Journal of Architectural Engineering

Designers of architectural glass in the United States rely on model building codes and standards for definitions of load resistance (LR) and other factors pertinent to design. Unfortunately, US model building codes and standards currently address only flat glass. These US model building codes and standards provide no generally accepted methodology to facilitate the determination of LT for bent glass. Because architects frequently use bent glass in buildings, a well-defined procedure for determining its LR is needed. The primary analysis tools available to engineers today are based on the finite-element method and can be applied to a wide range of different glass lite geometries. The authors developed a nonlinear finite-element model and applied the glass failure prediction model (GFPM) to the nonlinear finite-element model output to determine the probability of breakage for the specified bent glass lite geometry and the selected load combinations. The results of their analyses compare favorably to the stresses obtained from a strain gauged full-scale bent glass lite test specimen. The authors also compared the LR of the bent glass lite to the LR of a flat glass lite with the same rectangular dimensions of the bent glass lite to demonstrate the strength increase of bent glass constructions over flat glass constructions for the single geometry studied.

Green and sustainable initiatives are among the most noticeable practices in today’s design and construction applications. While allocation of contractual obligations under traditional building projects is known to the associated stakeholders, constructing green and sustainable buildings adds new considerations that should be understood by the different project participants. No previous research work has attempted to provide in-depth analysis of how risks and responsibilities should be contractually allocated among the different project participants in green and sustainable buildings. As such, this paper addresses this critical knowledge gap using a research methodology that is based on the dual interrelated analysis of case studies and standard contract forms. On one hand, investigation of previous projects showed that the major areas of concern in relation to the contractual problems associated with green buildings include: governing terms and conditions, certification and documentation, sustainability considerations and requirements, and materials and specifications. On the other hand, critical examination of existing standard forms of contract (i.e., ConsensusDocs 310-2011: Green Building Addendum, and the American Institute of Architects (AIA) E204-2017: Sustainable Projects Exhibit) indicate that: (1) while ConsensusDocs creates a new role within green and sustainable buildings known as “green building facilitator” (GBF) who is assigned most risks and responsibilities, AIA indicates that the architect is the project party who possesses these key roles during the design and construction phases; (2) each project party shall be responsible for its own roles in achieving and maintaining the green and sustainable aspects; (3) careful front-end and early planning of the different green and sustainable aspects is crucial to achieve the targeted and elected green and sustainable goals; and (4) collaboration between the different parties is highly crucial in attaining the building’s green and sustainable objectives. Consequently, the paper offers contractual synopsis of the risks and responsibilities that are unique to green and sustainable buildings, the proper action that should be allocated for each risk and/or responsibility, and the project participant that is best positioned to bear such risk and/or responsibility. Further, the paper presents contractual recommendations, in the form of checklist questions, to provide profound understanding of the general principles and provisions associated with green and sustainable buildings. Ultimately, this study adds to the body of knowledge by honing and strengthening the education and awareness of the different project parties in relation to the contractual aspects of green and sustainable buildings.

As the United States continues its progress toward sustainable construction, net zero building design is becoming an increasingly important and popular topic. Two definitions of net zero energy performance, monthly and annual, provide different levels of energy autonomy and efficiency within a building. This article analyzes the viability and incremental cost for two-, three-, and four-story multifamily apartment buildings to reach both annual and monthly net zero energy performance throughout four climate zones in the United States using baseline reference buildings that represent current construction practices. Building size plays a large role in determining the capability for a building model to reach annual or monthly net zero. Two-story buildings are capable of reaching annual net zero with an increase in construction cost of about 4.4–5.6%. Three-story buildings in warmer climates can achieve annual net zero with an increase of about 5.1%, but models in colder climates cannot reach annual net zero performance. Four-story buildings cannot achieve net zero, owing to insufficient building area for solar arrays to produce electricity. Monthly net zero energy performance was significantly harder to achieve, with the only case reaching this goal being the two-story Houston based model, at an added cost of 8.2%. Generally speaking, only small buildings in warm climates will be able to achieve monthly net zero without vastly oversizing photovoltaic systems and increasing costs without adequate payback.

Although the reasons for and against the early use of digital tools in design have been intensively researched and studied for years, there has been a scarcity of substantial analysis of the challenges posed by using computer-assisted architectural design (CAAD) tools in the early design phase. By drawing on reviewed materials and cross-mapping digital software and current commercially available programs, this paper elucidates and evaluated the impact of CAAD tools in the early design process. In this research, a two-way, systematic mapping of research-based tools that support the conceptual design process and commercial CAAD methods was implemented, utilizing five criteria as illustrated in a recent study. The paper concludes with three scenarios of CAAD’s future direction, which will have an impact on conventional architectural engineering, as well as architectural practice and education.

