A 1st lecture

Code Nr Course Title L E P CP ECH

ARCH 103 Fundamentals of Building Technology (Building Physics and Building Structures)

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Fundamentals of Building Technology (Building Physics

and Building Structures)

ARCH – 103

1st

week

1st

Lecture

GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE

„BUILDING TECHNOLOGY“

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1.1

DEFINITIONS

Knowledge International

Technology Local

Different fields of applying technologies in building process:

1 design, form finding, development and pre-evaluation

2 production of building’s materials and components (in site, nearby the site or in factory)

3 transportation of building’s materials and components from production place to the construction site

4 assembly of building’s materials and components in site

or the so-called BUILDING CONSTRUCTION or execution

5 operating and using the building and its installations

6 maintenance of the buildings and its components and installations

7 demolition of the building after certain life span or demountability of its components to be reused

Architecture and building construction are not necessarily one and the same.

The Science of „Building Technology or Building Construction“ can be

roughly expressed as the understanding of how the various materials, elements,

components and systems of a building come together and how they must be

compatible and integrated with one another. This understanding is always necessary during both design and execution of a building.

This physical understanding, however, enables one to build architecture but

does not guarantee it, because the working knowledge of building construction is

only one of several critical factors in the execution of architecture.



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When we speak of architecture as an art of building, we should consider

conceptual systems of order in addition to the physical ones of construction. - The definition, scale, proportion, and organization of interior spaces of a building - the functional zoning of spaces of a building according to purpose and use - horizontal and vertical paths of movement through a building interior - the physical imagery of a building: form, space, light, color, texture, and pattern - context: the building as an integrated component within the natural and built

environment

COURSE DESCRIPTION The course introduces student to the principles and fundamentals of building

construction. Topics include the basic concepts of structural systems and foundations according to building loads and soil characteristics. In addition the course presents the basic unit of wall construction systems and clarifies the different methods of building insulation.

COURSE AIM The course aims to provides students with an initial theoretical knowledge and

understanding of the principles of building construction in order to inform design decisions and to be able of preparing construction or working drawings up from the 7

th term.

COURSE OBJECTIVES Students learn and understand the following topics;

a) Basic Concepts of structural Systems Load distribution and behavior through different elements of building Basic structural systems

b) Foundations Different types of foundations

c) Masonry Work Basic unit of masonry work

d) Building Insulation Different methods of building insulation to fulfill appropriate internal environmental conditions

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1.2

RELEVANT COURSES & BASIC KNOWLEDGE FIELDS

Which courses from your Study in the first 2 terms or earlier are relevant to our

course „Building Technology“ ?

1.2.1 ENGINEERING MECHANICS (static, dynamics)

The course provides students with basic skills, which is important mainly in

analyzing structural behavior of building elements and in developing its structural efficiency

- Composition and analysis of Forces in different directions, support reaction forces



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- Calculating binding moments, friction, shear forces, torsion, twist forces - Compressive bearing, tensile and binding moment stresses - Wind loads, movement of fluids, aerodynamics, chimney or stack effect

(Bernoulli-low, Venturi-action)

1.2.2 PHYSICS

The course explains to students the basic physical knowledge, which is

essential to understand how to choose, save and apply building materials according to its properties, to evaluate and improve thermal performance of the building

considering environmental aspects and finally to control sound transmission inside the building.

- Properties of bodies and materials (mass, density, weight forces, cohesion, adhesion, surface tension, capillary action, condensation, ...)

- Thermal behavior (heat sources, temperature, air humidity, thermal expansion and contraction, heat content Q, heat transfer, conduction, convection, radiation, heat flow, specific thermal capacity, heat storage, thermal conductivity and resistance, thermal insulation, latent heat, ...)

- Sound control and acoustics (sources, transmission, frequency, resonance, loudness, sound diffusion, reflectance and absorption, sound insulation, .......)

1.2.3 CHEMISTRY

The course introduces the fundamental chemical terms and reactions, which occur in different ways in building substances and materials

- Terms (element, atom, molecule, structure of atoms, .....) - Reaction (oxidation, reduction, corrosion, electrolysis, galvanic action, .......) - Acidity, alkalinity, pH-value, ....

