UNIT 5

Building Infrastructure:
HIGH RISE BUILDINGS:
A high-rise is a tall building or structure. Normally, the function of the building is added, for
example high-rise apartment building or high-rise offices. Compare: low-rise

High-rise buildings became possible with the invention of the elevator (lift) and cheaper,
more abundant building materials. Buildings between 75 feet (23 m) and 491 feet (150 m)
high are, by some standards, considered high-rises. Buildings taller than 492 feet (150 m) are
classified as skyscrapers. The average height of a level is around 13 feet (4 m) high, thus a 79
foot (24 m) tall building would comprise 6 floors.

The materials used for the structural system of high-rise buildings are reinforced concrete and
steel. Most American style skyscrapers have a steel frame, while residential tower blocks are
usually constructed out of concrete.

Utilities & Building Operations (Division)

Utilities Division areas of responsibility can be categorized as:

 BUILDING MECHANICAL SYSTEM OPERATIONS & CONTROLS

 ELECTRICAL AND ELEVATOR SERVICES

 CENTRAL MECHANICAL SERVICES

 RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Planned or unplanned interruptions to building electrical and/or mechanical services occur

due to breakdowns, renovation work and regular maintenance.

 Where possible F & S will call the Department or Faculty Administration.

 That Department or Faculty Administration, in turn, is responsible for calling all

affected users to ensure that they have input into the timing of the shutdown.

 A "Notice of Shutdown" is issued by the Utilities Division.

 As much advanced notice as possible is given to the Department or Faculty

Administration and all others involved for posting and circulation. Cooperation and
communication are vital in minimizing the effects of shutdown services.

Restricted Access: Electrical Rooms, Mechanical Rooms and Service Tunnels are secured
areas and kept locked to prevent unauthorized entry.
Electro mechanical system
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) (also written as micro-electro-mechanical, or
MicroElectroMechanical) is the technology of the very small, and merges at the nano-scale into
nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) and nanotechnology. MEMS are also referred to as
micromachines (in Japan), or Micro Systems Technology - MST (in Europe). MEMS are separate and
distinct from the hypothetical vision of molecular nanotechnology or molecular electronics. MEMS
are made up of components between 1 to 100 micrometres in size (i.e. 0.001 to 0.1 mm) and MEMS
devices generally range in size from 20 micrometres (20 millionths of a metre) to a millimetre. They
usually consist of a central unit that processes data, the microprocessor and several components
that interact with the outside such as microsensors[1]. At these size scales, the standard constructs
of classical physics are not always useful. Due to MEMS' large surface area to volume ratio, surface
effects such as electrostatics and wetting dominate volume effects such as inertia or thermal mass.

The potential of very small machines was appreciated long before the technology existed that could
make them—see, for example, Richard Feynman's famous 1959 lecture There's Plenty of Room at
the Bottom. MEMS became practical once they could be fabricated using modified semiconductor
device fabrication technologies, normally used to make electronics. These include molding and
plating, wet etching (KOH, TMAH) and dry etching (RIE and DRIE), electro discharge machining
(EDM), and other technologies capable of manufacturing very small devices.

Building Fabric
The building fabric is a critical component of any building, since it both protects the building
occupants and plays a major role in regulating the indoor environment. Consisting of the
building's roof, floor slabs, walls, windows, and doors, the fabric controls the flow of energy
between the interior and exterior of the building.

For a new project, opportunities relating to the building fabric begin during the predesign
phase of the building. An optimal design of the building fabric may provide significant
reductions in heating and cooling loads-which in turn can allow downsizing of mechanical
equipment. When the right strategies are integrated through good design, the extra cost for a
high-performance fabric may be paid for through savings achieved by installing smaller
HVAC equipment.

The building fabric must balance requirements for ventilation and daylight while providing
thermal and moisture protection appropriate to the climatic conditions of the site. Fabric
design is a major factor in determining the amount of energy a building will use in its
operation. Also, the overall environmental life-cycle impacts and energy costs associated
with the production and transportation of different envelope materials vary greatly.

