Journal of Architectural Engineering

Charrettes are collaborative, interdisciplinary workshops commonly used in the programming and or design phases of sustainable building projects and often utilized in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) projects. Charrettes are implemented to increase collaboration and communication across diverse building professionals and stakeholders. However, minimal empirical research documenting the outcomes or impact of charrette processes or identifying whether specific charrette characteristics or combinations of characteristics actually contribute to an overall increase of LEED points exists. The purpose of this research project was to research salient characteristics of charrette processes and to observe their impact on the LEED points achieved. Methodology included a focus group of nine building professionals and a survey of 66 building professionals who had participated in a LEED-certified project(s). Characteristics derived from the focus group discussion were used to develop the survey instrument. Implementing at least one charrette during a project was shown to increase the LEED points achieved by an average of seven points. Three charrette characteristics, however, were shown to reduce the magnitude of positive impact. Specific characteristics to avoid are (1) holding a charrette as a LEED strategy or LEED checklist meeting; (2) having a defined or structured agenda; and (3) having project goals already defined prior to the charrette(s) taking place. Overall, results suggest the charrette process has the potential to provide significant benefits, but to fully realize such a benefit, the charrette should not include factors that limit a group’s ability to produce creative ideas, goals, and innovative solutions.

Successful design and construction of building enclosures on foreign projects presents a challenge for those who are new to international business. In addition to basic building enclosure functional requirements (i.e., structural, acoustics, heat control, air control, and moisture control), professionals must accommodate local considerations of a building project’s site, which vary globally from market to market and are not always clearly understood in the early stages of a project. This study consists of 29 interviews conducted with building enclosure professionals who have significant experience working in the following five global markets: Europe, Far East, Latin America, Middle East, and North America. The interviewees stated that there are significant global differences that affected how they perform services in relation to the design and construction of building enclosures on mainstream, modern, low-to-midrise commercial buildings across each market. The study found 13 factors that account for global differences in building enclosures, with codes and standards the most frequently cited factor, although not all 13 factors were deemed important in a given global market. The authors summarize common perceptions of the design and construction of building enclosures for each global market studied as experienced by the interviewees. These perceptions provide a firsthand narrative of global differences that can exist when conducting building enclosure work internationally. Such a narrative could be of use in preparing those new to international work in market-specific design and construction considerations for building enclosures.

The Architectural Engineering Program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has benefitted from forming partnerships with professionals in the building design industry. These relationships have exposed students to industry professionals in various settings through the development of several architectural engineering programs. These programs give students firsthand, real-life learning experiences with the profession that many of them will pursue upon graduation to supplement their classroom instruction. In addition to the programs’ educational benefits, by involving industry in many facets of the academic program, networking experiences occur that benefit students by helping them to find future jobs and benefit employers by helping them to develop an understanding of the abilities of certain students prior to the recruitment process. Industry professionals interact with students in various ways, including providing graduate students with project advice, forming teaching partnerships, and participating in a student-mentoring program, an advisory committee, an interdisciplinary design project, and an industry-based graduate student program.

The construction of the Santa Maria del Mar cathedral dates back to 1329. The cathedral represents an excellent example of the Gothic style in Catalonia. Because of the observed damage on the piers of the main nave, special attention was focused on determining the piers’ stress states. During a research campaign, the resulting stresses are determined numerically as well as experimentally based on a minimally destructive technique called the hole drilling technique. The technique allows determination of the principal stresses and their direction in stone masonry. The experimental results are compared with the outcome of a comparative numerical analysis. The quality of the experimental technique and the usefulness of the on-site methodology in the framework of cultural heritage sites are presented and discussed. The aim of the paper is the final corroboration of the applicability of the hole drilling technique in masonry structures. The technique has been previously checked in the Altes Museum (Berlin), the Saint Jakobs church at Leuven (Belgium), and the Tarazona cathedral (Spain).

When structural engineering is taught as a design discipline, engineering and architecture students can understand the open-ended potential of structural engineering solutions and gain a better understanding of the opportunities for structure to shape and reinforce architectural concepts. By formalizing the iterative aspect of design processes common in architecture design studios, structural engineering courses can integrate design without requiring a radical configuration of the conventional lecture class structure. This paper outlines models that include design and analysis iterations in structures lecture courses. Developed for undergraduate and graduate architecture students, this model could be applied to engineering education as well. Student work from these exercises demonstrates integration of architecture and structural engineering. Three examples of iterations are presented to highlight a range of applications, including (1) iteration of method of spanning (e.g., truss, arch, and cable beam) in a structural fundamentals course, (2) iteration of structural configuration within lectures for an advanced structures class for architects, and (3) iteration of structural solutions from engineering and architectural perspectives. Each example is presented as a case study that includes a statement of learning objectives, a description of the projects and teaching methods used, and an assessment of the outcomes. Breaking from the traditional problem-set coursework where sizing a beam is considered structural design helps students to focus on the distinct tasks of analysis and assessment and enables informed design decision making. Students develop understanding of the relationship between structural form and force, recognize the variety of structural design options for a specific architectural proposal, and evaluate the effectiveness of a specific structural scheme, helping students to understand that there is more than one right answer to a structural design problem with the goal of encouraging students to attempt and rigorously evaluate unconventional structural solutions both within the structures curriculum and within the studio.

Improvements in building construction and services need to be supported by an efficient building layout design based on the interrelations of functions in the building, circulation, and occupant characteristics to mitigate the impacts of extreme events on people. Current building codes, standards, and regulations are of a static type, giving typical measurements of surface areas and dimensions based on either the number of occupants using a space or the objects to be housed within it. Building design requires support from dynamic data that reflect the interactions of people with the building space and other people. This paper summarizes the building design issues associated with emergencies and presents a case study conducted to capture dynamic data during a building evacuation process. The results of the case studies in this research showed that distance and familiarity with the exits were the two most significant factors in exit preference, and there is not an equally balanced use of exit doors during emergency evacuations.