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1.3

DEFINITIONS AND TECHNICAL TERMS

Foundation, wall, floor, roof, partition, ... ___________________________________________________________________

1.4

HISTORY OF BUILDING TECHNOLOGY & MATERIALS

Building technology has in fact a long history over many centuries, but the last

few decades have given it the most remarkable impulses. The rapid

developments in recent time could be recognized if we compare the amount of

building material used per unit useful volume of a building. In almost 20 centuries, the specific consumption of building materials decreased from 0.47 to 0.058 (or

about one tenth of the original value). In contrast, only in the last 30 years, it fell

down to 0.0001 (or to less than 1: 500 of its original value) owing to the advent of

air-supported structures, based on using thin and strong reinforced polymer membranes.



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Tutorial

1st Assign

Research work (1): Building Materials (Theoretical approach, types, samples, presentation) ___________________________________________________________________

1.5 AN INTRODUCTION TO BUILDING MATERIALS To get better insight into the history of building technology, we shall consider its

milestones with reference to basic natural and man-made materials of construction. With the help of the next group of slides, which indicate examples of using different building materials, the scope of building materials would be enlarged and the their basic data would be briefly discussed.

1.5.1 WOOD & VEGETAL MATERIALS AND FIBERS

Wood was the first material of construction to be used by man. The earliest

primitive application was a post-and beam structure, then gable and shed roofs

with rafters had been erected. (Mechanization, glue lamination, reuse of waste sawdust and chips, minimizing combustibility through chemical fire retardant)

reconstruction of pre-historical housing group built on wooden piled platform on a lake in middle Europe, the pitched roofs are covered with thick layer of reed mats

trussed house in Europe from with fillings of clay bricks trussed wooden rafters with iron reinforcement using metal joints with wood members to improve stiffness of fixation and

facilitate assembly on site large span dome made of many small wood members glue laminated wood beams for bridging large spans fisher housing in south Iraq, made of local materials „march reeds“ bent march reed bundles as a structural element for the dwelling bamboo bundles in form of two detached arches, from which a pedestrian

bridge is suspended

1.5.2 NATURAL STONE

The oldest integral architectural compositions are believed to be megalithic structures (large stones) or the so called „stone hinges“, tensile strength of stone is 1/10 - 1/15 of its compressive strength

pre-historical shelter made of large sedimentary stones pyramids of Giza, from ancient Egypt, about 2600 BC, stone hinge in UK, about 1800 BC, Habu city, Luxor, post & beam technique to bridge small spans the Parthenon temple in acropolis, Athena, Greece, about 400 BC, just

wooden structures built of stone Cordoba mosque, south Spain, 785-987, the ribbed dome over Mehrab



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great Cathedral of Cologne, 1560 late gothic, typical gothic cross vaulting with huge monumental scale

flying buttresses of „Notre dame de Paris“, early gothic, 1163-13th

century vacation house with bearing walls, domes and vaults made of natural stone,

work of Hassan Fathy Pastel opera house, Paris, marble and granite cladding Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, modern use of thin sheet of natural sandstone and

travertine as a mechanical-hanged cladding for rich facades

1.5.3 CLAY AND ITS PRODUCTS

Man began using clay for building about 4000-3000 BC. As structural material, brick has been used since the Egyptian produced bricks of sun-dried mud and straw and the Babylonian discovered the technique of making bricks by burning clay. Around 1500 BC they began using colors glaze for earthenware. (structural clay products)

Storage rooms in Ramesum, west bank of Luxor, vaulting with 4 layers of sun-dried mud bricks

Coloseun in Rome, 75-80, flat burned bricks for vaulting under the tribune of the amphitheater

Hadramawt, Yemen, „Manhattan of the desert“, multistory houses with thick rammed earth walls

ribbed mud dome in Niger, reinforced with vegetal sticks and fibers vault made of sun-dried mud bricks with one leaning wall, Paris-Oases,

Hassan Fathy producing manual compressed mud bricks constructing a dome using compressed mud bricks and with the help of

rotary steel guide rail, which have the predetermined curvature of the dome typical English brick masonry, burned clay bricks burned and glazed clay tiles as a durable and weather resistant external

finish, shell detail of Sydney opera house

1.5.4 GLASS

Arrow-heads and knives made of natural volcanic glass, simple articles of non-transparent glass were first made in Egypt as far back as 4000 BC (sheet, float, wire, reflective coated, tempered, laminated, insulating)

huge glass wall with stiffening structures, museum of science and industry, La Cite, Paris

free shaping of glass curtain wall, framed, office building, La Villett, Paris frameless or structural glass walls (laminated glass sheets), supported

intermediately by special cast steel parts, international trade fair in Leipzig, Germany

curved laminated glass sheets, international trade fair in Leipzig, Germany accessible glass floors, Stuttgart airport 7-layers laminated glass sheets used as a floor for pedestrian bridge,