In keeping with the whole building approach, the entire design team must integrate design of
the fabric with other design elements including material selection; daylighting and other
passive solar design strategies; heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) and
electrical strategies; and project performance goals. One of the most important factors
affecting fabric design is climate. Hot/dry, hot/humid, temperate, or cold climates will
suggest different design strategies. Specific designs and materials can take advantage of or
provide solutions for the given climate.

A second important factor in fabric design is what occurs inside the building. If the activity
and equipment inside the building generate a significant amount of heat, the thermal loads
may be primarily internal (from people and equipment) rather than external (from the sun).
This affects the rate at which a building gains or loses heat. Building Configuration also has
significant impacts upon the efficiency and requirements of the building fabric. Careful study
is required to arrive at a building footprint and orientation that work with the building fabric
to maximize energy benefit

Curtain wall
A curtain wall is a building façade that does not carry any dead load from the building other
than its own dead load, and one that transfers the horizontal loads (wind loads) that are
incident upon it. These loads are transferred to the main building structure through
connections at floors or columns of the building. A curtain wall is designed to resist air and
water infiltration, wind forces acting on the building, seismic forces (usually only those
imposed by the inertia of the curtain wall), and its own dead load forces.

Curtain walls are typically designed with extruded aluminium members, although the first
curtain walls were made of steel. The aluminium frame is typically infilled with glass, which
provides an architecturally pleasing building, as well as benefits such as daylighting.
However, parameters related to solar gain control such as thermal comfort and visual comfort
are more difficult to control when using highly-glazed curtain walls. Other common infills
include: stone veneer, metal panels, louvers, and operable windows or vents.
Curtain walls differ from storefront systems in that they are designed to span multiple floors,
and take into consideration design requirements such as: thermal expansion and contraction;
building sway and movement; water diversion; and thermal efficiency for cost-effective
heating, cooling, and lighting in the building.

. Maintenance and repair

Curtain walls and perimeter sealants require maintenance to maximize service life. Perimeter
sealants, properly designed and installed, have a typical service life of 10 to 15 years.
Removal and replacement of perimeter sealants require meticulous surface preparation and
proper detailing.

Aluminum frames are generally painted or anodized. Factory applied fluoropolymer

thermoset coatings have good resistance to environmental degradation and require only
periodic cleaning. Recoating with an air-dry fluoropolymer coating is possible but requires
special surface preparation and is not as durable as the baked-on original coating.

Anodized aluminum frames cannot be "re-anodized" in place, but can be cleaned and
protected by proprietary clear coatings to improve appearance and durability.

Exposed glazing seals and gaskets require inspection and maintenance to minimize water
penetration, and to limit exposure of frame seals and insulating glass seals to wetting.

Automation
Automation is the use of control systems (such as numerical control, programmable logic
control, and other industrial control systems), in concert with other applications of
information technology (such as computer-aided technologies [CAD, CAM, CAx]), to
control industrial machinery and processes, reducing the need for human intervention.[1] In
the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization. Whereas
mechanization provided human operators with machinery to assist them with the muscular
requirements of work, automation greatly reduces the need for human sensory and mental
requirements as well. Processes and systems can also be automated.

Automation plays an increasingly important role in the global economy and in daily
experience. Engineers strive to combine automated devices with mathematical and
organizational tools to create complex systems for a rapidly expanding range of applications
and human activities.

Many roles for humans in industrial processes presently lie beyond the scope of automation.
Human-level pattern recognition, language recognition, and language production ability are
well beyond the capabilities of modern mechanical and computer systems. Tasks requiring
subjective assessment or synthesis of complex sensory data, such as scents and sounds, as
well as high-level tasks such as strategic planning, currently require human expertise. In
many cases, the use of humans is more cost-effective than mechanical approaches even where
automation of industrial tasks is possible.

Specialised hardened computers, referred to as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), are

frequently used to synchronize the flow of inputs from (physical) sensors and events with the
flow of outputs to actuators and events. This leads to precisely controlled actions that permit
a tight control of almost any industrial process.