hotel buildings                         1.5 m
c). assembly buildings like auditoria,             2.0 m
      cinemas, theaters.                                      
d). educational buildings                                 1.5 m
e). institutional buildings                                 2.0 m
f). all other buildings                                        1.5 m

2. Lifts: a). the number of lifts in one row for a lift bank shall not exceed 4 and the total number of lifts in the bank (of two rows) shall not exceed 8. a wall of 2 hr fire rating shall separate individual shafts in a bank. 
b). collapsible gates not permitted. solid doors of 1 hr fire rating required.
c). Lifts in basement will be pressurized 30 Pa in lobby. 
d). one fire lift per 1200 sq. mt. of floor area with open-able ceiling hatch, with speed to reach top floor from ground floor within 1 minute is to be provided. fire lift will be controlled by simple toggle or two button switch (means when switch is on, landing call-points will become inoperative and lift will be on car control only on a priority control device). 
e). the lift shall have a floor area of not less than 1.4 sq.mts. they shall have loading capacity of not less than 545 kg (8 persons lift) with automatic closing doors of minimum 0.8m width. (on ground floor doors of minimum 1.0 m width required as per NFPA). 
f). the electric supply shall be on a separate service from electric supply mains in a building and the cables run in a route safe from fire, that is, within the lift shaft. 

3. Basement: a). Each basement separately ventilated by vents in cross-sectional area 2.5% of floor area. 
b). in multi-storey basements, intake ducts may serve all basement levels, but each separate levels, but each basement levels and basement compartment shall have the same separate smoke outlet duct or ducts. 

4. a stand-by electric generator shall be installed to supply power to staircase and corridor lighting circuits, fire lifts, the stand-by fire pump, pressurization fans and blowers, smoke extraction and damper systems in case of failure of normal electric supply. where parallel HV/LV supply from a separate sub-station is provided with appropriate transformer for emergency, the provision of generator may be waived in consultation with the authority. 


more things like corridors, FHC (fire hose cabinet), and travel distance  some other time....

prof. atule kedia
8692077376


3rd-yr-Working Drawing

dear students,

i was happy to interact with you all in last class. i am getting a feeling that you all are excited to learn WD in proper manner. and produce good WD's by end of this semester. and produce still better WD's by end of this year.  to do that you have to consistently work hard and be ready to re-draw your drawings many times over till you get the final draft ready. also WD is a hands-on subject. the more you work, more you will get doubts, then more we will guide you to do proper things. and again you should work hard. the loop continues till final draft. 

i say this often around all institutes that student should pay attention to understand teachings first hand (don't depend on asking others later - may be s/he never understood it in first place). so to understand first hand, ask a question to teacher. by doing this, you do a favor to your classmates who may be having same doubt and also to teacher who will get confidence to proceed further to complex issues without any difficulty. 

also when i took rounds in class to understand the variety of designs you have, i found that some of you have very complex forms of plans and  also in sections. also they have various materials and technologies. i am impressed by your design skills. but i have simple advice to these students. now we have to adopt your building design for brick walls. and roof also we will simplify to truss, rafters, purlin and tiles. whatever you have learnt in your second year ABCM subject.  please remember that priority now is to study WD perfectly this semester from your external viva voce point of view. pass your examinations with comfort. then for next semester we will move to more complicated plans, sections and technology of buildings. so do not worry. one or two students expressed reservation that their hard work put in good designs are being sidelined. it is not so. i asked the same students to get detached from the feelings for designs and focus on learning WD for time being. trust your teachers on these. they know better than you. 

so please as agreed between us, bring your ground floor plan with inside carpet dimensions mentioned and all out to out dimensions mentioned too.

then we will check these plan for correctness and proceed with further instructions. 

with best wishes,

prof. atule kedia.
8692077376.

p.s. in case you have any question you can message me. i will answer it in my blog. 




Thursday 14 June 2012

3rd-yr-estimation-and-quantity-surveying

dear all,

i discussed the matter with your HOD regarding books that you can purchase.

it was decided that for time being you are not required to buy any books. our class discussions and assignments will be sufficient. if at any time need will arise i will circulate xerox of certain reference pages from books.

please read my blog on construction management of the building 'Guggenheim museum Bilbao' Spain. it will give you an idea  how after an cost estimate of building is prepared and approved by the client, then while the work  is  executed on site, how its cost is adjusted real-time while the work is in progress so that the cost would not go over estimated cost.  

happy learning E & QS

prof. atule kedia
8692077376

Wednesday 13 June 2012

Vth-yr-Working Drawing-initial-review


dear all,

good evening!

i am enclosing the client checklist for your reference. it is already filled-in, after meeting the client. this is a solid document using which you can prepare and counter check your WDD's (working drawings and documents). please make habit of calling this subject as WDD's. 

those of you who thought that i was upset by end of class, please believe  me it was not so. its all part of this larger work culture of preparing WDD's. the culture of developing that psyche by which you will always be alert to protect your interests of developing a good WDD's package. 

here is what i need from you duly put on drawings and updated plotted drawings to be brought to class.