Schlaich, Munich

1.5.5 CAST IRON AND STEEL

19th

century & industrial revolution



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Eiffel tower, 1889, 300m height, world industrial fair, Paris, pre-fabricated components of cast iron

Empire state, 1935, sky scraper in New York “Castellated” or open web beams for bridging intermediate spans (8m - 25m) tubular steel structures, one of the various node systems of space frames,

“Nodus” bolts and screw-in system welded tubular steel structures, branching structures, Stuttgart airport huge pre-fabricated cast steel components, George Pompidu Center, Paris production of huge cast steel components in factory high tensile stress steel cables and roped wires for suspended structures steel cables as an unbeatable solution for special and mega structures to

span the biggest bridge bay, 1410 m, Humber bridge, UK corrugated steel sheets with longitudinal curvature stainless steel sheets for cladding of facades, planetarium of museum of

science and industry, La Cite, Paris

1.5.6 PLAIN & REINFORCED CONCRETE

Concrete is already some 2000 years old. The ancient Romans used it for vaults, domes and massive structures. With the fall of the Roman Empire, concrete lost its technique and importance as a building material till the 18

th century, and

exactly with the invention of hydraulic (Portland) cement 1824. the Pantheon in Rome, 120 AD (Hadrian 27 BC), the first concrete dome

with 43 m diameter, recesses to reduce the dead load of material and to create ribbed structure

villa Savoy, Le Corbusier, 1929, slender RC columns, extended vision under building, strip windows,

falling water house, Frank Lloyd Wright, large RC Cantilever RC as liquid stone, molding, surface structure with wood form, treatment steel form for fair face concrete curved pre-cast RC components, Zaha Hadid, horticulture show pavilion,

Weil am Rhein, Germany, 2000 conventional pre-cast RC components, modulation, quality control,

precautions thin-walled pre-cast components for dome structure, Saudi Arabia Sydney opera house, Jǿrn Utzen, shell-like form RC pre-cast structural ribs of Sydney opera house, spray-gunned concrete (grout) inside inflated membrane form to build RC

domes with outer fair face lightweight concrete, mixed with polystyrene foam beads hollow core and pre-stressed RC slabs gate house (pavilion), Philip Johnson, 1995, prefabricated panels of

structural wire mesh around an insulating urethane foam core, cut and bent to shape and then sprayed with concrete

1.5.7 POLYMERS OR PLASTICS

synthetic Polymers (PVC, PUR, PE, PB, .....), Resins, resin-base materials, 20th

century & modern technology

glass fibers reinforced polyester (GRC), moulding potentials



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transparent acrylic, plexi-glas, poly-carbonate, sheets, (2m x 2m) suspended roof covering of olympic swimming pool, Munich

curved acrylic sheets, escalator entrance, George Pompidu Centre, Paris cored sections of poly-carbonate sheets flower pavilion, Terry Farell lightweight domes made of sprayed foamed Polyurethane (BASF) as an

shelter during earthquake disaster in Turkey, 1972 plastic (TEFLON by Du Pont) coated glass fiber fabric as a likely permanent

material for spectacular membrane structures, first 1969 used for astronaut suits

using TEFLON coated glass fabric as an air supported roof for a stadium, Tokyo

gaskets made of neoprene or synthetic rubber for sealing buildings and openings tightly

gummy-tiles with studs, mixture of natural and synthetic rubber, Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, James Sterling

solid surface materials, Corian, Cristalite

1.5.8 NONFERROUS METALS AND SANDWICH PANELS

Aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, titanium about 0.4 mm thin titanium sheets as an impressive cladding of the facade of

Gugenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain, Frank O. Gehry easily de-mountable sandwich panels of Sainsbury Center for the visual arts,

Norwich, 1977, Norman Foster aluminum-faced sandwich panels as a curtain wall for Hypo bank building in