Facility managers of hospitals face complex maintenance decisions as they deal with a multitude of maintenance requests in an environment of limited resources and segmented information. Responding to a growing demand for maintenance, on one hand, and lack of proper maintenance management systems, on the other, has led to delays in repair and maintenance of the building components and systems in hospitals. Such delays could cause significant distress to patients and health care personnel. This paper introduces a new method for facility managers to address these challenges. The multimethod simulation approach is developed to integrate segmented information at different levels of maintenance management, with the aim of minimizing maintenance delays in hospital buildings. The developed simulation model consists of two components: a status tracking system (STS) and a resource allocation system (RAS). A discrete event simulation (DES) is used to simulate the maintenance process flow while a multi-agent system (MAS) is used to simulate the process of allocating resources for maintenance activities in hospital buildings. The STS simulation is a DES process that registers, arranges, and distributes maintenance tasks (orders) to the appropriate resources. For the RAS component, a multi-agent resource allocation system (MARAS) is developed to simulate different resource allocation scenarios, accounting for interactions among various agents (decision-makers) in the maintenance process. A case example is presented to demonstrate the essential features of the developed method. The simulation results show that the implementation of MARAS significantly reduces maintenance delays in the case study.

Construction contractor failure is one of the most critical and costly risks for a employer. Despite the ability of the employer to terminate the construction contract due to the contractor's failure to achieve crucial contractual objectives, the employer still suffers adverse impacts on time, cost, and goodwill. Under price-driven selection, construction contracts are usually awarded to the lowest bidder, with little attention to a bidder's capabilities. Therefore, this study attempted to develop a model to assist construction professionals in selecting the bidder with the lowest failure potential. The analytic network process (ANP) was used to analyze the data collected from a prepared fuzzy questionnaire. The results concluded a ranking for the reasons of contractor failure, which were initially identified from the literature and categorized into five categories. The results showed that “corporate governance” and “financial position” are the first and second most influential categories indicating contractor failure potential, respectively. Furthermore, “cost control,” “tender approach,” and “technical competency” are ranked as the third, fourth, and least influential categories, respectively. Construction practitioners can utilize the model developed by this study to evaluate bidders to minimize the probability of contractor failure and, consequently, to maximize the probability of successful project delivery.

Typical commercial construction inherently contains large surface areas of relatively thin mass located in the floor slabs. This research asks how effective this mass could be for passive cooling, relative to other mass depths, if it were to be exposed and used as thermal mass. Although much of the rich literature on thermal mass has been conducted with far greater mass depths, a more limited amount of research suggests that because the surface heat transfer rate is limited, the focus should be on the surface area of exposed mass, not its depth. This presents an opportunity for more buildings to behave more thermally massively, if the mass inherent in typical floor slabs contains utility, particularly over diurnal cycles. In all climates analyzed, it was found that there is a pronounced shoulder where energy savings from passive cooling of increasing mass depths was steep until roughly 7.5–10 cm, and beyond this point the achieved energy savings diminished rapidly. When considering the embodied energy of concrete, the incremental benefit of added mass beyond a typical topping slab of 10 cm does not justify the incremental embodied energy cost from a total energy standpoint alone.

Green building rating systems are developed to promote sustainability. Existing rating systems use both numerical and linguistic descriptors. In addition, existing rating systems do not directly identify the priority or interrelation between different parameters. The objectives of this study are to develop a priority weights-based green building rating model with numerical descriptors and to propose a remediation plan for existing buildings to obtain green certification under the developed rating model. In this paper, the analytical hierarchy process is used to develop a green building rating system. Based on the opinions of 100 experts, the priority weights of parameters were determined. The numerical thresholds of point allocation, equations, and priority weights of the proposed rating model supports a definitive classification on green building performance. For buildings with poor green performance, a remediation plan is proposed that can be adopted to upgrade and obtain green certification for buildings under the developed rating model.

Heritage buildings are considered unique assets with a significant value for the country where they are situated that must be conserved or preserved for the coming generations. However, heritage sites, as any other site where a construction is present, experience tremendous risks that impact both the condition and the withstanding of the building or asset they include. Therefore, a risk management framework is essential for these sites and buildings, in particular to be able to decide how to respond and act upon foreseeable risks when they occur or even before experiencing them. This study starts with investigating the most dominant risks in the heritage buildings context with a focus on Yemeni sites, and consequently 38 Yemeni experts in the field of heritage building management were surveyed to examine the identified risks in three case study heritage sites in Yemen. The significance of the risks as well as their impact, likelihood, and detectability levels were measured using an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) basis that reduces the subjectivity of the expert opinions. After risks were analyzed, a suitable response action was therefore suggested to manage and minimize risk impacts as much as possible. In addition to the relative scoring for the priority of each identified risk, an overall risk proneness metric is presented in this paper that can be used to compare the vulnerability of different heritage buildings and/or sites for a strategic efficient budget allocation for the management and preservation of those areas. The preliminary results revealed that armed conflicts, climate change, and flooding are three of the most critical risk factors in Yemeni heritage buildings. This framework is expected to aid heritage building managers in identifying the correct course of actions to prevent or mitigate risks from disturbing the heritage sites and help preserve their value and significance.