1). please focus on putting columns on all your drawings as i told you in class. start with top most storey and come down up to basement and finalize column locations. in case there is conflict in column location and user of room, then for time being revise your user so as to give priority to structural design. as we did in our test case (anuradha's) of revising swimming pool shape and parking lay out and driveways in basement. do all this very quickly with out wasting too much time. 

some structural tips: up to B+G+10 upper floors building, regarding lift shafts and shear walls, you can use thickness of 300 mm RCC walls. Column sizes you can take 300x600 upto sixth floor. upper 3 or 4 floors you can take 250x500. 

if you have access to TOS teacher to cross verify above sizes, then please do so. if not, don't bother. 

2). for kitchen / restaurant ratio and other things, i feel you can modify it only if it is too much disproportionate. for example if you have 25% kitchen area of main fine dining spaces area then, jury will attack you. so correct it now without wasting too much time on design issues. 

i hope every body took down all spaces formula from tanvi desai. if not here it is one more time. 

if area of seating in any facility is X then kitchen area is as follows:
0.25 to 0.35 X for cafetaria, 0.4 to 0.45 X for normal dining restaurants like udupi, and 0.50 to 0.55 X for fine dining restaurant like copper chimney or china garden. 

3). normally when you design above facilities you are given number of covers (number of persons) for  each type by your client and you arrive at areas by using following formulas:
cafeteria 1 to 1.4 sq. mt. per person. 
normal dining 1.4 to 1.8 sq. mt. per person.
fine dining  1.8 to 2.2 sq. mt. per person.
banquet facilities 0.75 to 1.0 sq. mt. per person without table for dining. 
banquet facilities 2.0 sq. mt. per person with table (mostly round w/4/6/8 ppl around it) for dining. 

but if you have not followed formula in 3) for some reason no need to worry for time being. keep the areas as before as they appear in your design,
but arrive at number of covers as per above formula and mention it in plan. so jury can understand how you have designed toilets etc for those numbers.

4). now for using those two papers viz. occupant load and CIBSE public health guidelines i have one suggestion.  i am in college on friday. 11.0 am to 2.0 pm i have class with 4th year b.arch (unaided) which is on 3rd floor to your left when you access it from main lift. if you come there at 2.0 p.m. after your class on friday, i can give you 30 mins special session on how to use these tables. any one of you can bring drawings of ground floor / first floor where you have toilets and facilities like dining and banquet, which i will use as test case. so please confirm to me by return email how many of you would be present on friday.

you will require to stretch a bit if you really want to understand how WDD's are made. as i told you earlier, whoever told you that doing architecture is a picnic, needs a re-visit to him/her from your side. and you know what to do.

thanks,

Prof. atule kedia.  

P.S. anybody who need check list as mentioned in this blog send me your email id on 8692077376

i am sorry for leaving students for other institutes

my dear students (nov 27th '11 to apr 21st '12 semester),


why write to you all today? well honestly speaking i have started missing you all. i have that feeling of emptiness in my heart. i feel guilty of leaving you midway for my selfish reasons. my reasons being that i want to do m.arch. in construction management & technology.  so i want to reduce travel time to your college which is 2 hours one way from my home. at one point i was ready to rent a studio apartment near your institute. but my family put condition. first approach all institutes in western suburbs. so when i approached them in may and got positive response (which i was not expecting), whereby all my five days got booked end to end in various institutes. i was hoping to keep at least one slot for you. (i feel strongly about this even now. preferably Vth year id students' for WD). alas it is not happening. today i am sad. very sad. but please understand this. in larger interest of bigger student community, i want to up grade my knowledge. so doing m.arch. is very important for me. i did get invitation from your vice-principal to join as visiting faculty. and i always had invitation from you all. but sorry students, i could not make it. i am really, really sorry. please forgive me. 

really i am very sad today. because in spite of my going around in many institutes and giving my best to new students, i am not able to get an emotional connect with them. its all very straight faced study most of the time and fun missing completely. some occasional smiles here and there. some of these institutes are reputed. so i am sure their principals would be horrified at my approach in our class-interaction whereby half the class was always in splits. so with new assignments i take extra care to be well prepared. and students are receiving my classes well. (i hope so). but i still miss you.  some how you made me feel special. you almost pampered me. so i really really miss you all. 