Frankfurt aluminum-faced and pyramid-shaped sandwich panels as a cladding for the

huge geodesic dome in Epcot Center, Florida detail of the pyramid-shaped sandwich panels

FACTORS AFFECTING CHOICE OF BUILDING MATERIALS

a) Functional factors (availability, appearance, physical characteristics: density, strength, elasticity, brittleness, stiffness, toughness, hardness, endurance, thermal conductance, thermal resistance, thermal capacity, thermal expansion, durability, abrasion resistance, creep resistance, magnetic properties, .....)

b) Economical factors (Costs for Materials, machine operating, transport, molding and assembly, time needed for manufacture, transport and execution, life span of building,....)

c) Industrial factors (workability, plasticity, ductility, malleability, ability of assembly, ability of molding, ......

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1.6

DIFFERENT BUILDING EXECUTION STAGES FROM

CONCEPTION TO CONSTRUCTION



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Let us follow the stages in the evolution of a building from its initial conception in the mind of the architect to its final construction.

1.6.1 CONCEPTION

After the need of a certain building has been established, its program decided,

and the financial means for its construction collected or provided for, an architect or a group of architects is entrusted with the planning of a building that will fulfill the

requirement of its future users. This may be done by direct instruction or by

selection by means of a competition.

a) In the first case, the architect may be consulted and may collaborate in the

definition of the program and the selection of suitable site.

b) In the second case, these two items may be examined by sponsors in

collaboration with architects who will define the rules of the competition

and nominate the jury. But in either event, whether he is taking part in the competition or acting as a

nominated architect, the designer will start by studying the site, the program and

all factors that will influence his design. This study will lead him to visualize in broad outline the type of building he considers suitable.

His general mental picture becomes more clearly defined as he begins to make

rough sketches on paper. And little by little, as the outline gains in definition and

details and as more sketches are made, the whole conception is translated into

and takes definite shape in the form of a preliminary project or „avant-project“. This

shows all the essential features of the contemplated building in the form of architectural plans, elevations, sections, perspective views and models which enable

the prospective owner or the jury to judge of the merits of the conception and of its

fitness to fulfill the purpose for which building to be erected. When the preliminary project has been approved by owner or the jury, the

architect is instructed to proceed with the preparation of working drawings and

contract documents. At this stage, as well as at all subsequent stages from conception ton

construction, the architect should have a through knowledge of the principles and

methods of construction he is to apply in the particular building and in the particular region of the world where the building is to be erected. These principles and methods of construction will and should have a marked influence on his conception and will guide him during the preparation of working drawings. His knowledge should embrace the related crafts and allied industries playing a part in the erection of the building or in the production of the materials used in it.

1.6.2 WORKING DRAWINGS

The so-called „Working Drawings“ are in fact all drawing documents needed for building execution works. They are the easiest graphic way to convey the design of

their author to the builder who is responsible for the actual construction of the

building. For this purpose they are usually accompanied by a quantity and

specification book, in which building materials are exactly calculated and the most



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construction methods are fully described and detailed. Working drawings , therefore,

should not be overcrowded with text that is normally included in the specification book. Only notes which needed to facilitate reading of drawings or to describe very special forms of construction should be included. Otherwise, written instructions on them should be reduced to the minimum.

It should also be noted that some details of construction relative to certain

crafts have become universally known to craftsmen and builders and they do not need, therefore, to be repeated in each set of drawings. For Instance, details drawing bond in brickwork or stone in rubble masonry or construction joints in joinery or wood work are always omitted in working drawings. This also applies to floorings where a

normal procedure is required and where a simple notation indicating the nature of the flooring my replace the drawing in plan of tiles, boards, etc...

Apart from these exceptions of test and well-known construction details,

working drawings should contain as far as possible all information likely to be required by the builder for the erection of the building, without his having to refer to the architect for complementary information during the course of construction.

It should also be borne in mind, that working drawings , together with the quantity and specification book, and the general conditions of contract form part of

the contract documents which accompany tenders submitted by contractors for

adjudication. They also form part of the contract between the owner and the

selected contractor and as such they should be so explicit and precise as to be incapable of any misinterpretation.

As a general rule, all working drawings, to whatever scale, should be prepared

and be part of the contract documents. Exceptionally, a few detail drawings may be prepared by the architect during construction. These deal mainly with additional details (usually to 1/20 scale) that will not affect the nature of the work required but serve to give it more precise form. They may also be full-size scale drawings or

shop-drawings required for the actual execution of parts for which smaller scale drawings have already been included in the contract documents.