Vibration serviceability of staircases is an increasing challenge due to evolving materials and structural forms. To predict the dynamic performance of staircases, accurate models are required. However, few technical guides are available for designing steel staircases, and those that exist are often limited in their applications due to a lack of research. This research aimed to improve the understanding and accuracy of the global vibration response (natural frequencies and mode shapes) predictions of concrete-filled pan tread stairs. In this project, experimental data were collected on two types of staircases and then used to create and tune a finite-element model using shell and beam elements. Using the experimentally updated finite-element model, a parametric study was conducted varying the railing mass and boundary conditions to demonstrate their effects on the staircases’ dynamic behavior. AISC design guide procedures were used to assess their applicability for staircases with wall- versus face-stringer boundary conditions. Finally, design suggestions for engineers are provided.

Optimization of window characteristics is crucial for achieving maximum daylighting while reducing energy loads in educational spaces. This research investigated the impacts of a building's window orientation, window-to-wall ratio, and different shading settings on daylighting, glare, and energy usage in an educational space in the mixed climate of Tehran, Iran, by analyzing the information obtained from climate-based simulations. The research results emphasized the need for window system configuration to be considered in the early design stages as each parameter impinges on design decisions, such as window orientation or even running schedules of spaces. In addition to evaluating the connection between parameters, suggestions are provided for each examined orientation, window size, and date. Results indicated that it is possible to reduce glare up to 68%, increase daylighting up to 70%, and save energy up to 59%. Simultaneous consideration of various design objectives in this study provides a framework to be adopted and further refined by other researchers and designers to support their design decision making.

This study assessed the effects of project size on the achievement of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Operations and Maintenance: Existing Buildings version 4 (LEED-EB V4) categories and credits in platinum, gold, silver, and certified projects in the United States. Cliff's δ or log odds ratio effect sizes and exact Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney or Fisher's exact 2 × 2 tests were used to estimate the difference between medium (2,323–13,935 m²) and large (>13,935 m²) LEED-EB V4 project sizes. The results showed that medium projects performed best in the sustainable structures and energy and atmosphere categories, whereas large projects performed best in the location and transportation and water efficiency categories. Medium-to-large projects achieved similar results in the materials and resources and indoor environment quality categories. The identified relationship between project size and category performance can help building practitioners guide the selection of LEED strategies for similar project sizes.

At the beginning of 2020, the high-speed, high-efficiency construction of a hospital represented by Huoshenshan Hospital provided widespread and deeply popular publicity for prefabricated buildings and prefabricated interior technology. It was based on prefabricated interior technology and through school enterprise cooperation, which takes the roof and wall of multiple medical institutions, for example, and puts forward the upgrading application scheme of efficiency, quality, and benefit of the roof wall system in medical space. Meanwhile it provides a useful reference for the construction of similar medical assembly projects and promotes the application of prefabricated interior technology.

Buildings with historic and cultural significance are part of the national heritage and must be preserved for future generations. Preservation of historic buildings depends upon usage consistent with their structural capacities and regular maintenance. Most of the old and historic buildings built in previous centuries are constructed mainly of masonry, timber, and steel. These materials have different mechanical properties and fire-resistance capabilities. Fires can cause significant nonstructural or structural damage within a matter of minutes or hours. An overview of the fire-related damages in bo2th old or historic buildings with respect to the types of materials, causes of fire, history of fire accidents, fire safety codes, and fire protection measures along with visual evaluation details of fire-affected historic buildings that were built nearly 200 years ago in Harpers Ferry, WV are presented and discussed.

Jordan's built environment is considered a major contributor to local environmental concerns. The construction industry faces pressures to increase the sustainability of its practices through the development of green buildings and their associated rating tools. The reliance on international green building rating tools has proven influence on steering the national sustainable route. However, their application remains challenging when considering the contextual particularities and the multiplicity in building types subjected to them, highlighting the need for their customization. This study describes a research that aims at developing a localized green building rating tool that suits the Jordanian context for multifamily housing. It builds upon an investigation of globally/regionally recognized tools, identifying areas of convergence and distinction, for the aim of their consolidation into the proposed scheme. This was achieved through the deployment of the Delphi technique and the Analytic Hierarchy Process in rounds of facilitated local expert discussions. The outcome is a green building tool (Diana) that is suited to the local requirements and the specificity of building type as compared with other rating tools.

The search for architectural solutions for emergency situations is an important line of research. In this article, the most appropriate conditions for the different situations that can turn up after a disaster were analyzed and proposals for temporary housing were presented. These are possibly the most suitable solutions for developed countries. The design and calculation of an experimental wooden module, built at the University School of Architecture in A Coruña, which has served as a prototype to analyze its viability in practice, were also presented. Finally, there is a critical review of the results and possible improvements detected.

The objective of this study was to investigate load paths in an existing light-frame wood structure with a complex, realistic geometry using computer modeling methods developed by the authors for simpler structures. The structural model was derived from an existing, multilevel residence located in Corvallis, Oregon. Gravity and wind loads were examined. Modeling was done with SAP 2000 for behavior within the linear-elastic range using frame and shell elements. Results showed gravity load paths and the governing load combinations for different parts of the structure. Wind investigations revealed load concentrations at corners and openings due to uplift pressure on the roof and overturning forces from lateral wind loads on the walls. Additionally, load concentrations are dependent on wind direction and loading type and the dead load present. Load paths for this asymmetrical structure show that the shear carried in each wall is dependent on the wind direction and wall stiffness.