i miss varsha, divya, prasad, gautam, ashish, shreya and many more from 4th years id. i miss prachi, subhrata, yogita, trisha (trishaji  - aapne coffee pee li?), rakesh, rahul, harsh, priyanka, ashwini, and many more from 3rd years id, i miss mota, gauri, duhita, sanchita, fernandes (the bright one) and many more from 2nd years id, and i miss all the students from 1st year b.arch section 'a' (particularly trupti and sayali) and clairian and sanket from section 'b'. you all were very dear to me.  

but i promise you all for sure. in case you have any doubt in any subject or you need any help from me, just message me. i will address it in my blog.  also if we can meet sometime out side institute, please let me know. if you are in town side after 4.0 pm for any site visit, just let me know i will join you. also i need a small favor from you. particularly, i will ask varsha to upload viva voce marks for 4th yr id, for ABCM and 3rd yr id for AD. varsha for 3rd yr id AD marks, you can ask anil to coordinate. why i need to know this marks now? i assume, this will help me to improve by understanding the complete procedure. if any body has failed in viva voce and being aware of that student's strengths, i would know how to guide my current  students. please do this for me, without fail. and let me know when your results will come out. 

thanking you all for making my stay with you so pleasant and memorable. 

thanks once again.


prof. atule kedia.
8692077376.

p.s. my wife sometimes over estimate my teaching capabilities. she is telling me that i have already prepared you for the rest of your b.arch. course. some people can be so naive.... (don't worry, i am safe, my wife does not know about this blog)



Monday 11 June 2012

2nd-yr-architectural building cconstruction and materials-books-to-buy

dear students,

it was a pleasure of mine to deliver a slide-show explaining how learning building technology can be stimulating as well as fun if we approach it properly.

also i got feedback through madame veena that you liked the 2nd lecture with real time sketching on film with over head projector, for timber floors.

so i will continue with same system in all your abcm classes. 

i mentioned in class but i will write here one more time the books i prefer you to refer in library or buy it if you can afford it.

1. Five volumes on "The Construction of Buildings" by Ar. R. Barry. (price IRs 540). I recommend these volumes very strongly because the language used by author is very lucid and all the necessary parameters that are required by you to study the subject correctly are duly put in the books. Some of the details can be modified to adopt for indian conditions, which is easy to do provided you know what is good technology in first place.
2. Building Construction by Dr J. Jha & Prof. S.K. Sinha - Khanna Publishers. (price IRs 175). If somebody is inclined to check local Indian adaptations, then this book is good book to refer. I found the engineering principles used in book are sound and stand the scrutiny of international standards. 

Please also try to follow my blog http://atule-education.blogspot.in for tips and reading links for enhancing your understanding of the subject. 

happy learning building technology.

Prof. Atule kedia. 

Sunday 10 June 2012

4th-year-building-services-academic-progrom

4th year B. Arch. Building Services – academic program for VII & VIII semester

All lectures are for 3 hours. Sessional work related to these topics will be in VIII Sem. your architectural design for VII sem will be background for sessional work. 

Lecture
No.
Topics to be covered in VII th semester.
1.
Introduction of all topics Sem VII & VIII; Natural Ventilation.
2.
Comfort conditions, temperature control, humidity control, air filtration, rate of ventilation.
3.
Air conditioning – refrigeration & air cycle
4.

Mechanical ventilation in buildings, plenum system, plenum & exhaust system, fan, blowers and air filters.
5.
Various system of air conditioning – unit type, split, package, direct expansion, chilled water system, thermal conductivity & insulation.
6.
Heating of spaces – local & central heating, heating equipments
7.
Introduction to fire fighting & fire alarms. Fire, causes of fire & spread of fire. Combustibility of materials.
8.
Structural elements & fire resistance.
9.
Fire fighting, protection & fire resistance. Fire fighting equipment and different methods of fighting fire.
10.
Code of safety, fire regulations, fire insurance. Fire escape routes and elements – planning & design.
11.
Wet risers, dry risers, sprinklers, smoke detectors, fire dampers, fire doors, water and curtains, etc.
12.
Power & Lighting
13.
Structural cabling, earthing layout.
14.
CCTV, lightning protection.
15.
Revision 1 – HVAC
16.
Revision 2 – Fire fighting
17.
Question & Answer – solving for HVAC
18.
Question & Answer – solving for Fire Fighting
19.
Exam 1 – HVAC
20.
Exam 2 – Fire fighting
21.
Final comments and introduction to sessional works for sem VIII.