The following table sets the drawings likely to be required to form a complete

set of working drawings for a building and the scales used for each of them

according to Egyptian practice. It is to be noticed that drawings are grouped by

trades and should always be grouped so. Thus it is possible to subdivide the contract into separate contracts for each trade concerned. Even when the whole job

is given to one general contractor, he in turn entrusts part of the job to sub-

contractors of various trades, who require separate sets of drawings.

TRADE

DRAWING

SCALE

NOTES

Lay-out plan 1 : 500 or 1 : 200

General Basement 1 : 50

(architectural) Ground floor plan 1 : 50

Plan for each of the following floors 1 : 50 may be 1 : 100

or one typical plan of similar floors 1 : 50 for simple



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Roof plan 1 : 50 buildings

Elevations on all sides 1 : 50

Sections 1 : 50

Details 1 : 50

Details (stairs) 1 : 20

Details (Ceiling, finishing works 1 : 10 rarely used

Details 1 : 1 full-size

R.C. plans for foundations or piles 1 : 50

Structural work R.C. plans for each floor 1 : 50

Details of columns (numbered) 1 : 50 or 1 : 20 in list

Details of beams (numbered) 1 : 20 or in list

Other details 1 : 20

Steel construction sheets 1 : 20

Details of steel construction 1 : 20 1 : 10 or 1 : 4

Numbered drawings for each type of joinery in elevation only or in elevation, plan and section

1 : 50

or 1 : 20

Joinery work (Wood Work)

Details of special features like staircases, roofs, wall-panels, ceiling

1 : 20

Detail sections of timber outlines 1 : 4 or 1:1 full-size

Metallic work (non-structural)

Numbered drawings for each type in elevation only or if necessary, also in plan and section

1 : 50

or 1 : 20 or 1 : 10

Details 1 : 1 Full-size

Sanitary

installations

Layout of piping and apparatus, one plan for each different floor, or a set of plans for each different floor, each to show: water supply, hot-water supply, cold-water supply, heating, drainage, gas installation, etc...

1 : 50

may be 1 : 100

Details 1 : 20

Electric

installations

Layout plans for each different floor with or without wiring, for lighting, signaling, power, radio, television, telephone, etc...

1 : 50

may be 1 : 100

Layout plans for each different floor with air-conditioning ducts

1 : 50

may be 1 : 100

Other trades as deemed fit variable

EXECUTIVE DRAWING SCALES (1:500, 1:200, 1:100, 1: 50, 1:20)

DETAILED DRAWING SCALES (1:10, 1:5, 1:2, 1:1 full-scale)

BUILDING EXECUTION WRITTEN DOCUMENTS quantities and specifications book

1.6.3 CONSTRUCTION



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The importance of working drawings during construction is self-evident. Other

duties of the architect during execution are the supervision of construction to ensure the scrupulous fulfillment of all the conditions specified in the contract documents, the checking of quantities of work done and the approval thereupon the

payments on account asked for the contractor, the provisional and final

acceptance of the work and the final settlement of accounts. In all these later stages, the architect and the builder constantly refer to the

working drawings which should indicate clearly the distribution of materials used and include accurate and well-distributed dimensions to enable a quick and exact calculation of the quantities of various items.

From this review, it may be deduced that the activities of the architect vary widely in nature.

a) They are creative and require artistic temperament and sound reasoning in the conception of the project.

b) They are scientific and require accurate technical knowledge of all construction problems and equipment involved.

c) They are also administrative and require skill in dictating and enforcing the rules and procedure that will make proper execution a smooth and sure achievement.

Of all these various aspects of activity, we shall be concerned in all „Building

Technology“-courses mainly with one. We shall deal primarily with the scientific aspect of the architect and specially the basic theoretical rules, conventional technical works and details that enable architecture students to prepare an adequate set of working Drawings in all subsequent „Execution Design“-courses up from 7

th

term (4th

year). BUILDING CONSTRUCTION SYSTEMS in site, prefabrication, assembly, .. COURSE CONTENTS (OVERVIEW)

a) Basic Concepts of structural Systems b) Foundations c) Masonry Work d) Building Insulation

Education

A 1st lecture